Whoever Does Not Respect the Penny is Not Worthy of the Dollar

This definitive sign of a currency collapse is easy to see…

It’s when paper money becomes trash.

Maybe you’ve seen images depicting hyperinflation in Germany after World War I. The German government had printed so much money that it became worthless confetti. Technically, German merchants still accepted the currency, but it was impractical. For example, it would have required wheelbarrows full of paper money to buy a loaf of bread.

At the time, no one would bother to pick up money off the ground. It wasn’t worth any more than the other crumpled pieces of paper on the street.

Today, there’s a similar situation in the US. When was the last time you saw someone pick up a penny off the street? A nickel? A dime?

Nowadays, even bums often can’t be bothered to pick up anything less than a quarter.

The US dollar has become so debased that these coins are essentially pieces of rubbish. They have little to no practical value.

Refusing To Acknowledge the Truth

Up until 1982, the penny was 95% copper.

Today, the melt value of these pre-1982 pennies is 2.6 cents—more than double their face value—as commodity prices have soared and the dollar’s purchasing power has plummeted.

That’s why the US Mint no longer uses so much copper to make pennies. Modern pennies are only 2.5% copper, with cheaper zinc making up the remaining 97.5% of the coin.

In short, the US government couldn’t even maintain a copper standard.

Further, even after using a cheaper metal to make the penny, it still costs the US Mint about 2.7 cents to make every penny. For nickels, it costs the US Mint 10.4 cents to make.

Last year, the US government lost over $171 million making pennies and nickels.

So, why is it wasting taxpayer money making coins bums don’t even use?

Because phasing out the penny and nickel would mean acknowledging currency debasement—governments never like to do that. It would reveal their incompetence and theft from savers.

This isn’t new or unique to the US. For decades, governments worldwide have been reluctant to phase out worthless currency denominations. This helps them deny an inflation problem even exists. They refuse to issue currency in higher denominations for the same reason.

Consider this.

The $100 bill is the largest in circulation. That wasn’t always the case. At one point, the US had $500, $1,000, $5,000, and even $10,000 bills.

The government eliminated these large bills in 1969 under the pretext of fighting the War on (Some) Drugs.

The $100 bill has been the largest ever since. But it has far less purchasing power than it did in 1969. Decades of rampant money printing have debased the dollar. Today, a $100 note buys less than $13 in 1969.

Even though the Federal Reserve has devalued the dollar by over 88% since 1969, it still refuses to issue notes larger than $100.

Pennies and Nickels Under Hard Money

Consider what a penny and a nickel would be worth under a hard money system backed by gold. From 1792 to 1934, gold was around $20 per ounce. Under this system, it took about 2,000 pennies to make an ounce of gold.

At today’s gold price, a “hard money penny” would be worth about 99 modern pennies. A “hard money nickel” would be worth about $4.98.

I don’t pick up pennies off the sidewalk. But I would if pennies represented 1/2,000 an ounce of gold. If that were to happen, I doubt there would be many pennies on sidewalks.

Ron Paul said it best when he discussed this issue…

“There is an old German saying that goes, ‘Whoever does not respect the penny is not worthy of the dollar.’ It expresses the sense that those who neglect or ignore the small things cannot be trusted with larger things, and fittingly describes the problems facing both the dollar and our nation today.

Unless Congress puts an end to the Fed’s loose monetary policy and returns to a sound and stable dollar, the issue of US coin composition will be revisited every few years until inflation finally forces coins out of circulation altogether and we are left with only worthless paper.”

There’s an important lesson here.

Politicians and bureaucrats are the biggest threats to your financial security. For years, they’ve been debasing the currency… and inviting a catastrophe that now could be imminent.

Editor’s Note: Most people have no idea how bad things can get when a currency collapses… let alone how to prepare.

That’s why we’ve recently published a how-to guide detailing the best ways to protect your savings. It’s called Surviving and Thriving During an Economic Collapse. Click here to download the free PDF.