Male strippers aside, I think that using coins for amounts under five dollars is good for the economy. Think about it. Say for example you go out on the piss. Because bars tend to be crowded, you'll pay for your drinks with notes all night because it's quicker and easier than counting out correct change. This means that by the end of the night, you'll have a wallet bulging with change. You don't want to walk around with all this money dragging your trousers down, so you'll blow it all on a souvlaki or a pie or some pizza before you go home. With notes, which are light and easier to carry around, you may be more tempted to keep them in your wallet and just buy a couple of potato cakes or a dim sim instead.
Thus, having heavy coins of higher denomination encourages people to spend more money than would otherwise be the case, and keeps money moving through the economy.
And get rid of the pennies. When I was in America I ended up with so many of those fuck*ng things, and they're completely useless. I even tried to get rid of some by giving them to a homeless guy, and he was all "What, you don't have a dollar bill?" Ingrate.