Americans for Common Cents

The Penny's Impact:
From the Grocery Store to the Gas Pump

The penny enjoys overwhelming support from the majority of Americans.  Eliminating the penny is a losing proposition because it will result in rounding to the nearest nickel and higher prices for America’s working families.   This increased cost to consumers will be felt in everything from the grocery store to the gas pump.  Pennies add up to millions of dollars every year for charities across the country.    Simply put, the penny plays an important role in our everyday lives and in our nation’s economy.

Our Mission

Americans for Common Cents aims to inform and educate policymakers, consumers, and the media about the penny’s economic, cultural, and historical significance.  Through coalition building, media outreach, and community partnerships, ACC attempts to ensure that accurate information about the penny is widely disseminated, and that the impact of any changes to the penny’s role in our nation’s monetary supply is adequately understood.

Support for the Penny

TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS WANT TO KEEP THE PENNY

An overwhelming number of Americans want to keep the penny. A poll conducted March 22-25 by Americans for Common Cents found over two-thirds (67%) of those surveyed favor keeping the penny in circulation.

These results confirm the strong and unwavering public support for the penny. Americans understand that eliminating the penny would lead to a rounding process and cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in higher prices.

The poll results showed that:

National polling over the past two decades has consistently shown that between two-thirds and three-fourths of Americans support keeping the cent in circulation.

A Gallup Organization poll in 1990 and Opinion Research Corporation surveys conducted in 1995, 1996, 2001, and 2006 show Americans are persuaded by several factors, such as antipathy toward price rounding. And a 1992 CNN/Time survey conducted by Yankelovich found 74 percent of Americans support keeping the penny in circulation. The importance of preserving the penny goes well beyond high public acceptance and historical significance. A 2006 Coinstar National Currency Poll found that public support spiked when people became educated about the issues around the penny, such as rounding at the cash register. Public support for the penny jumped to 79% in 2006, a time when Congress was discussing penny elimination.

Thus, polls conducted by Americans for Common Cents and independent polls such as those by Coinstar, USA Today, and CNN/Time show overwhelming public support for the penny that has never dropped below 60 percent.

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