President Barack Obama finally broke his silence on an issue of national importance Friday – he thinks it’s time to retire the penny. 
 
 The possible extinction of the one-cent coin was a featured economic question in a Google+ Hangout with the Commander in Chief last week as John Green, the co-creator of a popular YouTube channel, applied a little presidential peer pressure. 
 
 “Australia, Canada, New Zealand, many other countries have gotten rid of their pennies,” Green said. “Why haven’t we done it?” 
 
 “I gotta tell you, John, I don’t know,” Obama responded, adding, “Anytime we’re spending money on something people don’t actually use, that’s an example of things we should probably change.” 
 
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 But why should anyone care? They’re pennies. Aren’t there more valuable things to worry about? 
 
 First, pennies actually cost more to make than they’re worth. In 2012, every penny cost 2.41 cents to make – more than twice their face value. 
 
 And as zinc and copper – materials used in minting the penny – have become costlier due, in part, to manufacturing shifts in China, which are likely to raise costs further. 
 
 Granted, the total cost of minting pennies was only $58 million last year – less than one-tenth of a percent of total federal spending in 2012 – but groups like Citizens to Retire the U.S. Penny have long been making the economic case for getting rid of the penny (plus, the group adds, fishing for pennies adds about 2 seconds to each cash transaction per day). 
 
 And the U.S. military has already decided they’re essentially useless; all Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores on bases round all cash purchases up or down to the nearest nickel. 
 
 With both parties looking for ways to cut government spending, it seems as though cutting penny production could be a relatively painless, if insignificant, place to start. But in the Google+ Hangout, Obama ceded that Washington has bigger fiscal fish to fry. 
 
 “The penny is an example of something that I need legislation for,” he said. “And, frankly, given all of the big issues that we have to deal with day-in/day-out, a lot of times it just doesn't -- you know, we're not able to get to it.” 
 
 There have actually been efforts to pass penny-banning legislation. Back in 2001, then-Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) introduced the “Legal Tender Modernization Act,” which would have made pennies obsolete by requiring retailers to round up or down to the nearest nickel on cash purchases. 
 
 That bill failed, and Kolbe’s second attempt in 2006, the “Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act,” after zinc costs nearly doubled, met a similar fate. 
 
 But the president doesn’t need Congress to explore other, cheaper alternatives to zinc – the main metal in pennies. In fact, the administration’s 2013 budget encourages the Treasury to “explore, analyze, and approve new, less-expensive metals for all circulating coins like aluminum, iron and lead.” 
 
 It wouldn’t be the first time Abe Lincoln’s coin got a makeover. Back in 1982, the penny changed from 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper. 
 
 (And lest so-called “penny hoarders” try to melt that valuable pre-1982 copper down, the Mint in 2006 prohibited the melting of pennies and nickels. It also made it a crime to carry more than $5 in one and five-cent coins out of the country). 
 
 Changes to the composition of pennies do have Congressional champions: Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers (R) introduced the “Cents and Sensibility Act” in December 2011, which would mandate that pennies were out of American steel (much of which comes from the Buckeye State) and dipped in copper. 
 
 But these efforts will be met with some serious resistance from the zinc lobby (yes, there is one). The company Jarden Zinc, which creates “metal and zinc coinage,” according to its website, paid lobbyist Mark Weller $340,000 in 2012 to discuss issues related to “minting/money/gold standard” with members of Congress and the Mint, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. 
 
 Weller also represents the pro-penny group Americans for Common Cents, whose website warns of the risk of inflation that eliminating the penny would bring, and whose headquarters are on K Street, known for its many D.C. lobbyist offices. 
 
 “Americans for Common Cents aims to inform and educate policymakers, consumers, and the media about the penny’s economic, cultural, and historical significance,” the group’s website reads. 
 
 The political power of the penny is likely another reason Obama hasn’t acted on getting rid of it. As far back as 2008, when he was still a candidate, the “penny lobby” appeared to mystify Obama. 
 
 Asked about it at a town hall in Pennsylvania, he said, “We have been trying to eliminate the penny for quite some time -- it always comes back,” joking, “I need to find out who is lobbying to keep the penny.” 
 
