U.S. Mint Decides New Penny Makes Sense

CBS Evening News: Four New Pennies Depict Scenes From Lincoln's Life

(CBS)  How's this for irony? As one arm of the government was getting ready Monday to print up billions of dollars to bail out the financial system, another was showing off the new pennies it plans to mint to honor a president, CBS News anchor Katie Couric reports.

The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth is coming up, so the U.S. Mint decided that a makeover of his penny - well, it just made sense.

First, some history.

The original Lincoln penny was minted in 1909 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.

It replaced the Indian head penny and featured Lincoln's image on the front, and ears of wheat on the back.

In 1943, the composition of the penny was changed briefly to zinc-coated steel, because of a WWII copper shortage.

In 1959, on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the flip side was changed to show the Lincoln Memorial.

And at that very memorial Monday, the U.S. Mint gave America a look at the new Lincoln pennies.

The familiar face remains, but on the back are new images that depict Lincoln's life.

From his birth in a log cabin to his work as a rail splitter to the beginning of his professional career and finally his presidency - when the Capitol Dome was a work in progress.

The first of the new pennies go into circulation on Feb. 12 - Lincoln's birthday of course.

[wyatt1sc]

A penny is the likely end result of my years of savings, investments and hard work

[deecatt]

How much is it costing to re-tool for a coin that costs more to make than it is worth? Seems like a great waste of money.

[downsteamjim]

Why not make a one mill coin. That way we will have two useless, time consuming, expensive coins to deal with. When was the last time you could actually by something with a cent?
P.S. The nickel could also be eliminated.

[seafang]

They should make those new pennies out of styrofoam; a lot easier to deflate them.

My tip for the day; invest in green ink, the mint is going to need rail car loads of it. I hear that OSHA raided the Denver Mint and made them shut it down until they install noise abatement equipment to stifle all the racket from those printing presses going 90 to the dozen.

[seafang]

PS in the early 1920s, just one of those useless Lincoln pennies could pay off the entire German National Debt; and you''s still get some change from the transaction.

Soon the US dolar will be on a par with the 1922 German Mark.

[maury-m]

Here is a great use for the OLD pennies... This kit allows you to create a portrait of Abe Lincoln out of them!

www.PennyPortrait.com

It''s pretty cool.

[jd2408]

I don''t mean to be a sad sack, but how much did it cost to make up this new penny ? We are in a time that we really need to save our pennies. All "little" things in this government add up. We very much need to stop wasting.

[smurfcrusher]

Idiots! Maybe they should bring back the half-cent. It would go well with their half-wit ideas.

[mahdeealoo]

I thought that the penny was deemed useless and was about to be removed from circulation.

What the?

[yongamerica]

After the upcoming financial bailout I''ll be lucky to afford one of these new pennies.

[timothyone-2009]

In our system the capitalist finds a little niche to fill (like providing materials used to make pennies) and buys a few politicians to ensure they will continue to get the contracts involved. This also ensures that useless, wasteful contracts live on forever, as does the national debt. These niche fillers are the very ones who b*tch and cry whenever America spends a few dollars on education, food, shelter, or anything else they can''t get their hands on. Let''s start changing that next January.

[caliengineer]

Alternate reasons for new pennies:

People collect pennies. This helps bankrupt the nation and increase the trade deficit.

They are making us accustomed to different looking currency so that it will be more easy to merge into using Ameros in the new North American Union.

[nothappyatall]

Oh brother, another USELESS coin that every study has determined should be dumped, and that millions of the dam things are thrown away, lost or dumped in drawers.
They cost the mint more than they are worth to keep minting, only the US Govt would continue to mint a coin that costs more than it''s face value.

The Lincoln cent is UGLY, at least the Indian Head cent was an artistic beautiful coin.

[caliengineer]

Have they removed "In God we Trust" ?

On the new dollar coins, the phrase is on the rim, a second stamping process, and easily omitted later...

