The American penny died on Wednesday in Philadelphia. He was 232 years old. The cause was irrelevance and high cost, the Treasury Department said.
Nothing could be bought with a penny anymore, not even the old “penny candy”. Furthermore, the cost of production had risen to more than 3 cents per unit, an economic absurdity that sealed the coin’s fate.
The last units were minted on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Treasury authorities attended the farewell. There were no last words recorded.
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In its heyday, the penny had considerable cultural weight. It was the symbolic price of a thought. It represented frugality, whether saved or earned. Sometimes it could be beautiful. Other times, falling from the sky. And how many ideas would have arisen thanks to the famous “penny dropping”?
When found on the ground and collected, it was said to bring good luck for 24 hours, a claim repeated ad nauseam, but never proven by scientific studies with double-blind rigor.
There was, of course, a less favorable side: the penny could be bad, especially when it appeared upside down.
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The penny entered cinema (“Penny Serenade”) and music (“Penny Lover”).
It also invaded the world of shoes, especially loafers, in a trend that lasted decades and remains strong to this day.
In comparison, nickel did not have such a remarkable trajectory — its greatest achievement, at one point, was being produced from wood.
The American cent was preceded in death by the half cent (1793–1857) and the Canadian cent (1858–2012). The British version, created in the 7th century, survives in an almost unbelievable way.
The penny was born in 1793, in Philadelphia. His “father” was Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury and main author of the Coinage Act, who created him and his “brothers”.
Throughout its life, the penny has undergone several reinventions. In the beginning, it featured Lady Liberty. In 1909, Abraham Lincoln took over the obverse and remained there until the end.
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The reverse has had even more changes: a 15-link chain, a laurel wreath, ears of wheat, and the Lincoln Memorial have rotated through time. In 2009, the variations expanded, with a wooden chalet and other designs. More recently, the design was the coat of arms of the Union.
The penny began as a pure copper coin. In 1943, due to the demand for the material during the war, it became zinc-coated steel for a year. From 1982, until his death, he only maintained his characteristic color: it was made up of 97.5% zinc, with 2.5% copper in the coating.
As it declined, the penny was increasingly thrown into jars indoors or abandoned on “Take a Penny” trays in stores. Requests for its definitive removal grew, with arguments of obsolescence. In the end, President Donald Trump signed his sentence in February.
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Even dead, the penny will still take some time to disappear. There are about 250 billion of them in circulation. They will continue to be there, collecting dust or, very rarely, being used to pay for something. As they disappear, businesses will need to round up cash transactions to the nearest nickel.
With the demise of the penny, collectors now look with concern at its longtime partner, the nickel. Its purchasing power has also shrunk to almost zero — and it costs more than a dime to produce.
