From 1995 to 1999, for two Congresses, I was the senior counsel for the House Banking Subcommittee that dealt with currency and coinage among a number of other responsibilities. For all the reasons listed in the Oct. 19 Herald, my boss and I decided to try to legislate the penny out of existence.

The mint was not yet losing money on the penny, but it was already a drag on the economy. I learned, to my great chagrin, that a small but powerful zinc lobby could defend the penny through the bipartisan control of two Midwestern states’ senators (one state produced the zinc and the other processed it into coin blanks.) Four senators may not be able to pass legislation, but they can definitely block almost any bills that threaten a major local interest. I had a lot more success with the 50 State Quarters Program.

That passed, with only Ron Paul voting against it, (he never accepted the theory of seigniorage), but the program has earned more than $6 billion for the Treasury to retire national debt.

John Hawley Lopez

Durango