A final goodbye tonight to the penny.

The last one was minted earlier Wednesday in Philadelphia . The government is getting out of the penny business, which wasn't a great business. The U.S. Mint said it costs 3.69 cents cents to produce and distribute each penny.

Oh, and it's not actually called a penny. It's a one-cent piece. The word "penny" is left-over from the British.

Today, I started feeling guilty about how I've treated the penny. I can't remember the last time I used one for something other than making a wish or squishing in a machine to make a souvenir. And I haven't even bothered to pick one up, so all day long I'd have good luck, in a very long time.

Ben Franklin "coined" the phrase "a penny saved is a penny earned." Maybe if we hadn't saved so many, they wouldn't have s

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