Hello, and welcome to the Anthropocene Reviewed, a podcast where we review different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale.

My name is John Green, and today I'll be reviewing pennies, an ostensible form of currency here in the United States,

and the grocery store chain, Pigley Wiggly.

Let's begin with the American penny, which is worth $1.100 of a US dollar, and is almost as old as the nation itself.

The first US penny was minted in 1793.

It was made of copper, weighed about half an ounce, and was the size of a contemporary $1 coin,

which, come to think of it, is a useless comparison since nobody uses one dollar coins, even though their adoption would save the United States hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

But we're not here to review the two-star $1 bill.

We're here to review the penny, which since 1909 has featured the profiled face of US President Abraham Lincoln.

The penny was actually the first US money to be stamped with a president's face.

Many of the US's founders, including George Washington, felt it would be too monarchical to mint coins featuring US leaders.

In fact, the US Mint Act of 1792 explicitly stated that one side of copper coins should state the denomination,

and the other side should have a, quote, impression emblematic of liberty.

Today's pennies weigh about a fifth of what the 18th century ones did, and while they're still coated in copper,

pennies are now over 97% zinc, which is cheaper than copper.

But even so, every one cent coin minted in the United States costs 1.82 cents to create.

Last year, the US Mint lost $69 million minting pennies.

That would be annoying, but forgivable if pennies served a purpose in our economy, but they don't.

Money is supposed to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, which pennies manifestly fail to do.

You can't use them in vending machines or parking meters, and if you attempt to use them to purchase goods or services,

you will often be met with resistance, and for good reason.

I mean, it requires over two pounds of pennies around a kilogram to purchase a single gallon of gasoline.

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