Cent Vs. Penny. The Debate Is Over!

I spoke with my wife this morning over this subject. She believes that the word "cent(s)" on the coin, whether it be a penny, nickel, dime, etc., is a unit of measurement and NOT the name of the coin. It is letting the "user," so to speak, know how many "cents" the coin is WORTH. I disagree with her in that a penny is what we call it and it NOT the real name for the coin because it doesn't have the word "penny" anyplace on it. It says "cent." Her reply is, she's a woman whether the word "woman" is tattooed somewhere on her forehead or otherwise; it's just a known fact.

Bottom line? I guess we all have to agree to disagree. You say tomato and I say tomato (although in print, they look the same!).

i dont want to get in the argument but I see QuickSilver's point. The nickel does say 5 cent..
edit: but I guess the same argument could be brought up about the capped bust dime,quarter,half for which they have 10c,25c,50c... and they are called dime quarter and half dollar.. I think there are more pressing issues than whether a small copper colored round stamped one cent is a penny or a cent

Just a thought, If we of the coin collecting community do not see the proper use of terminology in Numismatics, then as a group are we not sending the wrong message to other's who do not study and discuss coins and currency. I mean to say that don't we as a group become responsible to use the "proper " terminology while discussing coins and such.I have been Hammered many times from the "pro's and experts " for not using the proper terminology while discussing a coin related topic.
I really do care to use the right nomenclature , or at least try to, and this is not an easy thing to do, so, to say that one term is right and another is wrong, well, that does shed a shady colored light on this subject, so, we all have our own way of relating to things and to say you are right and I am wrong, is just another form of expressing your right to have an opinion, let's get to the topic at hand, "the debate is over, .......

I think the point of the debate is that there are people who believe that penny is the correct terminology, and who is to say it is not? (for the coin, not the denomination)

Just as Nickel is correct for the five cent coin.

However, as I said much earlier. No one at this late stage in life is going to change their mind on something they have done since childhood. So as with all of these type threads I don't think there will be any knock out punches!

You have some strange British spellings there? Or are they Australian?

Todays newspaper
http://www.freep.com/article/200902...07/902150425

Asked and answered: Isn't a penny British?

By Alice Pepper • Free Press staff writer • February 15, 2009


QUESTION: In the Free Press report about the Lincoln Cent, you called it a penny. Isn't a penny British?


ANSWER: Yes, but quit being so fussy. "Cent" is the U.S. Mint's official name for the coin.

The lowest denomination on our currency chain is getting extra attention this year for the Lincoln bicentennial -- the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which was Thursday.

For Lincoln's centennial in 1909, he became the first U.S. president to appear on circulating coins. The 1792 Mint Act had limited coins to "an impression emblematic of liberty." Our new country had rebelled against the Old World. We didn't want our coins to be like Europe's with their monarchs and emperors.

But we eventually got over ourselves, and the Philadelphia Mint coined 22 million of the first Lincoln cents in 1909. In 2008, 2.5 billion cents were stamped in Philadelphia. Add the Denver Mint production for close to 5.5 billion cents last year.

Check your pockets and penny, er, cent jar for these valuable coins: 1931-S (minted in San Francisco), $50; 1909-S VDB (the back has those initials), $550, and the 1984 doubled earlobe, $30.

Oh I see? It's a list from Georgia State University as to how the Brits spell? And this is for teachers. Maybe they should have done some research first. They probably looked them up on the Internet.

I especially like encylycopaedia!