A penny for your thoughts on pennies

Area residents put in their two cents over 1 cent.
By SARAH WEBER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Toss the penny?
Some economists and congressmen say the government should stop minting a coin that's more expensive to make than it's worth. The U.S. Mint recently announced that, for the first time, the rising cost of metals has pushed the cost of coining a penny to 1.2 cents.
For supporters of discontinuing the penny, this is the last straw for a coin that has become virtually valueless as inflation rises. But even as pennies are bypassed on the street and rejected by vending machines, area residents are reluctant to let go of their pinch on the copper-coated coin.
Valuable, or just extra weight?
"I don't think they should stop making pennies," Alma McGivern of Boardman said. "I save pennies. Pennies make dollars."
Anna Dicken, a Youngstown State University student from Steubenville, also said pennies shouldn't be discontinued. Making nickels the lowest currency would probably be a government money-making scam, she added.
"I always use exact change," Dicken said.
Teddy Simms of Austintown said he is concerned about what the government would do with the savings. He also wanted to know if prices would be rounded up or down.
"The savings that they make -- are they going to keep it for themselves or give it to us?" Simms said.
While few people seemed to be interested in tossing out the penny, Margie Tomasino of Boardman favors it.
"I don't like pennies," Tomasino said. "All they do is make my purse heavy."
Tomasino said that besides pennies' being annoying, they also have a superstitious stigma for her.
"My father grew up during the Great Depression, and he said, 'Never pick up a penny, it's bad luck,'" she said.
Marge Fittante of Columbiana disagreed.
"If you find a penny on the floor and you find 99 more you have a dollar," Fittante said.
Legislation to discontinue penny coining failed when it was brought before Congress five years ago by U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, but the congressman is preparing to try again some time this year.