Penny ascent in change-purse prestige

If you put my  wallet on a scale, it would probably weigh a little more than a pound. It's not because I carry an insanely large wallet; it's because of all of the loose change in my coin pouch.

I never use coins to pay for anything when I am out shopping. I save my change for parking meters, vending machines, the bus and  the times when my friends beg me for change for a dollar bill.

These things surprisingly end up depleting my coin resources pretty quickly — the silver ones at least. But no one wants to take a handful of pennies. Vending machines, buses and parking meters don't accept them, and my friends always stare at me in disbelief when I try to give them their last five cents in pennies.

All of my friends say roughly the same thing to me when I hand over the copper coins: "Addie, the bus doesn't accept pennies" or "Addie, I can't put pennies in a vending machine."

In reply, I'll just smile and fish around for a nickel or a dime, but in my head I think, "But, why don't they accept pennies?"

Pennies are a form of currency. They are money, and I feel that as long as you're giving someone money, they should give you what you're paying for.

Sure, it might take longer to pay with pennies, but you are still paying the proper amount for something with your one-cent pieces. And if that's not the case, why do we even have pennies in the first place?

Pepsi and the Port Authority should begin accepting pennies as payment in vending machines and buses, especially during these economically trying times. After all, while they may be a pain to take to the bank's coin sorting machine or the bank teller, banks are still going to give you a check or cash for your pennies. They still count.

But some people disagree with me there. Some legislators are debating if the penny should even still be used as currency in the United States.

Former House representative Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) introduced two bills in the Appropriations Committee in 2002 and 2006 to abolish pennies. The bills ended up failing in committee and never made it to a vote.

The arguments to abolish the penny are focused on the fact that it costs more than one cent to make one cent. Each penny costs 1.79 cents to mint and the materials used to make them are more valuable than the penny itself, according to pennies.org.

But the arguments to maintain the penny are focused on charities. When charities ask for donations, many receive pennies. Groups  such as Americans for Common Cents also want to keep the penny for sentimental and historical value out of admiration for our 16th president Abraham Lincoln.

One of the other problems with eliminating the penny would be changing taxes and prices on items so that things bought ended up with a cent amount in multiples of five. Pennsylvania's 6 percent tax would go down the drain, as would the 99 cent value menu at Wendy's, among many other things.

Let's just keep things simple. Let's not abolish the penny and allow it to be accepted in vending machines and for bus fare.

The coin pouch in my wallet would be thankful.