Lucky Penny

The very first U.S. one-cent coin debuted in 1787, before the U.S. Mint was formed.

This coin was called a Fugio cent, and it served as the first official circulation coin of the United States.

Ben Franklin designed the coin.

The only year the Fugio cent appeared in circulation was in 1787.

In 1793, the U.S. Mint introduced the large cent.

These early pennies were huge… practically the size of a half dollar! 

Large cents were in circulation until 1857, and there were several designs throughout the years.

In 1856, the U.S. Mint introduced the small cent.

The small cent coin was the first U.S. penny made in a size that is similar to the pennies of today.

The Flying Eagle design was the first to appear on a small cent.

In the United States, the one-cent coin is not officially called a penny.

Even though most of us refer to the U.S. one-cent coin as a “penny,” the coin is technically called a “cent” in the United States.

Yep, the U.S. Mint officially named the coin a “cent.” And the U.S. Treasury officially called it a “one cent piece.”

It was during the Colonial period (when people used a mixture of coins from other countries) that a coin known as the British penny became popular. It was in 1857 that Congress asked the U.S. Mint to make the one-cent coin smaller.

The penny is not the lowest face value coin ever produced in the U.S.

From 1793 to 1857, the U.S. produced half cents. These coins are quite scarce today!

Other coins with denominations the U.S. used to make that we haven’t used in many years include:

the 2-cent piece

the 3-cent piece

the half-dime

Abe Lincoln was the first real person to have their face appear on a U.S. coin.

His face appeared for the very first time when the penny was redesigned in 1909.

The 1909 Lincoln penny also marks the first time that a U.S. president appeared on a U.S. coin.

Lincoln’s face is the only one on a U.S. coin that looks to the right.

All other portraits of people on U.S. coins face to the left.

Some U.S. pennies stick to a magnet, while others do not.

The 1943 steel penny does stick to a magnet. (More than 1 billion of these coins were made.)

The few 1943 copper penny error coins that were made don’t stick to a magnet. (Approximately 40 were made and only 27 are known to exist.)

Some 1944 pennies were accidentally made from steel, and these do stick to a magnet. (Only 30 or so exist today.)

The most valuable U.S. penny is a 1943 cent that’s worth $1.7 million.

Of all the modern-era pennies (those made since the introduction of small cents in 1856), the 1943-D copper Lincoln penny is the one with the highest value. It was accidentally made on a copper planchet that was intended for 1942 pennies — instead of being made on the steel blanks used for 1943 pennies. Only one of them exists!

Copper pennies from 1944 to 1946 were made of shell casings.

The public didn’t much like the 1943 steel pennies. They were often mistaken for dimes, they rusted pretty quickly, and they just didn’t look like the copper pennies everyone knew.

In 1944 the U.S. Mint began striking pennies from copper blanks made from reclaimed ammunition shell casings. They continued doing so through 1946. They look virtually identical to regular copper pennies.

The odds of finding a wheat penny today are about 1:200.

You would need to search through approximately 200 pennies in your pocket change and/or in coin rolls from the bank to find at least one Lincoln wheat cent.

In the case of these mid-1960s pennies, you can’t tell a Philadelphia penny from a Denver penny from a San Francisco penny. If you come across 1965, 1966, or 1967 pennies with no mint mark, that’s totally normal.

The 1974 silver penny is actually made of aluminum.

More than 1.58 million of the 1974 aluminum pennies were struck — merely as a test. At the time, the U.S. Mint was experimenting with different materials to reduce the cost of making pennies.

There were no 1974 aluminum Lincoln cents released into circulation, as the 1974 aluminum penny was immediately recalled for melting.

The majority of them were destroyed — including hundreds that were given to members of Congress and other officials.

However, not all of the coins were returned. There is a small number of unaccounted 1974 aluminum pennies that are still out there today!

It is illegal to own a 1974 aluminum penny.

1974 aluminum Lincoln cents are considered government property. They are, therefore, illegal to own.

Some 1992 pennies have the wrong design.

The U.S. Mint was in the process of reducing the spacing between the letters “A” and “M” in “AMERICA” for circulating 1993 pennies. But somehow a few 1992 and 1992-D Close AM pennies were struck and released by accident.

These rare pennies show virtually no gap between the bases of the letters “A” and “M.” These extremely rare 1992 pennies are worth thousands of dollars.

Most Lincoln Memorial pennies are pretty common (especially in circulated condition), and they are easily found in pocket change these days.

National One Cent Day occurs every year on April 1st.

Approximately $62 million worth of pennies are lost in circulation each year.

That’s a lot of pennies removed from circulation!

How are they “lost?”

They’re either dropped on the ground (while paying for items at outdoor events or drive-thru windows), tossed (into fountains, trash, or the ground), lost (in sofa cushions, car seats, etc), or saved (in coin collections, piggy banks, and coin jars).

It is illegal to melt U.S. pennies.

It is currently illegal in the United States to melt pennies. Anyone who melts pennies to profit from the metal could serve up to 5 years in prison and pay as much as $10,000 in fines.

By the way, it’s also illegal to export U.S. coins for the purpose of melting them.

However, if legislation should pass to end production of the one-cent coin, it would likely become legal to melt pennies in the United States after that.

Travelers may legally carry up to $5 in pennies out of the United States.

You shouldn’t clean your pennies, but if you must… here’s how.

If you really want to clean your dirty pennies, the best way is to use this 2-step method:

First, smear ketchup on the penny. Then, take a toothbrush and lightly scrub the penny — working the ketchup into all of the fine areas, and rinse the penny under warm water. Most likely, your penny will look dull and have a pinkish color at this point.

Second, combine baking soda and a little bit of water — to form a paste. Rub this mixture all over the penny with your fingers. Doing so should bring the shine back to it! (You could also dunk your penny in bowl containing 1 part baking soda and 4 parts vinegar — instead of making the baking soda paste.)

This 2-step cleaning method can strip away dirt and grime from coins — and it works especially well on pennies.

However, it completely strips away the coin’s original patina, making it a worthless coin in the eye of collectors!

It costs 2.06 cents to make each U.S. penny.

So, for every penny the U.S. Mint makes… we, the taxpayers, effectively lose one cent!

Source:  https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/us-penny-facts/