Penny Question

Iam sure she is Learning and hopefully from the above thread She will learn the right answers.

Another article just for Coin Girl. This article is published on the U.S. Mint web site for kids: http://www.usmint.gov/kids/html/

The Story
"Every penny you've ever spent probably had Abraham Lincoln on it. That's because his picture has been there for almost a hundred years! But when the United States Mint was created in 1792, one of the first coins it made was the one-cent coin, and it looked very different from a modern cent.

The image on the first cent was of a lady with flowing hair, who stood for liberty. The coin was larger and made of pure copper, while today's penny is made of copper and zinc.

In 1857, Congress told the Mint to make the cent smaller and to mix the copper with nickel (12 percent). People found the smaller cent easier to use. The new cents showed a flying eagle on the front and a wreath on the back.

At the same time, Congress stopped people from using money from other countries, though we had used foreign coins for many years. But the Mint could melt them down and make them into United States coins.

One foreign currency we were using was British money. The British pound was not divided into 100 cents like our dollar, but its smallest part was called a penny, and that's why we call our cent a "penny" today. But for more than one, the British called them "pence" while ours are called "pennies."

The man on our pennies today is Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president. During the time the Lincoln design has appeared on the obverse (front), two different designs have been used on the reverse (back): first a wheat design, then the Lincoln Memorial."
Penny Lexicon
* A penny for your thoughts (tell me what you're thinking)
* Not one red cent (not giving up a single penny)
* Penniless, not a penny to his name (poor)
* Penny wise and pound foolish (being thrifty in small things but wasteful in important things)
* Put your Two Cents in (give your opinion)
* Pennies from heaven (small blessings)
* Penny-pinching (stinginess)
* Penny ante (small-time)
* Penny whistle (toy flute)
* Penny arcade (part of an amusement park with coin-operated machines)

I'm glad that I grew up knowing some of these from the Lexicon even though they did derive from our Countries British history! Enjoy Coin Girl!

Well its pretty obvious that I was wrong !! they are pennies, and pennies they will remain !!

I apologise to all whom may have been offended by my posts !!



Sincerely
Metalman

Welcome Coin Girl!! Yes I call them pennys also, and the first small[Cent] was in 1856. A Steel penny in 1943. My first penny I collect was the FLYING EAGLE PENNY[yes it say one cent on the rev.]

Hi, thanks Dsking for the story of the penny! Also, again thanks for the info, thanks!(This smiley is cool!)

No tangents here. You are correct and your tuppence is worth more than you know! Thanks for pointing that out.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Coin Girl

Hi, since I collect old pennys I was wondering what the date of the
first penny was?

---

Technically, the U.S. government contracted out for the first federally mandated Cents - the Fugio cents of 1787 made by James Jarvis. The nice thing is, these are much cheaper to obtain ($100-200) than trying to get hold of an authentic 1793 chain cent! Search on ebay for an example.

But many continue to insist that the chain cent was first, because it was produced by the mint.