I made 3 cents the other day! Three whole cents! It was off of an article that I am paid a percentage of revenue form the visits. Obviously, I didn't write the article for the income. I was actually surprised when I saw I had made 3 cents.
If I were five years old I would have walked to the corner store to buy three pieces of penny candy, but that was back in 1971. Do they even make penny candy anymore?
Having recently owned a retail store, I found it pretty interesting the way people think about pennies. It is like they are nothing. Every store has a penny cup that customers through their pennies in. I had a little boy that came in everyday that never wanted me to give him the pennies in his change. I kept thinking, "100 of those will make a dollar, that would buy a candy bar!"
From 1793 to 1857 the penny was made from 100% copper. Today's penny is made from 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. It is estimated the it costs 1.26 cents to make a penny, hence the debate of whether or not to keep making the penny.
I for one think the penny should stay simply because it is a reminder of my childhood. A pocketful of pennies went a long way at the corner store. I for one, loved rolling pennies as a child. A little bit of patience and I had a few dollars to spend.
There was nothing cuter to me when we owned our store than a small child bringing in a fistful of pennies. We eventually even put in a candy counter. (Although, 5 cents was the cheapest candy available.) I think pennies are nostalgic and fun.
I found a few facts about pennies....
- The Mint estimates that it will issue 11.4 billion pennies in fiscal year 2007 .
- The U.S. one-cent coin is 19 millimeters in diameter and weighs 2.5 grams.
- There have been 11 different designs featured on the penny.
- Since its beginning, the U.S. Mint has produced over 288.7 billion pennies. Lined up edge to edge, these pennies would circle the earth 137 times.
- According to the U.S. Treasury, a circulating coin (e.g., penny, nickel, dime) lasts nearly 30 years.
- The most "expensive" penny is a rare one minted in 1793. Only four are known to exist today and their worth is estimated at more than $275,000.
- An average of 1,040 pennies are produced every second, adding up to 30 million a day.
- During its early penny-making years, the U.S. Mint was so short on copper that it accepted copper utensils, nails and scrap from the public to melt down for the coins.
- The Lincoln penny was the first U.S. coin to feature a historic figure. President Abraham Lincoln has been on the penny since 1909, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
- The Lincoln penny was the first one-cent coin on which appeared the words "In God We Trust."
- About half of all coins produced by the U.S. Mint are pennies.
How about rolling up some of those pennies, head to the store and buy a bag full of candy...just for old times sake!
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