Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of the Dollar Coin Alliance, there is broad support for eliminating the penny. The Hart/POS survey found that 77 percent of voters support suspending production of the penny. When told of the savings made by suspending the penny, support jumped to 84 percent. Historical precedents There has never been a coin in circulation in the U.S. worth as little as the penny is worth today, although currently other countries have coins with less purchasing power in circulation. Due to inflation, one nickel in 2017 was worth approximately what a penny was worth in 1974. When the United States discontinued the half-cent coin in 1857, it had a -equivalent buying power of about cents. After 1857, the new smallest coin was the one-cent, which had a -equivalent buying power of cents. The nickel fell below that value in 1973; the dime (at 10 cents) fell below that value in 1981; the quarter (at 25 cents) fell below that value in 2012. Zinc toxicity Zinc can cause anemia or gastric ulceration in babies that inadvertently ingest pennies made after 1982. A single penny can kill a pet. Environmental hazardThe mining of zinc and copper causes toxic pollution and is especially undesirable when considering the valuable metals being used to produce a coin with little utility. Effort to transport and countApproximately 60 percent of coins minted are pennies and all these pennies (generally over 5 billion annually) must be transported by secure and therefore expensive means from the Mint to banks and then on to stores. Store employees spend valuable time counting low-value pennies at the end of a work shift. Banks often return loose coins on an armored truck to be sorted and wrapped so as to be ready to be given out to a customer. This process costs on the order of 10 cents per roll (a 20 percent charge on a roll of 50 pennies). Arguments for preservation Consumers and the economy A research paper commissioned by the zinc lobby and its front group Americans for Common Cents concludes that were the penny to be eliminated, consumers, particularly poor consumers who are more likely to use cash, may pay several dollars more each year if all transactions are rounded up. Canada's elimination of the penny, however, rounds cash transactions both up and down. The paper stated that rather than eliminate the