Black Spaniel Gallery Coins Blog: The Debate Over the Continuation of the Penny

It seems an annual event, panicked coin collectors asking whether the penny will be continued. The real problem is it is an expensive undertaking by the United States Mint. The value of the metal in a penny exceeds one cent, to say nothing of the cost of operating the presses to make them. Shrinking the diminutive coin is not the answer. Years ago the three cent piece was actually smaller, but not a great success. Anything smaller than the current penny will be too likely to get lost, making such a coin unattractive.

And, if one wants to make a case for stopping production, one has just to look at Canada, where 2012 was the last year for the Canadian penny.

But, coin collectors react when the idea is just mentioned. The penny has been around since 1856, first with the Flying eagle Cent, then the Indian Head Cent, and now the Lincoln Cent. The Indian Head Cent underwent a composition change in 1864 when bronze replaced copper nickel.

Our current Lincoln Cent has been around since 1909, except that the reverse has changes over time. The wheat ears yielded to the Lincoln Memorial in 1959, when the composition also changed to copper alloy, and a minor change in composition occurred in 1962. In 1982, the composition became copper coated zinc.. Since 2010 the Shield Reverse has been the design.

One major departure was in 1943, when zinc coated steel was the metal of choice, due to the need for the Manhattan project with the copper being used for wiring. A slight change from 1944 through 1947 occurred when used cartridge cases were used. The 0.950 copper was retained, but the remainder copper and tin was changed to eliminate the tin.

Slight changes have been made over the years, but not significant changes.

The Lincoln Bicentennial, 2009, was celebrated with four distinct coins, celebrating four phases of Lincoln’s life.

So, to make a case for the penny, there is a lot of history here.

Most penny coins are produced in such abundance that coin collectors can get a nice, uncirculated specimen for a low cost.

And, to add to the history, before the small cent coin, a large cent coin existed, which has a number of years of issue associated with early coinage, as well as coins of the colonies prior to the formation of the country.

we have a number of products that can be used to express support for the penny. Some bear the message "Save the Penny" while others give the message "Keep Abe Circulating."