It costs about 2.41 cents to mint a penny. Now that the price of the raw materials exceeds the face value, there is a risk that coins will be illegally melted down for raw materials. With the average wage in the U.S. being about $17 per hour in 2006, it takes about two seconds to earn one cent. Thus, it is not worthwhile for most people to deal with a penny. If it takes only two seconds extra for each transaction that uses a penny, the cost of time wasted in the U.S. is about $3.65 per person annually, about $1 billion for all America. Using a different calculation economist Robert Whaples estimates a $300 million annual loss. Pennies are not accepted by all vending machinestoll booths, and pennies are generally not accepted in bulk. In addition, people often do not use cents to pay at all; they may simply use larger denominations and get pennies in return. Pennies end up sitting in jars and are not in circulation. Economist Greg Mankiw says that "The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but... the penny no longer serves that purpose." or Prices would not be higher. Research by Robert Whaples, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, using data on nearly 200,000 transactions from a multi-state convenience store chain shows that rounding would have virtually no effect. Consumers would gain a tiny amount about 1/40th of a cent per transaction. There has never been a coin in circulation in the U.S. worth as little as the penny is worth today. Due to monetary inflation, as of 2007, a nickel is worth approximately what a penny was worth in 1972. Eliminate the penny!!!