President Trump has ordered the end of minting the penny. It has long been more expensive to produce than the face value of the coin. We taxpayers lose $85 million a year minting the one cent coin. The copper in the alloy coin can be put to other industrial uses. In that regard Trump’s action makes sense. (And do not worry about better uses for the silver in our other coins. There isn’t any.)
It would not be the first time a coin has ceased to be minted. We once had a half cent coin created in 1793 and eliminated in 1857. We had a two cent coin from 1864 to 1874, It was the first coin to carry “In God We Trust.” Apparently, trusting in God was not enough to save the coin.
Getting rid of the unique (almost) copper one cent coin is not without a measure of public grieving. It is without doubt the most popular and beloved coin. It has a much greater cultural value than its monetary worth.
It is the coin most collected by youngsters. In fact, it is the most collected and least used coin. Virtually every household in America has a jar of pennies. They are often used as “chips” for … not surprisingly … penny-ante poker. “Pitching pennies” was once a childhood pastime. What kid, living near a train, did not place a penny on the track to see it “re-minted” into a flat oval.
We often have our own traditions. My grandmother would tape pennies to my birthday card – one for each year. As I got older, she would use silver coins and pennies. Without the penny, she could only could have done her thing every five years.
We celebrate the penny in lots of songs — Pennies From Heavan (Bing Crosby), Penny Lane (The Beatles), Penny Arcade (Roy Orbison), Throw a Penny (Bee Gees), Penny for Your Thoughts (Willie Nelson), Pretty Penny (Lionel Richie) and others.
Many of our expressions refer to the penny – “a penny for your thoughts (Willie Nelson used the phrase, but did not coin it – no pun intended).” “Penny wise and pound foolish,” “in for a penny, in for a pound.” When we butt in, we “put in our two cents.”
A stingy person is a “penny pincher”. We name our young girls Penny. (Yeah, I know it is short for Penelope, but it does remind us of the coin, so I am including it). When women went to the ladies’ room, they often said they were going to “spend a penny.” (Probably not so much these days.)
The penny is often considered a “good luck” piece. Many women carry a penny in their purse. We even had shoes designed to display a penny – appropriately called “penny loafers.” Pennies are the coins most commonly found in wishing wells and fountains. Golfers often use the penny to make their spot on the green.
Some of the popularity of the penny is the fact that it is the only coin that carries the image of arguably the most beloved President of the United States – Abraham Lincoln. It is the sculpted version by Victor David Brenner from a famous photograph of the 16th President taken by Mathew Brady. The Lincoln cent was introduced in 1909 – the 100th anniversary Lincoln’s birth.
If we are to eliminate the Lincoln penny, surely, we need to put his image on another coin in common circulation. Not one of those coins that we rarely see or hold. That means Lincoln would replace one of the guys on the nickel (Jefferson), dime (Roosevelt), quarter (Washington). The half dollars and dollar coins are rarely found in pockets or purses.
So, which of the three popularly used coins would get a new image? The answer is obvious. It would be historic malfeasance to knock Jefferson or Washington off their coins. It has to be Roosevelt by process of elimination. (The sound you hear is the blowback from those who still believe that Franklin Roosevelt was a great President.)
Mine is not a partisan proposal. When the penny was previously threatened with extinction during the Obama administration, I proposed that it be saved with a double image of Lincoln and Obama – the man who freed the slaves and the first Black President. Even though I was not a fan of Obama’s policies, the coupling on the coin created great symbolism. The idea was not well received by some of my Republican friends and would be a far less popular idea today – even with me. Also, it is our policy not to depict living individuals on coins or currency.
Personally, I am against ending the minting of the penny because of its cultural value as opposed to its intrinsic value or the production costs. It is not just a medium of exchange, it is iconic Americana.
Does Trump have the power to take a coin out of circulation … or is this another issue that will have to be settled by the courts? Time will tell. But I would hope to see those copper coins in circulation for generations to come.
So, there ‘tis.