The history of the penny dates back to 1787. The official name for the penny was the “one cent piece” but people kept referring to it by the name of the British coin equivalent , the pence, and the name stuck. In 1792, the United States Mint was created to regularly manufacture these newly designed pieces of currency: the penny, the quarter, dime, and nickel, and put them into circulation. The original batch of pennies produced contained 11,178 pennies made entirely of 100% copper. The first penny created in 1787 was called the Fugio cent. These pennies were each five times heavier than today’s pennies. On one side it had a sun and sundial with the saying, “Mind Your Own Business” and on the other side it had a chain with thirteen links …show more content…
For example the penny minted in 1793 had a lady with flowing hair to represent Lady Liberty. It was not until 1909 that the penny represented a famous person when Teddy Roosevelt introduced the penny with Abraham Lincoln’s face to honor his 100th birthday. This Abraham Lincoln penny was the first penny to contain the words “In God We Trust”. Since the original penny in 1787, 300 billions pennies have been minted. However, in 1815, the mint temporarily stopped producing pennies due to the shortage of copper resulting from the War of 1812. Throughout 228 years of production of the penny, it has been changed to meet the newly forming wants of the people and the …show more content…
Some of the reasons the penny has not been discontinued in the United States is the penny has a rich history. Also, the penny used to hold more value before inflation caused prices to rise. In our interview with Mr. Stevens, he told us he used to be able to go to a store and buy candy for a penny. Then after we asked him if he thought it should be discontinued and he said no because he had a connection to it. This connection is common throughout people his age which is one reason making a decision is so hard. The Mint is considering other means of coin production, but industries with coin operated machine say it would cost them billions to re-fit machines to accept altered coins. The government has been taking steps to reduce the the gap between price to make the penny and the price of the
The Penny is a wonderful coin. It might only be worth one cent but that one cent can help people in all sought's of situations. The penny should kept in circulation. There are many people that use the penny still in today’s society.
We should keep the penny because it has history, in fact it was “the first currency authorized by the United States” (Lewis). The penny no longer has the value that it used to have, but it is still necessary to make purchases as accurate as possible. The penny may seem like a waste of time to many Americans because it takes so long for cashiers to make change, forcing people to wait in line, but it is actually worth the time spent. The penny helps with keeping prices a cent lower, and therefore stimulating the economy. The penny is important to many people who need the money and for whom pennies still have value.
In 2001 United States Representative Jim Kolbe introduced legislation to Congress to eliminate the penny coin in most transactions. Although this legislation failed, there are still consistent calls to eliminate the penny as the smallest-denomination United States coin. Our nation is founded on passed traditions. Any American can look basically in any place to understand why America has thrived for centuries. Every tradition, sculpture, monument, or artifact gives Americans history about what has occured. The country struggles to destroy any of these long kept traditions. Although some traditions are completely relevant, the use of the penny is of little worth today. Whether the penny is rolling around in your pocket or resting at the
The story of the penny starts on 1792 it came with several different coins including the dime, nickel, quarter, and half penny. The pennies were first made out of 100% copper but the price of the copper went up, because of inflation the power of the penny went down. The cause of the mint to reduce the amount of copper in pennies first from 100% to 95% but then to 5% copper and 95% zinc. Despite the debate in 2006 the value of metal on older pennies rose over one. They became more dead than alive so people began to melt and sell.
According to source #4, it states, “The one cent has influenced our language, giving us a number of idioms, such as ‘a penny for your thoughts’ (a way to ask what someone is thinking) and ‘not one red cent’ (meaning no money at all).” This is significant because it shows that the penny has affected the English language, giving the language more idioms to use. It is often said that pennies should not be manufactured anymore due to their excessive cost of manufacturing and distribution. Yes, numerous people do acknowledge that fact, but the government can also propose that pennies are to use inexpensive metal, like steel, which makes the entire coin industry save money and has the cost of coins to be cheaper to make.
It has been said that Lincoln was not the first face on the penny, “Benjamin Franklin reportedly designed the first American penny in 1787(Cohen).” Back then the penny was known as “Fugio” and it had an image of a sun and sundial above the message “Mind Your Business.” Also, on the cent appeared a chain with thirteen links, each represents the first colonies established, and on the other side of it was the motto “We Are One”. It was not until 1909 that Teddy Roosevelt introduced the Lincoln cent to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of America’s 16th president birth. Then fifty years later the Lincol...
