Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About the Penny - TIME (2024)

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What are some historical facts about the penny? ›

Penny History

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. Fun Fact! During the colonial period, people used a mixture of coins from other countries.

In the past, pennies were made of 100% copper and even steel, but pennies made in 1982 and later are copper-plated zinc. There also have been pennies containing various metallic mixtures of copper with other metals, such as nickel, tin and zinc. The first penny, minted in 1793, was as big as a half dollar.

America's first one-cent piece, called the "large cent," was first struck in 1793, one year after the Mint opened. It was so big that it was hard to use, but it wasn't replaced by a smaller penny until 1857, more than 50 years later.

The mint mark is the small letter that shows which Mint location made the coin. The two most common mint marks are the “P” for Philadelphia and “D” for Denver. The initials of the artist(s) who designed and sculpted the coin are also included in small letters. Other writing on a coin includes the date and inscriptions.

1. 1856 Flying Eagle Cent. The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent is one of the most rare and valuable pennies and is well worth seeking out. Only an estimated 1000 were struck by the US Mint as an unauthorized pattern coin in 1856, though the exact amount is unknown.

The small date Lincoln Memorial cent is special because few of these were minted in copper. This Lincoln cent is considered transitional and is rare. If you remember the 1943 copper cent, it might help to think of the 1982 small date copper Lincoln cent, specifically the 1982-D copper Lincoln cent, as its cousin.

As for that design, the obverse side of the coin boasts the image of Lady Liberty. The coin is called the “Flowing Hair” Large Cent because Lady Liberty is depicted with long, flowing hair. Arching overtop of Lady Liberty's image is the word “Liberty,” while the 1793 year of minting is featured underneath.

US coins do not have any secret symbols or hidden meanings officially embedded by the government or minting authorities.

What did the first penny look like? ›

The design on the first penny was of a woman with flowing hair symbolizing liberty. The coin was larger and made of pure copper, while today's smaller coin is made of copper and zinc. Liberty stayed on the penny for more than 60 years.

1849 Double Eagle Gold Coin

The one remaining specimen is carefully preserved at National Numismatic Collections at the Smithsonian Institution. The 1849 Double Eagle is currently the rarest and most valuable coin in the world, with an estimated value of around $20 million.

THE PENNY SYSTEM

Understanding the penny nail requires a look back to England in the late Middle Ages. In the 1400s, the price of 120 nails was measured in pennies, or “pence.” Like today, larger nails sold for higher prices. The penny number is simply the price of 120 nails of a given length in historic England.

176,485,000 Jefferson nickels were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1940 – a significant increase in mintage over Philadelphia's 1939 output and up to this point in the Jefferson nickel series, this figure represents a series high. As for Jefferson nickels struck in the 1940s, the 1940-(P) is the third-most-common.

The “d” is associated with a Roman coin called the denarius, which was also the name for an English penny. So what's that got to do with nails? It was associated with nails when they were hand-forged, one at a time. Some say a hundred 3-1/2 inch nails would have cost 16 pennies and thus became known as 16-penny nails.

The miscellaneous silver sceattas minted in Frisia and Anglo-Saxon England after around 680 were probably known as "pennies" at the time. (The misnomer is based on a probable misreading of the Anglo-Saxon legal codes.)

Those who favor keeping the penny believe the penny plays an important role in keeping down the costs of the goods and services we buy. If there were no pennies, stores and restaurants would round up to the nearest nickel. This means consumers would end up paying $0.55 for something that should cost only $0.51.

Well, Otha Anders does not have to wonder any longer after he cashed in the collection of pennies that he spent some 45 years putting together. The 73-year-old from Louisiana amassed thousands of pennies over the years, explaining that he would always keep hold of them and never spend them when he was out.

The steel cent is the only regular-issue United States coin that can be picked up with a magnet. The steel cent was also the only coin issued by the United States for circulation that does not contain any copper.