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Sunday, July 7, 2019 | 2 a.m.
A penny saved is a penny earned, but what is that penny truly worth? You can't use them in gumball machines or parking meters; you probably have more in your couch cushions than you do in your pocketbook; and some countries have eliminated them altogether. Yet, through decades of redesigns, composition changes, credit cards, cryptocurrency and legislation to ax it, the Lincoln cent remains in circulation.
What’s in a name?
The U.S. Mint officially calls the penny a “cent.” The U.S. Treasury calls it the “one cent piece” or “one cent coin.” To most of the rest of the world, the Lincoln Cent is known by the colloquial nickname “penny.” In fact, the word “penny” is a carryover from colonial days—the British have long called their low denomination coin a penny. (Multiple British pennies are known as “pence.”)
Is it worth it? Arguments for and against the penny
• Charities benefit from “micro-donations” of small denomination coins. Penny donations alone represent almost 20% of the $90 million donated to charities through Coinstar’s Coins that Count Program.
• Getting rid of the penny is poor public policy — Americans simply like them.
• According to a poll by the Opinion Research Corporation: 68% of American adults favor keeping the penny in circulation; 73% were concerned that without the penny, merchants might use price rounding to raise prices; 71% of those earning $35,000 or less per year want to keep the penny
But then again ...
Composition changes
The design of our one-cent piece hasn’t been the only thing to change since Roosevelt’s days in office. The recipe for the composition of the coin itself has gone through modifications, most notably in the 1940s during WWII, when various metals were needed to build weapons and armor.
• 1901-1942: Bronze (95% copper, 2.5% tin, 2.5% zinc)
• 1943: Zinc-coated steel (it looked much like a dime—a problem fixed in 1944)
• 1944-1946: Copper (95% copper from recycled ammunition shells, 5% zinc)
• 1946-1962: Return to bronze (95% copper, 2.5% tin, 2.5% zinc)
• 1962–1982: Brass (95% copper, 5% zinc)
• 1982-present: 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper (however, the 2009 Lincoln bicentennial cents are bronze)
• According to the 2017 U.S. Mint annual report, the cost of making a penny is 1.82 cents per coin, which means it costs more to make than it’s worth. With more than 8 billion pennies in circulation, this totaled nearly $70 million in losses.
• President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain favored getting rid of the penny during their terms.
• The penny can’t keep up with inflation.
• The U.S. Department of Defense did away with using the penny on overseas military bases more than 30 years ago.
• Mining the materials and the energy use producing the low-value coin is bad for the environment.
The origin of the Lincoln Cent
Ditching British currency, the first penny (the Fugio cent, pictured above) was pressed in the United States in 1787, but wasn’t legal tender until 1856. More than 300 billion one-cent coins have been minted since, but unless you’re a coin collector, you probably don’t know of it.
The Lincoln cent, designed by Victor David Brenner, hit the scene in 1909, during President Theodore Roosevelt’s term, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth. There were one-cent pieces in circulation prior, but this marked the first time a portrait was used as a regular feature on U.S. currency. Earlier pennies utilized the personification of the word “liberty.”
Fine design
The “heads” side of the penny has changed little through the years, depicting Lincoln in profile with the words “In God We Trust.” The “tails” side has had a few makeovers.
Did you know?
Wheat pennies are generally worth at least three times their face value, unless they are in poor condition.
• Wheat Cent, 1909-1958: Shows a pair of wheat heads flanking the words “One Cent” and “United States of America.” Curving around the upper border is the national motto “E Pluribus Unum.” (These three phrases appear on the reverse of every cent from 1909 to present day.)
• Lincoln Memorial Cent, 1959-2008: In 1959, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lincoln, the reverse side of the coin was redesigned to depict the Lincoln Memorial, complete with a tiny President Lincoln seated in the center.
Countries that have done away with low-denomination coins
• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• Great Britain
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Israel
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• New Guinea
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Sweden
• United States—Surprise! America has already booted the half-cent, two-cent, three-cent, half-dime coin and the 20-cent coin.
• Lincoln Bicentennial Cents, 2009: This series of coins marked the bicentennial anniversary of Lincoln's birth and the 100-year anniversary of the original 1909 Lincoln Cent. Four designs for the reverse showcase different stages in the life of Abraham Lincoln: birth and early childhood in Kentucky, formative years in Indiana, professional life in Illinois, presidency in Washington, D.C.
• Union Shield Cent, 2010-present: The current design features a shield on the reverse, an “image emblematic of President Lincoln’s preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country,” as was instructed by Congress.
Top 3 most valuable pennies
• 1944 Steel Wheat Penny: $110,334 certified mint state condition; $77,234 average condition
Only a few 1944 steel wheat pennies ever made it into circulation, and were issued in error. Analysts suggest steel plates may have been mixed in with other copper metals during production.
• 1943 Copper Wheat Penny: $85,782 certified mint state condition; $60,047 average condition
Pennies from 1943 were supposed to be steel or war pennies, but a few copper plates may have been accidentally added to a batch. Many 1943 pennies can be faked by using a 1948 penny and filing down one side of the “8” into the number “3.”
• 1873 Indian Head Penny: $10,000 certified mint state condition; $20 average condition
The U.S. Mint produced 11,676,000 of these pennies, and the number “3” on the coin’s date appears one of two ways. On some coins, the three is just a few millimeters away from being completely closed while the other version features a more open “3.” Along with condition, the level of “openness” of the coin’s “3” will determine its value.
Coin values are based off coins issued into circulation and evaluated by cointrackers.com.
This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly.
