The day the penny died After 232 years, on Nov. 12, the Treasury Department stopped minting pennies. As the New York Times told the story, “Nothing could be bought any more with a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents [3. 69 cents to be exact], a financial absurdity that doomed the coin. Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded.” (Full story here: tinyurl. com/yscpdr4m) The penny or “one-cent piece” was the first unit of currency authorized by the U. S. under the Coinage Act of 1792. Good ole Ben Franklin, our American Renaissance man, is credited with that first coin design featuring a sundial and the motto “Mind Your Own Business” which seems an appropriate U. S.-style sentiment. These were pure copper and about the size of a modern half-dollar. Ultimately the cost caused the size to be reduced in 1857 and the mix changed to copper and nickel. In 1909 the design was updated by Victor David Brenner and Abe Lincoln’s face became the first actual person to be honored on a U. S. coin it’s the design still in use today. During the World War II years, copper was vital so pennies were made of zinc-coated steel; though after the war, from 1944-1946, pennies were made from a copper alloy salvaged from ammunition shells. From 1982 forward, pennies were made from 97. 5% zinc with a thin copper plating. Will pennies be mourned? Should the flag be at half-mast? Will the penny be missed? This gray-head will miss it because I can remember when you could buy candy with a penny. In the late 50s and early 60s, visiting grandparents on my dad’s side in the small town of New Oxford, PA, we used to walk up the street to the general store where Grandpa Gable worked; with loose change in our pockets we could buy tiny suckers or sour candies. Blackjack gum was also a favorite, but I think that cost a whole nickel. It’s the end of an era, though I’ve noticed every day since then I’ve still been receiving pennies in change for cash purchases. At the post office the other day, with 15 dollars, three pennies, and a nickel in my hand, I asked the person behind the counter, “What are you going to do when we have no pennies?” The response? “I don’t know. I guess it’s not my problem.” I suppose the change-over will happen so incrementally that we won’t notice it. But I wonder. My fears are these. I was in France for the transition from Francs to Euros and when all those tiny centime coins disappeared and those bright new snappy Euros arrived despite policy statements to the contrary about no price increases everything quietly began to cost more. So, I’m supposing the same will happen here: prices will be rounded up to the nearest nickel. That may sound like no big deal, but I wonder how much that will amount to in, say, a year? But, by and by, we’ll forget about the penny and all those tiny “take a penny/leave a penny” containers that still sit beside the cash registers. I guess we’ll stop tossing coins in that jar that we round up once a year and take to the bank coin-sorting machines. (Or if each penny is actually worth 3. 69 cents, is there a way to save those and somehow harvest that value?) The owner of the local coin shop in Yakima has said definitively, “No, we will not be saving pennies.” Pennies have been woven into our culture for a couple hundred years. They appear in songs like “Pennies from Heaven,” “Penny Lane,” and Taylor Swift’s “Wood,” or Bobby Bare’s “$100,000 In Pennies,” Tiny Habits’ “Pennies,” and Rick and Morty’s “Pennies.” And what will happen to all those wonderfully quirky sayings: a penny for your thoughts; a penny saved is a penny earned; penny wise and pound foolish; that will cost you a pretty penny; he’s a penny pincher; that’s worth every penny; here’s my two cents; I’ll pay that and not a penny more; watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. And, of course, “See a penny pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck.” (Though I’ve been told this only applies if you find the penny heads up if it’s tail, you turn it over for the next person.) And I ‘spose there’ll be no more pennies tossed in the fountain for wishes. The only constant is “change” No pennies and no more kids who can write cursive. (The Smithsonian is advertising for volunteers who can read cursive to help them digitize old letters and hand-written documents.) And, by the way, fewer than 43% of teenagers know when the Civil War happened, and many have no idea what the issues actually were. After all, that was soooo long ago who cares? So pennies too will no doubt disappear without a whimper. Humans don’t generally like change, and I’ll admit I must be one of the worst on that count. The penny is so comfortingly familiar; losing the penny just seems sad to me, though I’m not sure exactly why. Is it simply because it reminds me that time moves on? Postscript You know that expression, “It’s not brain surgery”? Well, sometimes it is brain surgery, or in my case endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal resection of a pituitary tumor. Turns out many more people than you think have tumors attached to a pituitary. Most all are benign and only become problematic when they get big enough to impinge on other areas of the brain. Fortunately, we have expert medical folks at the University of Washington Fred Hutch Center, and I benefited from the most incredible team. My procedure was successful and I’m on my feet again. A huge thank you to my amazing Sis and all my Peninsula friends who walked with me through this challenge. Thanksgiving couldn’t come at a better time. I came away with two pieces of advice. “Shower the people you love with love,” and “Whatever it is, do it now!”.
https://chinookobserver.com/2025/11/23/coast-chronicles-a-nickel-for-your-thoughts/
Coast Chronicles: A nickel for your thoughts
