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 Replies: 21 / Views: 2,517 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9864 Posts |
Is it OK to call a large cent a penny?
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
I have always used the term cent for U.S. coinage, I would think the proper term would be Draped Bust Large Cent instead of Penny. Ultimately, it's a preference I would think.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
There are those who would slap someone for calling any Cent a "penny."  I'm one of them.Your mileage, of course, will vary. Even though numismatics is a hobby of precision, there are those who don't feel the need to extend that precision into semantics and they're collectors, too. |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9864 Posts |
I'm just curious to know if US collectors are more flexible in their terminology than Canadian coin collectors.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
Quote:
I'm one of them. I am one too. Most people especially the younger ones will call a Lincoln Cent a penny but usually the ones I know have never seen a Large Cent so all they know about them is what I have told them so they usually do call them a Large Cent instead of a Large Penny. I always make a special note to let everyone I talk coins to know a US 1¢ coin is a cent not a penny and I will show them a real penny to show them what a penny looks like and the difference. I think it would help if the boxes some people get at the bank didn't say "pennies" on the box |
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Moderator
Australia
16834 Posts |
In accordance with long-standing tradition and a sometimes fiery debate conducted amongst the moderators, it was determined that the use of "penny" instead of "cent" was to be tolerated (though not encouraged) in the US Moderns, US Classics and Canadian forums. Use of "penny" instead of "cent" in the Main Coin forum and other CCF subforums where our non-North-American members are likely to get confused is to be discouraged.
I don't see any reason why "large penny" would be any less wrong or less acceptable than "large cent" under those conditions.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Heh, I don't collect whatever you call those things, but William Sheldon's catalog "Penny Whimsy" refers to them as cents, pennies, and coppers..... The Early American Coppers Club (EAC) publishes (or published) a monthly journal called "Penny Wise"...... I think that these titles are made tongue in cheek though, and that mainstream term is cent.
The Brits refer to these copper discs as pennies... possibly the American terminology of cent was merely another act of rebellion, as was our 'refinement' of the English language (compare Cockney to Eubonics).
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Valued Member
United States
85 Posts |
Sadly, I've walked into a dozen banks and asked for a box of Cents and got odd looks. The tellers had no idea what I was asking for and had to go ask their vault managers if they knew what a cent was and if they carried any. I'm at the point where I just walk into the banks now and ask for a box of pennies. Even the box they come in is labeled pennies.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
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Even the box they come in is labeled pennies. I personally think "cent" is more appropriate, but if the Mint (and the rest of the American population too!) wants to call them "pennies", I guess I have to as well...  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
On most coin forums people have that argument. Yet if you go to any store, school, library, bowling alley or anywhere in the USA, people of all ages say PENNY, not cents. Not long ago there was a post somewhere about all the songs that used the word PENNY. Imagine singing Cents From Heaven for instance. Put a cent in your hand and ask anyone you see what it is. Bet about 99% will say PENNY. I know people on coin forums try to say we all should say CENT, but it's way to late. In the USA it is accepted as a PENNY. It is just who we in this country are. People that can and do say whatever we want. Quote:
I think it would help if the boxes some people get at the bank didn't say "pennies" on the box
Just one of the many places that is used. Edited by just carl
03/20/2011 4:15 pm
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Moderator
Australia
16834 Posts |
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The Brits refer to these copper discs as pennies... possibly the American terminology of cent was merely another act of rebellion... Partly. The adoption of a decimal currency system was definitely an "act of rebellion" in the sense of throwing out the old colonial money and making new money that was more relevant to local usage (based on the Spanish-colonial dollar rather than the pound) and more in keeping with the Rationalist spirit of the age. But it didn't happen formally until the Coinage Act in 1792, long after the rebellion was over. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3234 Posts |
Technically, the U.S. Mint has never created a Penny...only one-cent coins.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
It is things like this that has made our language the American Language and not really English as so many say. In our schools we teach so called English but when we see a program on TV from England, many of us can hardly understand them. And many from there say the same about us. And too many from our far South say things that Northerners don't understand. BUT it's all American so whatever we decide to call our coins, it's what they are and will probably always be.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
A cent by any other name is still a cent, and pennies are non-cents.  Yet, I prefer to think of them all as coppers ... be they large or small. There, I've offered my two pennies or tuppence.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
A rose by any other name....
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
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The Brits refer to these copper discs as pennies... possibly the American terminology of cent was merely another act of rebellion... Close, but no cigar. The British refer to a single coin as a penny, and more than one as pence. It's easy to keep track of the difference and call the coins by their correct names. Pence say "penny" on one side, while cents say "cent". You only have to be as smart as a near-worthless piece of metal. |
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Replies: 21 / Views: 2,517 |
Posted 03/19/2011 11:07 pm