 This story was originally published on ||||| Image caption Uzbekistan's one-tiyin coin, a 100th of a som 
 
 This month the Canadian mint stopped distributing the penny, or one-cent piece, as it costs more to make than it is worth. It's far from being the lowest-value coin around, however. Some central banks are clinging on to coins that are truly "small change". 
 
 There are many precedents for scrapping small coins. The US abolished the half-cent in 1857 and the UK's halfpenny was withdrawn in 1984. New Zealand and Australia abandoned the one-cent and two-cent coin in the 1990s. 
 
 Now some campaigners in the US and UK want the penny to be scrapped, because nothing can be bought with a one-cent or one-penny coin. 
 
 "The point of currency is to facilitate cash transactions. It used to be that a penny could serve that purpose because it was worth something but that's no longer the case" says Jeff Gore, president of Citizens to Retire the US Penny. 
 
 In Tanzania it's unlikely to find the five-cent coin in circulation because it literally cannot buy anything Emanuel Boaz, Tanzanian Central Bank 
 
 Handling them wastes time at tills, he argues - between two and two-and-a-half seconds per cash transaction, according to one study. 
 
 Imagine, then, the possible delays if someone in Tanzania insisted in paying for shopping with a pocket-full - or more likely a bag-full - of five-cent coins. One UK penny is equal to 494 of these, while a US cent is equal to 325. 
 
 But there are coins, still legal tender, that have even lower value. 
 
 Take the Burmese Pya - the UK penny is worth 1,300 of them (the US cent is worth 850). 
 
 The lowest-value coin of all is the Tiyin from Uzbekistan. Some 3,038 equate to one UK penny (and 2,000 tot up to one US cent). 
 
 In practice, however, while these coins are legal tender, you would struggle to find them in everyday life. 
 
 "In Tanzania it's unlikely to find the five-cent coin in circulation because it literally cannot buy anything. The smallest you would probably find in the streets is 20 cents and you can buy a bunch of spinach in the local market for this," says Emanuel Boaz from the Tanzanian Central Bank. 
 
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 Most five-cent coins in Tanzania languish in the vaults of the central bank or have been lost forever in the nooks and crannies of people's homes. 
 
 In Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Tiyin is also a rare sight. These days, you are more likely to get a box of matches or a sweet, as change. 
 
 Inflation has consigned even the largest-denomination Tiyin coins to history, though they remain legal tender. 
 
 Image caption Coin throwing for luck in Armenia: A 10 Luma coin is worth a 40th of a US cent 
 
 While some countries are happy to get rid of their smallest coins, others are less ready to part with them. 
 
 "A lot of people find that they are used to coins - they want that part of their heritage to remain," says Philip Mussell, director of Coin News Magazine. 
 
 There is also the fear that scrapping small coins would lead to price inflation and that charities would lose vital funding. 
 
 The World Wildlife Fund in the US for example, has received over $490,000 in coin donations made through Coin Star since 2003, proving just how much money can be made by collecting small change. 
 
 Officially recalling coins can also be a laborious and lengthy process which some countries are reluctant to undertake, preferring to wait for coins to naturally fall out of circulation. 
 
 Emmanuel Boaz from the Tanzanian Central Bank says they have been thinking about withdrawing their five-cent coin. 
 
 "The metal that was used was bronze and bronze will probably fetch something in today's market," he says. "We could probably think of selling it." 
 
 Tiyin pictures courtesy of Yuriy Dema and Horizonfr.com 
 
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– The Canadian mint has started its effort to wipe the penny from existence, and plenty of people in the US (including President Obama) would like to do the same. But the BBC reminds us that the one-cent piece isn't the smallest to change hands in US history—the half-cent was done away with in 1857—and it's far from the least valuable coin currently in circulation. That honor goes to Uzbekistan's Tiyin, which is worth 1/1999th of a penny. But the Tiyin lacks purchasing power, so it's rarely seen or used these days, explains the BBC. And while it sits atop the heap of chump change, it's not alone: Burma's Pya is worth 1/855th of a US penny, while Jamaica's cent equals 1/92nd of a penny. But there is a flip side: Norway's Krone is the equivalent of 18.2 US pennies.