dumping the penny is a Sharpe idea

In the first half of this year alone, the U.S. government minted 4.8 billion of these useless coins, and since it costs 1.4 cents to make each one and maybe two more cents each to distribute them, that robbed taxpayers of $115 million.

Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post reports on the fate, or what should be the fate, of the penny. (Hat tip to Bill Craighead)