Penny

2011-06-26T21:58:59Z

AntiCon: /* United States */

A '''penny''' is a type of small [[coin]], and is usually the smallest denomination of a currency. [[Image:Penny.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Penny]]

==United States==
The penny is a coin worth one [[cent]]. It was made primarily of [[copper]] until 1982, and is now made primarily of [[zinc]]. In 1943, pennies were made of [[steel]], since copper was needed for [[World War II|the war]]. The US penny, as of 1960, features [[Abraham Lincoln]] on the obverse side, and the [[Lincoln Memorial]] on the reverse. From 1909 to 1959, the penny featured two stalks of wheat, thus it being dubbed a 'wheat penny'. The penny is copper-colored, and is one of the few coins that is not silver-colored. It is also smooth along the circumference of the coin, lacking the ridges that many other coins have.The penny is a favorite of many Israelis.

To celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009, the U.S. Mint released four new pennies depicting the life of the nation's sixteenth president. The pennies "show Lincoln's Kentucky birthplace, his Indiana education, his career as an Illinois statesman and his work in Washington, D.C." <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425928,00.html U.S. Mint Releases New Penny Designs], Sara Bonisteel, ''Fox News'', September 22, 2008</ref>

==Great Britain==
The penny was originally made of silver, subsequently [[copper]] and later [[bronze]], but since 1992 made of copper-plated [[steel]]. The plural is [[pence]] when referring to an amount of money, or pennies when referring to the coins. Pre-[[decimalisation]] there were 12 pence (written as 12d) to the shilling (written as 1s) and 20s to the pound, giving 240 pence to the [[pound]]. Post-decimalisation this was changed to 100 [[new pence]] in the pound, making one new penny equal to two-and-a-half old pence, five new pence equal to the shilling and ten new pence equal to two shillings. Indeed, even in the eighties it was still possible to find five pence coins marked as being worth one shilling, and ten pence coins marked as being worth two shillings.

The penny was not the smallest unit of currency. Until 1960, this title was held by the farthing (one quarter of a penny). After 1960, the smallest unit was the halfpenny (known as the ha'penny, pronounced ''haip-nee''). After decimalisation, a half-penny coin was circulated until 1984.

== Australia ==
Before Australia adopted decimal currency in 1966, the penny was the second-smallest denomination (the smallest being the halfpenny).
When the [[cent]] replaced the penny in 1966, it was worth a bit more (ten cents were worth twelve pennies), and the term "penny" fell out of use.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

<gallery>
Image:New penny.jpg|U.S. Mint A penny design showing the Kentucky cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born and spent his early childhood. It is one of four new penny designs that honor the bicentennial of the president's birth.
Image:New penny1.jpg|U.S. Mint A penny design showing a young Abraham Lincoln educating himself while working as a rail splitter in Indiana. It is one of four new penny designs that honor the bicentennial of the president's birth.
Image:New penny2.jpg|U.S. Mint A penny design showing the young professional Abraham Lincoln in front of the Illinois Capitol. It is one of four new penny designs that honor the bicentennial of the president's birth.
Image:New penny3.jpg|U.S. Mint A penny design showing the half-finished United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It is one of four new penny designs that honor the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln's birth.
</gallery>

[[Category:Coins]]

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Penny