A Shiny New Penny

[DVS]

Years ago, it was always special when I found a shiny new penny. To me, it represented something new and untouched by humanity. Then, after a while, the constant touching begins to dull that shiny finish and it's no longer special, no longer new. It's just a penny.

When I was younger, a penny was worth something. It was also thought that finding a penny was good luck. Pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck. Or when someone said, "a penny for your thoughts", they wondered what you were thinking. "My two cents worth" was used, when you had an opinion.

I remember keeping pennies in my car for the parking meter. It only took a few pennies to satisfy those things, back then. Now, they won't even accept a penny, most require at least a quarter for even a small amount of time.

Times change. Today we are wondering what we should do with the penny. It's no longer worth a penny. In fact, they say it costs more to make one than it's worth. I've seen a lot of pennies on the ground. I guess some people assume they are worthless. Maybe they were just making a political statement. But, because of its face value, a penny is still worth one cent in the U.S. market place. A penny saved is a penny earned!

Some say it's worth more in the copper content. But the copper content is shrinking, too. Pennies minted between 1909 and 1982 were mostly copper with a little zinc added. During 1982, mints started a reversal in the amount of copper used to make each penny. Now, they are mostly zinc. so don't assume you can get more than one cent for a post 1982 penny. But, for one minted between 1909 and 1982, you could have a minor investment for your time. But, to take the time to check the date on each and every penny you come across? How much would your time cost?

I've noticed new pennies coming out this past year. A lot of shiny new pennies have come back to me in change. The reverse side no longer has the Lincoln Memorial on it, but Lincoln is still on the front. Seeing these shiny new pennies makes me think of the ones I saw when I was a boy and so intrigued by them. I can't put a price on those memories. Think about it, the next time you see a shiny new penny. Do any memories come to mind?

https://soundcloud.com/just-another-old-musician/a-shiny-new-penny

 

[switchbitch]

wonderful track

 

[wicked woman]

Enjoy your memories.

Canada eliminated the penny not long ago. We now round up or down to the closest nickel.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Being the technosaur I am, is there a way to d/l tracks from SoundCloud?

 

[DVS]

My dad used to collect coins.

His prize is a single coin he keeps framed; an authenticated gold doubloon from a particular Spanish shipwreck.

He took me to hobbyist conventions a couple times. Among other things, there was always a building just for coin & stamp collectors; & the array of stuff to be found there and in the other buildings was a little staggering.

We came home the first year with a starter penny collection & a roll of pennies I believe he paid more than five dollars for. The roll was put together to have no repeats, and not one coin younger than 1950, so I suspect I got his money's worth, even if it didn't really spark my interest all that much (I think I was 7). A dozen of the pennies were from the 19th century, & at least 2 of the pennies were from the years during world war II, when they didn't use any copper at all (I think they were minted in iron?) because copper was too precious to the war effort.

An interesting thing I learned from him; when they minted the collectible quarters for each state starting in 2000, which quarter became the most valuable? a mint condition 1999, because those are the ones that stayed in circulation and were not collected, meanwhile even non-collectors have ferreted away bright shiny state quarters, pretty much stabilizing their collectible value at $.26 forever.

1943 and 1944 were the years they weren't copper pennies, but they were steel with a zinc coating.

I guess there are actually a very few (less than 50) copper 1943 pennies out there that are very valuable. It's thought that there was still some copper in the hopper when they started minting the steel pennies that year and nobody thought much about it. I hear one went for over $80,000 a while back. It's so valuable, people were coating the steel pennies with copper to fool collectors and even some people were altering the dates on other years in an attempt to cash in on the copper '43. If you still have that roll of pennies, you might check to see if there's a copper '43 in there. It's doubtful there is, but your dad could have REALLY gotten his money's worth, then.

I had a coin collection, but it was stolen when my house was burglarized years back. My grandmother started it and there were some very old Indian head pennies in it. Those were my pride and joy. I also had some very high quality wheat pennies. I had the set in two boxes so they didn't get the whole collection. I still have the old silver Morgan dollars, some liberty dollars, Kennedy halves, Franklin halves, as well as some quarters and dimes before they started sandwiching them. I also have some of the original $2 bills, which I think are probably the root of my financial bad luck, but I'll never get rid of them, just the same.

