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Penny

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rggoodie's Avatar
United States
23503 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  1:32 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add rggoodie to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I need clarification form some of you American Coin collectors.

The British empire has been known for its Penny
http://www.magicpenny.org/engpennyhistory.htm
How did he Anerican One Cent get the nickname Penny.

The dime says dime on it, the quarter says quater on it,
the last American 10 & 25 cent coins were made in the U. S.
I believe in 1838.

So how is it the One Cent is still called a Penney?
rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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catman's Avatar
United States
954 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  2:11 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add catman to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Hi rggoodie,

I'm going from memory here but at the time of inception of the U.S. coinage coins were classified as Disme for dime. I bleieve this means 1/10. The quarter and half were called based on the number of "cents" they contained. Quarter was 25 cents and the half was 50 cents. As time passed, I believe it was with the Seated Type it was changed to the fraction of a dollar they represented. The 10 cents became "one dime", Thre 25 cents became a "quarter" for a quarter of a dollar and the 50 cents became the half for a half dollar. Basically the coins were first described based on the number of cents they had then changed to what part of a dollar they represented.

The one cent coin is a different thing altogether. It started out as one cent and, technically, is still one cent. Its still stamped on the coin.

Due to the great number of english speaking immigrants the one cent pick up the nickname "Penny". It represented the lowest denomination of coin where they came from (excluding the Half Cent) so the one cent fit right into place. It was easier to say the word "Penny" than it was to say the words "One Cent" so the nickname was born.

hope this helped

catman
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Mike's Avatar
United States
2884 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  3:51 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Mike to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Perhaps an even earlier morph on the origin of the word "penny" as it relates to money......

Penny

"Penny," either alone or in the compound "pennyworth," occurs as the rendering of the Roman denarius . (Matthew 20:2; 22:10; Mark 6:37; 12:15; Luke 20:24; John 6:7; Revelation 6:6) The denarius was the chief Roman silver coin, and was worth about 15 to 17 cents.

penny
adj 1: (used in combination) priced as indicated; "`penny' is a
combining form in such expressions as `sixpenny
cakes'"
2: priced at 1 cent; "penny candy"
n 1: a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United
Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
2: a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit
[syn: cent, centime]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Penny \Pen"ny\, a. [Perh. a corruption of pun, for pound.]
Denoting pound weight for one thousand; -- used in
combination, with respect to nails; as, tenpenny nails, nails
of which one thousand weight ten pounds.
Penny \Pen*ny\, n.; pl. Penniesor Pence. Pennies denotes the
number of coins; pence the amount of pennies in value. [OE.
peni, AS. penig, pening, pending; akin to D. penning, OHG.
pfenning, pfenting, G. pfennig, Icel. penningr; of uncertain
origin.]
1. An English coin, formerly of copper, now of bronze, the
twelfth part of an English shilling in account value, and
equal to four farthings, or about Two Cents; -- usually
indicated by the abbreviation d. (the initial of
denarius).

Note: ``The chief Anglo-Saxon coin, and for a long period the
only one, corresponded to the denarius of the Continent
. . . [and was] called penny, denarius, or denier.''
--R. S. Poole. The ancient silver penny was worth about
three pence sterling (see Pennyweight). The old
Scotch penny was only one twelfth the value of the
English coin. In the United States the word penny is
popularly used for cent.

2. Any small sum or coin; a groat; a stiver. --Shak.

3. Money, in general; as, to turn an honest penny.

What penny hath Rome borne, What men provided, what
munition sent? --Shak.

4. (Script.) See Denarius.

Penny cress (Bot.), an annual herb of the Mustard family,
having round, flat pods like silver pennies (Thlaspi
arvense). --Dr. Prior.

Penny dog (Zo["o]l.), a kind of shark found on the South
coast of Britain: the tope.

Penny father, a penurious person; a niggard. [Obs.]
--Robinson (More's Utopia).

Penny grass (Bot.), pennyroyal. [R.]

Penny post, a post carrying a letter for a penny; also, a
mail carrier.

Penny wise, wise or prudent only in small matters; saving
small sums while losing larger; -- used chiefly in the
phrase, penny wise and pound foolish.
Penny \Pen"ny\, a.
Worth or costing one penny.


Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Penny
(Gr. denarion), a silver coin of the value of about 7 1/2d. or
8d. of our present money. It is thus rendered in the New
Testament, and is more frequently mentioned than any other coin
(Matt. 18:28; 20:2, 9, 13; Mark 6:37; 14:5, etc.). It was the
daily pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Christ. In the reign
of Edward III. an English penny was a labourer's day's wages.
This was the "tribute money" with reference to which our Lord
said, "Whose image and superscription is this?" When they
answered, "Caesar's," he replied, "Render therefore to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are
God's" (Matt. 22:19; Mark 12:15).


Edited by Mike
10/01/2005 4:05 pm
Pillar of the Community
United States
2724 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  3:55 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add national dealer to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The word "penny" is derived from the British coin pence.
Pillar of the Community
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 Posted 10/01/2005  3:56 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add national dealer to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
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rggoodie's Avatar
United States
23503 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  5:40 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rggoodie to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Some great information.
Even clarifies why dime is not 10 cents and quarter is not 25 cents.
Know the reason for Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the commonwealth to have "pennies" but have not seen the reference as to why the American "one cent" is refered to as a penny- Did I miss something in one of the above posts?
rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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catman's Avatar
United States
954 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  5:59 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add catman to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
It may be that because when the United States first began minting coinage they adopted the decimal system and declared that 100 cents equaled one dollar while the others used the pound, pence, shilling systems.

catman
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Morgan Fred's Avatar
United States
2684 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  7:55 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Morgan Fred to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I wonder if the old 3-cent coin was colloquially known as a "trime" or "thirty-third"? I also wonder if the 20-cent coin was know as a "fifth"?

(Slow and hot [109F] day here in AZ. )

Fred
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Kyra's Avatar
United States
867 Posts
 Posted 10/01/2005  8:57 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Kyra to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The term "penny" is so prevalent here that it's even on the boxes of cents that I order for the vault and on the trays we keep the rolls in. If I really want to mess with new co-workers I'll ask if anyone has a roll of cents they can sell me. You should see the looks I get!

Rachel [:p]
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