Happy Birthday, President Lincoln. To celebrate, stores have decided to stop accepting the penny.
That's right, in West Concord, Massachusetts, a number of stores are refusing to accept pennies as of today, calling pennies "wasteful and time consuming." Instead, they will round all purchases down to the nearest nickel.
I suppose no one can really complain - after all, they will simply be getting a few cents off of their purchase. Buy a cupcake that costs $2.74? No pennies allowed, so that cupcake now costs $2.70. It just seems a bit harsh to put the new rule into effect on Lincoln's birthday of all days, especially this year, which seems to be the Year of Lincoln.
I can't say I spend pennies all that often. They do end up in my wallet, and if I have exact change, I try to use it, but every few days, I dump the majority of my change into my change jar. I like filling up a change jar. Getting rid of the penny would make that a bigger challenge, that's for sure.
We've gotten rid of coins before. Years and years ago, the U.S. minted a half-cent piece. It looks like we might be getting closer to putting the penny out to pasture as well.