To all the great mysteries of life, add this: Why is the lowly, tarnished penny so revered, and the shiny $1 coin so reviled?

Pennies proliferate. They fill our pockets. Our jars runneth over.

When we drop a penny, we conduct the ultimate cost-benefit analysis: Should I pick it up?Consequently, pennies are everywhere.

But where are your Sacagaweas? And where are all those John Quincy Adams presidential coins?

The answer: in the inventory of the nation's Federal Reserve Banks.

The Federal Reserve Banks hold about $1.4 billion in $1 coins -- enough to meet the demand for the next 40 years.

In fact, far more than half of all $1 coins ever minted are in government vaults.

To read the complete article, see:$1 coins: Unwanted, unloved and out of currency(www.cnn.com/2013/11/28/us/one-dollar-coins/)