Penny

A penny is a type of small coin, and is usually the smallest denomination of a currency.

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 the war. The US penny currently features Abraham Lincoln on the obverse side, and the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse. Prior to 1960, 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.

To celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009, the U.S. Mint will release four new pennies depicting the life of the nation's sixteenth president. The new pennies will "show Lincoln's Kentucky birthplace, his Indiana education, his career as an Illinois statesman and his work in Washington, D.C."

Great Britain

The penny was originally made of silver, but now made of cupronickel. The plural is pence when referring to an amount of money, or pennies when referring to the coins. There are traditionally 240 pence to the pound, or 100 new pence.

References

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.