I'm one of those who started hoarding the new quarters. I wanted one of each state, but I lost interest after a while. I'm not sure how many I have. Maybe I should start watching for some 1999 quarters.

 

[DVS]

wonderful track

Thank you for that and for being curious enough to click on it.

 

[DVS]

The valuable 1999 quarters are the mint condition or gently used ones.

but like I said those are the quarters that were pushed back into circulation in favor of the "collectibles." Having successors pocketed means the '99 got to work harder, thus if you found a 1999 quarter now, odds are it's seen better days.

Still; it's always good to know what the true collectibles are, if you have any interest in that, rather than paying any attention to what the mint tells you is collectible.

I just found it really interesting how wide a gap there can be between the two, and how one influences the other.

As to steel pennies, that roll was put together rather carefully by a collector/ broker, had no repeats, and had two steel pennies from consecutive years.

So given what you've told me, & without digging it up to look I can tell you with certainty there was no copper '43. The collector/ broker was banking on the novelty of steel there, and probably wouldn't have let a copper '43 slip.

It's kinda funny that a tiny copper coin could be worth significantly more than a solid gold historical artifact doubloon. Of course misprints tend to be the truly rare prizes for collectors, the more so because if the mint catches misprints they are often destroyed rather than released. Meanwhile Cortez and his successors sent (or tried to send) millions of self minted doubloons, gold bars, and other treasures back to spain and portugal. As novel and distinct as those artifacts may be, I suppose rarity might not be among it's virtues.

I agree, about the doubloon. I'd think history would be worth something, but because our mints strive for perfection, it's the mistakes they make that bring in the cash.

 

[DVS]

A bump of this thread, just in case you missed the link at the bottom of my first post in this thread. Yes, you might call it a shameless attempt to share a nonsexual part of me.

 

[Que]

My two cents....

It was a Christmas present to myself. 1865. Paid $14 for a piece of actual copper the size of a quarter.

It isn't that the price of numismatic coins have gone up THAT much...the value of money has gone DOWN that much.

 

[SmileyGirl]

We still have pennies here in the Uk. My Grandma always told us to 'pick up the lucky penny and put it in your pocket'. I still do that, it reminds me of her when I see one. Silly really....but it makes me feel like she's with me when it's in my pocket or atleast reminds me of her. She was a great and beautiful lady.

Thank you for the reminder

 

[DVS]

I've heard that after the civil war the union army took confederate money out of banks and burned it in the street, often bankrupting the town. When people realized it was un-tradable; that it was officially not just worthless but illegal barter, they used it for kindling or toilet paper. I remember seeing pictures of old houses with the paint peeling off the wall that had been papered in confederate bills.

If you had one of those artifacts intact now they would be worth quite a bit to a collector.

Pennies have been valued at close to or less per square inch than tile for a long time, & though I think it's illegal to use them that way, that doesn't stop people from laying pennies under resin. (the resin brings the price back up beyond other floorings)

http://www.interiorholic.com/photos/penny-floor1.jpg

I used to travel a lot down to the south for work and there are people who have some confederate money that was in a bank during the civil war. Of course, after the war, that money was no good. Some people kept it for a keep sake and some could never believe it was no longer good.

It's against federal law to deface, damage or destroy U.S. minted currency. Only the U.S. mint has the authorization to destroy old money. But, I've seen key chains, bowline ties and other things with coins as decoration. I also remember someone making rings out of quarters, back when they were real silver. They somehow melted them down or something and crafted rings out of them. I think all of that was illegal. A copper floor of pennies would be interesting, but I'm sure that was also illegal.

 

[DVS]

My two cents....

It was a Christmas present to myself. 1865. Paid $14 for a piece of actual copper the size of a quarter.

It isn't that the price of numismatic coins have gone up THAT much...the value of money has gone DOWN that much.

Nice 2 cent piece. There were also 1/2 cent pieces called mills. They were tin or aluminum, I'm not sure which, and usually had a hole in the center. That was back when things didn't cost so much.