Pack the streets in peaceful protest! Block the roads and shut the government buildings! Host new elections!

Return to the Constitutional election system.

[Luca Ponti]

Pennies are what you get. No help for Main Street in this theft/bailout.. This is the ultimate ''trickle down'' gift from the Treasury to the middle class and lower classes. Oh, I forgot, The middle class will be gone within two years. Just rich and poor. Yep. Bush and cronies got what they wanted and are now laughing all the way as they make a run on the Treasury. I am disgusted with Americans now. No spine, and you collectively cave into a corrupt president and system. Don''t bother to come to Europe. Americans will NOT be welcomed if this bail-out goes through. We will have totally lost any remaining respect we had for you. Mark my words.
Luca Ponti,
Barcelona

[oneworldusa]

Why are we spending tax dollars on this? We''ve been told for years Social Security has been broken because Washington has stolen from it. However, I wonder if we could have saved SS with the 700 billion for Wall Street, the 35 billion for AIG, etc. The money''s there. Washington just wants to use it for it''s purposes, not those of the people.

[airboatboy1]

Hey Luca Ponti! How about gettin''m out from behind that computer screen and teachin'' your countrymen

[airboatboy1]

Hey Luca Ponti! How about gettin'' out from behind that computer screen and teachin'' your countrymen a little personal hygiene and manners and then you might be welcome in this country! Maybe.

[babooph]

WE can make them out of wood with paper glued on,like the mill we had -of course that mill was worth more than the modern penny.

[myopinion1]

Pennies, like ALL change needs to go. It''s like the most archaic and ridiculous thing in our electronic society. Print coins for collectors but stop this stupid madness. We should all be electronic by now. Why does this persist? It''s like standing behind someone at the grocery store and they take out their checkbook. WHY?!!!

[omega40]

he familiar face remains, but on the back are new images that depict Lincoln''s life.

From his birth in a log cabin to his work as a rail splitter to the beginning of his professional career and finally his presidency - when the Capitol Dome was a work in progress.


It would of been much more fitting to put Bush''s picture on the penny. Perhaps under the slogan "Let''s have a beer together".

[getoffmine]

so how much do we have to pay the FED to mint these new pennies? Aren''t we looking to cut costs anywhere possible.
Maybe we can take a Reagan like approach and start giving poor kids ketchup in place of a vegetable in school meals. We can offset the cost of minting new (basically useless) pennies and the FED is happy. Thats all that matters right?

[docpeter1953]

I thouhgt I heard/read somewhere that it cost more to mint a penny than a penny is worth, AND that the FED was considering doing away with it anyway.

Why are they going to make changes in something they are doing away with?

Oh yeah, it is the FED govt., if you can waste it, it must be worth it.

[redbds]

Why are they going to make changes in something they are doing away with?

Oh yeah, it is the FED govt., if you can waste it, it must be worth it.

Posted by docpeter1953 at 10:29 AM : Sep 23, 2008

Don''t try to use common sense when dealing with what the government does. You will make your self crazy doing that. You would think that they would at least get away from copper to lower the cost.

[redbds]

Pennies, like ALL change needs to go. It''''s like the most archaic and ridiculous thing in our electronic society. Print coins for collectors but stop this stupid madness. We should all be electronic by now. Why does this persist? It''''s like standing behind someone at the grocery store and they take out their checkbook. WHY?!!!

Posted by MyOpinion1 at 07:20 AM : Sep 23, 2008

What you are talking about is anarchy! What happens when all of these computer take a dump? We are getting way too dependent on technology.

[redbds]

ummmm.... pennies are made of zinc with a copper coating.

Posted by msgtsteve at 11:03 AM : Sep 23, 2008

I stand corrected. At any rate they could use a less expensive metal to keep the cost down.

