Little Tree

 

Last month, when Avery Sanford turned 18, her estranged father decided to make her last child support payment in person. In pennies. He showed up unannounced, towing a rented landscaper’s trailer full of coins, which he dumped on his ex-wife’s lawn. He’d clearly gone to a lot of trouble to hurt, embarrass and inconvenience Avery, her mom, and her sister. After they’d cleaned up the mess, they donated all 80,000 pennies to a domestic abuse refuge called Safe Harbor. It was such a lovely gesture. But if any other ex-husbands are thinking of emulating Avery’s dad, they should know this: coins are legal tender, but no one is forced to accept them. Pennies cost more to mint than they’re worth. The only reason we still make them is because of sales tax. If businesses would include sales tax in their prices, rounded up to avoid orphan cents, we could do away with pennies altogether.