"Cent" Versus "Penny" - My Rant

I have fun with this subject.
and I hope you will enjoy reading this long post.

I Have had the opportunity to conduct some "bank training"

I start out by laying down four US coins and asking one or two people to identify a
once cent coin
a five cent coin
a ten cent coin and
a twenty five cent coin.

Being the participants are bankers and "cocky"

they immediately identify the coins as
a penny, a nickel or five cent coin the dime as a ten cent coin and the quarter dollar as a twenty five cent coin.

I then point out that the one cent coin has imprinted on it the term "ONE CENT" on the reverse on the bottom
I then display an Australian and British "Penny" showing the word "Penny"- that clarifies that
then I point out that on the reverse of the five cent coin it says "FIVE CENTS" just under the image of the building (Yes I know the name of the building)

I then point out that on what they call the 10 and 25 cent coins there is no numerical denomination listed rather it states DIME and QUARTER DOLLAR.

I then display Canadian coins because on them it says 10 cents and 25 cents (my apologies to my Aussie mates I don't use our currency here because although we have a 10 cent coin our next higher denomination is a 20 Cent Coin)

to make it more interesting I then ask them to describe the images on both sides of the US ONE CENT coin

this is where it gets to be fun. Most can identify President Abraham Lincoln on the Obverse - but most have no idea the image on the reverse is the Lincoln Memorial

to assist them I display a US Five Dollar banknote and demonstrate for them that Lincoln is the only person currently on the obverse and reverse of a circulating coin and banknote.

The image on the five dollar note makes it easier for the viewer to see the image and I then point out that they can see the seated statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse of the banknote and if they look carefully they will also see it on the reverse of the ONE CENT coin.

Next I show them that there are the names of states that appear at the top of the building on the reverse of the 5 dollar note and ask them why there are only 26.
the answers I receive would amaze you.

When I point out that there were forty eight state names engraved on the monument but - they only see 26 because they are only looking at the front of the building. That usually gets a laugh.

to make it more fun I take out a ONE Dollar banknote and as they view it I ask (here is the set up) Who was the first President of the United States? 999 out of 1000 people answer George Washington, because That is who is on the face of the One dollar US banknote.

I then ask isn't it true that the General of the Army is appointed by the President. To which I receive an affirmative, Then I ask who then appointed George Washington General of the Army if He was the first President and was not inaugurated until 1789.

I then explain that John Hancock appointed George Washington General.

and point out that George Washington was the First President of "These United States" as organized under the "current" constitution.
(There are numerous books on the market tracing whether Washington was the 11th or 13th President. I will leave that to the historians to fight out.

Now back to the point
Having convinced the bankers they don't know a CENT from a PENNY.
The are willing to pay attention as I demonstrate ways to determine if the current US Currency is counterfeit.

Remember these are the same people who gave me a 1934 Series A US $20 note for twenty dollars because they did not recognize it and thought it was a counterfeit.

In the US I deal in CENTS in Australia I used to deal with Pennys, but since decimalization I am back to cents.

But I do not refer to the US one cent coin as a PENNY


Hope you enjoy my sicko sense of humour, but I do what it takes to get people to pay attention

Since all you people got smart brains, one attaboy to the first poster who knows the technical name for a 6¼¢ piece (half a bit).

The quarter is a stupid denomination, a throwback to cutting up Spanish milled dollars. It and the 3¢ piece are the only two coins/bills with only one decimal multiple.

To wit, leaving off the $ or ¢ signs:

.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000 etc
.5, 5, 50, 500, 5000, 50000, 500000
2, 20, 200, 2000
25, 250
3, 300

Really? The mint calls them pennies, nickles,etc... now

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs...latingCoins/

LOL!! I love this thread!

Your brother callS his cat mutt? That's HILARIOUS

I believe coindexter's point is that, while the Wikipedia article for the US 1¢ coin is titled "Cent (United States coin)", the parallel article for the Canadian 1¢ coin is titled "Penny (Canadian coin)".

If you just type in Penny into Wikipedia, it gives an overview article primarily about the British and Empire/commonwealth coins, with links at the bottom to the coins from specific countries (including the US and Canada).

I picked up 2 boxes of pennies from the bank this morning. Each box is labeled $25 Pennies ( Brinks ) I couldn't resist ( this comment I mean) This has been the most entertaining pointless conversation I've ever been a part of. Why stop now?

A local bank lost a couple hundred dollars when someone cashed in some rolls of cents. Ignoring that the coins said "cent" and that the rolls were lumpy, all that mattered was that the wrappers said "dimes", and that made them rolls of dimes.

Anyone who insists that a mislabeled wrapper is what determimes the name of the contents, let me know, and I'll put together a few bags of dimes.