[Razzl]

If you don''t have a way of making purchases with the fractional parts of a dollar then you create inflation that will make the dollar the lowest fraction. I''m not sure we''re ready for that kind of price inflation, so the choice would be to continue issuing coinage or revalue the currency so that coinage recovers some value. Going to electronic debit cards as currency is an overdue option, but I notice that even progressive governments and banks such as the European Union are wary about going that route. It will be another generation before we see debit card currency...

[bobnjersey]

[The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln''s birth is coming up, so the U.S. Mint decided that a makeover of his penny - well, it just made sense. ]

it makes no ''cents'' at all ... except to the mint ... which obviously needs something to keep them busy ... and minting pennies is just that ... ''busy work''. no doubt there''s some lobby for ''keeping the penny alive''.

these will see the same fate as the ones currently in circulation ... the garbage, the sewer, the bottom of any sundry body of water. they''re not even worth the effort to pick them up.

a useful piece of information that the story could have included was the actual cost to mint a penny ... which is now more than a penny. approximately half of all coins minted every year are pennies.

http://www.retirethepenny.org/

[violets4me]

I think it''s a great idea! Quit your ******** about everything in the world. If it''s so bad....go do something worthwhile to change it and stop crapping about it here.

[david1737]

The new penny will be called the dollar. LOL

[david1737]

I think it''''s a great idea! Quit your ******** about everything in the world. If it''''s so bad....go do something worthwhile to change it and stop crapping about it here.

Posted by violets4me


Translation

America''s just a bunch of whiners.

"...go do something worthwhile to change it..."

I got an idea how about you Phil Gramm, Paulson, Bernanke, and the entire Bush Administration go to the lock up. That''s a great solution.

[bobnjersey]

[Print coins for collectors but stop this stupid madness. We should all be electronic by now. Why does this persist? It''''''''s like standing behind someone at the grocery store and they take out their checkbook. WHY?!!!]
[Posted by MyOpinion1 at 07:20 AM : Sep 23, 2008]

cash is king ... always has been ... and always should be.

all your activity is being tracked when you use an electronic card ... and that information is traded and sold widely without your knowledge or consent.

http://www.acxiom.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acxiom

[blackyowe]

I like coins. I use them even more in the UK. They are wonderful! I do not want big brother keeping tabs of my money electroically. Anyone who wants to see money gone is an idiot. Why don''t we just chip everyone too while we are at it so the government knows where you are at all times.

[birdlikebld]

'' .. paid most little kids nothing: they bloomed eternitys of bouquets silly, paid a few little farmet kids next to nothing: they grew enough to feed worlds, gave all to little soldiet kids: they forced retailets & wholesalets to recycle half of food for no one has money; and, baked more trillions dollars war babys than all combined .. said ''we didn''t do it, but we got most that did'' .. ''

'' .. is pretty duh, lil girls & boys that solely hide in woods & beat each other yield a combined / averaged / most folk most time academic score less than those what frolic in meadows dancing dances & singing songs about academic & other self industrys .. so kids can download curriculums & proceed to frolic while beat by under-cover instructots when & where they beat each other .. ''

'' .. don''t dance get well feed world get sick tax world hike naked dance dressed hike dressed dance naked porn songs partyd rallyd round sick beds what swim drift spore bloom weed dragon trail fickl firs aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail group subsistence farms .. ''

'' .. u pay me $1 of your gift certificates, i''ll maybe loiter 20 mins around your sick beds, i''ll maybe participate or otherwise song dance skit kit and / or bloom, and when i need a bed: it''ll be one yours and when i need some lunch: it''ll be some of yours .. ''

[birdlikebld]

'' .. if they weren''t little kids, they could have *** & newsdesks & stages, if they weren''t little kids they could have markets & moneys, alas they are little kids, raped baked starved slaved tortured mangled little vulnerable liabilitys with no place in real society, that''d be like putting women in the army to watch them converted to husband beatets & child rapists .. it makes more sense to put men in the kitchens, baking the lunches & driving the kids buses all over .. ''

[cheetah-man7]

Hang on to all those bothersome pennies. Each of them represent the new dollar!