Categories: History

The History of the Penny

Every time you hold a United States’ penny in our hand, you’re holding a piece of history. The penny has been an ever-evolving part of the country’s history. First minted by the Continental Congress in 1787, the meager penny has been redesigned over and over again, until it became the little copper-colored coin you find in your pocket today.

It all started in 1787, when the Congressional Congress authorized the minting of the first currency. The resulting penny is now known as the “Fugio” penny and is believed to have been designed by Benjamin Franklin. The design stands out because of the detailed sun, shining down on a sundial and the words, “Mind Your Business” at the bottom. On the back, the words “We Are One” are inscribed, surrounded by a chain of 13 interlocking links.

The first penny was large, being about the diameter of a current-day dollar coin. Being made of pure copper, it was heavy. As you can guess, this was very unwieldy and hard to use.

The first coins of the United States were designed and minted by a variety of private mints, so their design, weight and diameter varied greatly. It wasn’t until the US Congress created the US Mint in 1792, that the United States finally had a uniform currency. The first penny created by the US Mint showed the image of a woman with flowing hair, Lady Liberty. These were still made of 100% copper and still over an inch in diameter.

In 1857, Congress approved “The Act of February 21, 1857”, which made the first of many changes to the “one-cent piece”. The biggest change to the poor penny was to its formula. Instead of being 100% copper, it would be made of a mixture of nickel (12%) and copper (88%). This penny, now known as the “Flying Eagle cent”, was much smaller than it’s predecessor and sported a “flying eagle” on one side and the words, “one cent”, surrounded by a wreath, on the other.

It wasn’t long before the penny’s design changed again. In 1859, the Indian penny was created. The image of a flying eagle was replaced with the profile of an Indian princess, in full headdress. The flipside remained the same.

In 1864, just after the Civil War, the composition of the Indian penny changed again, to 95% copper and 5% zinc. Also during this time, the Coinage Act of 1864 was passed, making the penny legal currency.

The penny stayed the same for over 40 years, until the design of the Lincoln penny in 1909, to mark Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday. The profile of Abraham Lincoln graced one side of the penny, marking the first time any president, or any other historical figure was on a coin. These pennies were also known as “wheat pennies”, because of the wheat wreath that graced the backside, along with the words, “In God We Trust”.

In 1943, war needs required that copper and zinc be used elsewhere. So the meager penny was reformulated to be a steel core, covered in zinc. These “Steel Pennies” have a silver look to them and stand out when surrounded by their copper brothers. It was easy to mistake these pennies as dimes at first glance, and so easily corroded, they would lose the “face” of the coin, making it look like a slug.

The Abraham Lincoln design remained until 1959, when the mint revamped the backside to include a depiction of the Lincoln Memorial, to mark the 150^th birthday of the great president.

To this day, this design is still being use when minting new pennies.

In 2005, the US Congress passed the “Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005”, which not only allowed the US Mint to produce $1 coins with the US presidents engraved upon them, but also redesign the penny. This new penny would commemorate the 200^th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, with four different pennies, showing four different scenes from his life.

In the last few years, many have wondered if the penny is still worth having around. Many government officials ask if the penny is worth all the time and money that is put into designing and minting the little copper-colored coin. With the ever-fluxing metal markets, there are times when the metal in the penny is worth more than one cent. I expect this debate to continue on for many years.

Sources:

http://reviews.ebay.com/The-New-2009-Lincoln-Cent-Penny_W0QQugidZ10000000002535050
http://www.alincoln-library.com/abraham-lincoln-penny.shtml
http://www.essortment.com/all/historypenny_rmor.htm