What’s a Penny Worth to YOU?

A man became irate with a Publix supermarket cashier, on Sunday afternoon. He was short a penny for his purchase, and seemingly she was not going to let him leave with his items unless he produced one.

The man behind him gave him the penny.

“I can’t believe this lady is making an issue of a penny,” said the bewildered man, as he left.

Coincidently, I arrived home to catch CNN’s Candy Crowley’s “State of the Union” segment on the possible extinction of the penny. Last week, Canada stopped minting them, and will melt what’s left, her report said. 

Former Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe, who wants to see pennies go away in the United States, told Crowley he believes, the U.S. Treasury would save $45 million per year, if we stopped minting them.

Did you know they are made out of zinc? 

Well, pennies have some meaning for me at that particular Sandy Springs Publix. A couple of years ago, as I was going through the check out line, the cashier informed me that it was my lucky day. The bottle of salad dressing I was purchasing cost only one cent, instead of the usual $1.67.

A few days later my bank called saying that my bank card had been compromised for a one-penny transaction in the state of Utah, a place that I’ve never been to, or done business in. I was urged to cancel the card because crooks will often test stolen cards with one-cent transactions, the customer service person said.

I wondered if it was a strange coincidence. The bank did not find a connection with the Publix transaction.

How do you feel about pennies? According to Crowley a 2012 poll found of 67 percent of people want to keep them around.