Penny Synthesis Essay

Throughout American history, the penny has symbolized this nation’s unrelenting commitment to liberty and personal freedom. This seemingly “worthless” token for America’s economy has been utilized more as a symbol of national pride than a unit of monetary value.
Due to the penny’s historical significance, a symbol of liberation and dedication is created for not only the people of this country, but for the economic system as well.
Furthermore, the symbolic meaning of the penny has more value than the actual physical and tangible value it gives Americans. It’s in our pockets, wallets, cars, and streets; ultimately symbolizing a sense of reminder for the people. The penny has been around for over one millenia; evolutionizing throughout history. Source G, through images, shows the distinguishable attributes of the penny in the year of 1793, and in the year of 2005. These scanned images show a characteristic for the people of America, a characteristic that shows and exemplifies values. Liberty, and freedom; what people value the most. The penny not only solidifies the American dedication for liberty and freedom, but it also represents a sense of national heritage due to the value it gives us. Above all, our American past is preserved upon this significant American emblem of pride and unity.
Not only does the penny act as a reminder of symbolism, but it also acts as a contributed importance to the American economic system and currency. The abolishment of the penny would affect particular state economics, like Tennessee, as seen in Source A.
Lewis shows the economic importance for the penny in different states, especially in states that produce substantial amounts of zinc. The penny “up until 1982.. since then they have been 97.5% zinc.” (Lewis) contributes to Tennessee’s economic well­being and attributes.
State economics and currency would also be affected dramatically by the rounding of the new lowest denomination coin as mentioned in Source A as well. Lewis discusses the resulted action of the money system if the eradication of the penny occurred; and how industry,

businesses and companies would simply either round up or down. Assuming that businesses would round up to the nearest dollar, monetary value and economy would be subjugated by the unfamiliar currency and value. The prosperity and economic balance relies on not only each and every specie, but greenbacks as well. The skewed balance of it all would relentlessly cause economic damage, and for the balance and prosperity to prolong, it’s necessary to begin by rejecting even the mere thought of abolishing the penny.
As both a vital attribute and recognized ingredient to modern American life, the public mostly favors in not terminating this “small” token of economy. Lower class, or majority of the public as seen in Source E favors and preferences in the opposition of abolishing the penny.
The statistical information given by the reputable “Harris Poll” sends out the importance of the penny to lower income adults. Evidently, wealthy people don’t rely on the need of pennies due to the abundance of other monetary circulation they obtain; however lower income adults do due to the fact that the penny is more useful to their living standards and circumstances. For lower income individuals, as seen in Source E, the penny applies to an abundance of society; the working class. The percentage differences show the increase in people favoring to abolish the penny by the amount of income they earn; the highest $75,000+ shows the highest percentage of people wanting to abolish it; and vice versa for the lower income individuals in society opposing abolishment. The Harris Poll not only shows the discernible economic views of the people; but it also shows two different societies view on the purpose and value of the penny. Although upper echelons of society might say the monetary value of the penny is seemingly weak, Source B rejects that idea by epitomizing an average man by the name of
Edmond Knowles. Knowles for thirty­eight years saved 90 pennies a day, resulting in 4.5 tons of spare change. After recycling the change through Coinstar, the pennies flourished with

useful amounts of actual money. “That would be 1,308,459 pennies or, $13,084,59..” Source
B states as it expresses the fact that overtime pennies do have a monetary value. It not only shows that the penny can overtime provide with an actual use, but it ultimately conceives more of an importance of the penny to all societies. The penny can apply to any type of people; wealthy or impecunious, and with time it can give more of a tangible value to anybody. The penny’s value overtime has become a national symbol for the people of America.
It has waffled throughout history, from a symbolic meaning to a monetary value to lower income individuals; from a sign of hope to a reminder of national heritage. But what links the penny to society is its true meaning of how it evolved within our culture, economy, and time.
The penny not only links us to our American roots, but links us to our American attributes; the ultimate and most significant value we obtain and come across in this country: life, liberty, and freedom.