There is a side to this debate where the penny could win and stay in circulation. To start, the penny has been around for years and years and it has seemed to work for this whole time. This is true, the penny has been around and can be used still in everyday life. The turn side of this, though valid, is with systems changing is is becoming more and more rare for the penny to have a true dire need. One other strong reason to keep the penny alive would be charity. Charity relies on those people who do not necessarily care enough to keep the pennies t drop them off in the donation box. That though, has a simple solution. If the penny were no longer around nickels and dimes would begin to be the change customers and users are no longer wanting. Charity then in result
Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
Imagine a boy walking down the street on a warm summer day. Along his path, he spots a penny, glinting in the summer sunlight. Does he pick it up and keep it or does he just walk past it? Why? The penny, a well known piece of American currency, has long been a part of our country. Some believe it to be old and unnecessary, others believe it should be maintained. There is a lively debate between those who believe in the penny and those who don’t believe in the penny, and there are many pros and cons to each side. I believe the penny is an outdated and irrelevant piece of currency, and I think you should too.
In today's century pennies has no purchasing power,pennies are useless and should be abolished.Pennies are not worth the same amount as they did before. Pennies are made out of copper,but if we use the copper for a more valuable coin that could be utilized,states will get rich and have a beneficial in the economy."Arizona is rich in copper...bigger percantage of the large-denomination coins that might be more heavily used it the penny were discontinue."(Source A) If pennies would be "discountinue" the states that have copper would make coins that are in use and beneficial for the people.For example, quarters,dimes,and nickels are worth more than a penny and are in use and acceptable in stores or even vending machines.Making,"A system under which cash transactions would be rounded up and down"(Source A) would be an advantage for the United States.This is a system that would help the stores by not wasting time counting pennies.When,"replacing paper dollars with long-lasting $1 coins"(Source A) would benifit the economy by making dollar coins which will be more beneficial than an ordinary penny.
In America’s modern day economy, the penny is very useless and irrelevant in our society today. As source C states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny.” There is not one item that can be purchased with a penny anymore (Source C). As source C states, “it takes nearly a dime to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” Stores such as the Dollar Store prove how the cheapest items you can purchase are with only a dollar, not a cent. Pennies are shoved out of the economic picture by credit cards and because of the modern-day technology, there are even self-service machines that help convert coins into paper money (Source B). Furthermore, pennies are easily tossed into piggy banks or appear behind chair cushions. It is not used the same way as it was before.
There is definitely no purpose and meaning in continuing the creation of these worthless objects. All they do to the United States is cause trouble, and they are clearly a bothersome to uphold them in our possession since they barely contain any value. Our economy would be fit with just dimes, quarters, and nickels as our coins. Abraham Lincoln, who was the president represented in this penny, would disapprove having his reputation and honor shown in a futile currency. The government needs to stop producing pennies. They create a loss of money rather than a profit; therefore, these copper cents need to be gone from our economy. What other choice is available? What can these pennies do in order to redeem their glory? It is nearly impossible to convince residents to use pennies once again. The penny has lost its value, and their dignity has become faint to us. It is time to eliminate pennies–for
The penny has been in America for centuries, it's a sentimental object for Americans everywhere. However many have debated on whether or not it should be eliminated or continue being made. The penny should be preserved because it is apart of American culture, given to charity, and keeps items cheap.
These hardships do not have to be faced though if the penny stays within America’s currency. In fact, there are only benefits to its continuation. Some would disagree with that, as people like William Safire deem the coin “worthless” (Source C). A penny may only be worth one cent, but when saved with other pennies, it can total to large sums. Edmond Knowles saved about 90 pennies a day for 38 years, which totaled to $13,084.59 (Source B). The saying ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ is reflected in Knowles and his belief in the value of a
The penny costs 1.4 cents to manufacture each time at the mint. This is causing the mint to lose money for the treasury. Last year, the mint earned $730 million dollars in profit. Many mint officials claim the estimation will be about $45 million due to the cost of metals made in pennies. Our country is continuing to have a very strong economy with the stock markets going up. The penny might affect these benefits from the rapid production of these coins. Copper and zinc are the main elements that compose the penny. With the rising costs of these elements, the economy may back up a bit. Because of this, the U.S. mint should reduce their penny production.