In many cases the penny has become worthless. I work at a restaurant in Michigan and even my managers have said that we do not need to count the pennies in the register because they are unimportant.
How does that affect the customers? Currently all of the employees now round up when giving out change to the customers. Who wants three pennies to put in their pocket after having just paid for food? It is much easier for both the customer and the person running the register to just give them an even amount. This is especially seen when the change is $0.73. Why hand out 2 quarters,two dimes and three pennies, when they can just have 3 quarters. As stated above the pennies don't have any significant buying power and could easily just be removed.