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Cent (United States coin)
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The United States one-cent coin is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. Its symbol is: ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. Since 1959 (the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth), the reverse has featured the Lincoln Memorial. The coin is 0.75 inch (19.05 mm) in diameter and 0.061 inch (1.55 mm) in thickness.
The one-cent coin is often called a penny, but the U.S. Mint's official name for this coin is cent.
943, at the peak of World War II, cents of zinc-coated steel were made for a short time due to war demands for copper.
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The United States one-cent coin is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. Its symbol is: ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. Since 1959 (the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth), the reverse has featured the Lincoln Memorial. The coin is 0.75 inch (19.05 mm) in diameter and 0.061 inch (1.55 mm) in thickness.
The one-cent coin is often called a penny, but the U.S. Mint's official name for this coin is cent.
History of composition
| Years | Material |
|---|
| 1793–1857 | copper | | 1857–1864 | 88% copper, 12% nickel (also known as NS-12) | | 1864–1942 | bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) | | 1943 | zinc-coated steel (also known as steel penny) | | 1944–1946 | brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) | | 1946–1962 | bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) | | 1962–1982 | brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) | | 1982– present | 97.5% zinc core, 2.5% copper plating |
In 1943, at the peak of World War II, cents of zinc-coated steel were made for a short time due to war demands for copper. A few copper cents from 1943 were produced from the 1942 planchets remaining in the bins. Similarly, some 1944 steel cents have been confirmed. From 1944 through 1946, salvaged ammunition shells made their way into the minting process, and it was not uncommon to see coins featuring streaks of brass or having a considerably darker finish than other issues.
During the early 1970s, the price of copper rose to a point where the cent almost contained more than one cent's worth of copper. This led the Mint to test alternate metals, including aluminum and bronze-clad steel. Aluminum was chosen, and over 1.5 million of these cents were struck and ready for public release before ultimately being rejected. The proposed aluminum cents were rejected due to two factors. Vending machine owners complained the coins would cause mechanical problems. Pediatricians and pediatric radiologists pointed out the radiodensity of the metal inside the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts was close to that of soft tissue and therefore would be difficult to detect in a roentgenogram. About a dozen aluminum cents are believed to still be in the hands of collectors, although they are now considered illegal, subject to seizure by the Secret Service. One aluminum cent was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
The cent's composition was changed in 1982 because the value of the copper in the coin started to rise above one cent. Some 1982 cents use the 97.5% zinc composition, while others used the 95% copper composition. The price of copper later returned to profitable levels.
Many people can hear the difference between the bronze and copper cents and the newer, zinc cents: simply flip the coin, giving it a good, solid strike. The predominantly copper pennies produce a ringing sound in the 12 kHz range. The zinc coins make a noise that is different. In addition, a full 50-penny roll of pre-1982/3 pennies will weigh 5.4 oz. compared to a post 1982/83 roll which will weigh 4.4 oz.
Mintage figures for the Lincoln cent can be found here.
Designs
The coin has gone through several designs over its two-hundred year time frame. Until 1857 it was about the size of the current U.S. dollar coins (Susan B. Anthony through present dollars).
The following types of cents have been produced:
Large cents:
Small cents:
Throughout its history, the Lincoln cent has featured several fonts for the date, but most of the digits have been old-style numerals, except with the 4 and 8 neither ascending nor descending. The only significant divergence is that the 3 was non-descending (the same size as a 0, 1, or 2) in the early history, before switching to descending for one year in 1934 and then permanently in 1943.
The Lincoln Memorial is shown on the reverse of the United States cent. In his treatise Theory and Practise of Numismatic Design, Joe Began states that because the Lincoln Memorial is shown in sufficient detail to discern the statue of Lincoln on the reverse of the cent, Abraham Lincoln was the only person to be depicted on both the obverse and reverse of the same United States coin. In 1999, the New Jersey state quarter was released, which depicts George Washington on both sides, crossing the Delaware River on the reverse side and his profile on the obverse.
Toxicity
Zinc, a major component of post-1982 US cents, is toxic in large quantities. Swallowing such a penny, which is 97.5% zinc, can cause damage to the stomach lining due to the high solubility of the zinc ion in the acidic stomach. Zinc toxicity, mostly in the form of the ingestion of US pennies minted after 1982, is commonly fatal in dogs where it causes a severe hemolytic anemia. In pet parrots zinc is highly toxic and poisoning can often be fatal.
Numismatics and regulations
It has been suggested that the cent should be eliminated as a unit of currency for several reasons including that many Americans do not actually spend them, but rather only receive them in change at stores and proceed to return them to a bank for higher denomination currencies, or cash them in at coin counting kiosks. Most modern vending machines do not accept cents, further diminishing their utility, and the production cost now exceeds the face value of the coin due to increasing metal prices. In 2001 and 2006, for example, United States Representative Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona introduced bills which would have stopped production of cents (in 2001 the Legal Tender Modernization Act, and in 2006 the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act).
At the current metal prices, the pre-1982 copper cent contains 2.65 US cents of copper which makes them an attractive target for melting by people wanting to sell the metal as a profit. The US Mint which is a part of the US Department of the Treasury, in anticipation of the business of melting down US cents (pennies) and US five-cent coins ("nickels") for profit, implemented new regulations on December 14, 2006 which criminalize the melting of cents and nickels and place limits on export of the coins. Violators can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000 USD and/or imprisoned for a maximum of five years.
Metal content
At one point both the US cents before 1982 and all US nickels had a metal content at market worth more than face value of the coins. Now as of February 27, 2009, the US nickel has $0.0248878 in metal content. The intrinsic value of pre-1982 US cents, weighing 3.11 grams, are worth $0.0102151, 102.15% above face value in metal content at market prices. However, post-1982 US cents, which weigh 2.5 grams, are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper (coated over the zinc) by weight. These have an intrinsic value of $0.0028937 as of February 27, 2009, or 28.93% of the face value.
According to the US Mint, the costs of producing and shipping one-cent (penny) and 5-cent (nickel) coins during fiscal year 2007 were $0.0167 per cent and $0.0953 per nickel. Canada switched to making plated steel coins in 2000, where the face value of some older coins is below the metal content of those coins. In a similar move on February 8, 2008, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow for changing the metal components in U.S. coins due to the rising cost of commodities and the declining U.S. Dollar. No such bill has yet been signed into law.
Redesign
The year 2009 marked the start of a one-year, four-coin commemorative program marking the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's being placed on the cent, and the 200th anniversary of his birth. Thus, 2008 was the 49th anniversary and the last year that the Lincoln Memorial was on the U.S cent. This redesign was passed as part of the Presidential $1 Coin Program, which also mandates that in 2009, numismatic cents will be issued for collectors that have the metallic copper content of cents minted in 1909. In 2010, the cent's reverse will be redesigned again, with a new, permanent design being released into circulation. The redesign will bear an image that is emblematic of Lincoln's preservation of the United States as a single and united country. Lincoln, however, will remain on the obverse, though a new obverse design is possible. For now, the composition for circulating issues will remain copper-plated zinc.
See also
External links
- from the U.S. Mint website
- , by David Margolick, The New York Times, February 11, 2007 - a brief popular history of the cent.
- , USA Today, 7/1/2004
- that "A U.S. penny costs more than a cent to manufacture" on Snopes.
- for 2009 Circulating Commemorative Cents
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