New Penny?

I keep a nice clean penny under the stereoscope at work for show & tell. For tours I show Lincoln sitting in the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the penny. "Gee, I never knew he was there". Cool, lemme show you some real science....

So here's the new design:

http://www.coinnews.net/2008/09/22/lincoln-penny-design-images-for-2009-circulating-cents-4359/

I saw one of Lincoln sittong on a log, took me a minute to figure it out.

Dan

interesting, how come the log cabin is the only one to get that black text under it

Can you see any tourists in the Memorial under the stereoscope?

Can you see any tourists in the Memorial under the stereoscope?

pinchvalve wrote: Can you see any tourists in the Memorial under the stereoscope?

I walked up behind myself on Google street view just before everything went dark.

They could save probably billions if we just got rid of the 1 cent denomination and just take it for taxes at the register.

Of the 4 designs, I feel the one depicting the building of the capital could be mis-interpreted (when take out of context) as the collapse of the nations capital. Somewhat an annolgy for the whole country.

Maybe it is not the collapse, maybe we sold of parts of the building to forign interests.
Maybe some of the building was forclosed on by the bank and sold at auction.
Maybe the gold dome was sent in a secured envelope to turn "Gold into Cash."

I've seen all but the last design already. They look pretty nice. Having been raised by a numastatist father, I spent a good portion of my childhood being dragged from one coin show to another. Lotsa cool stuff; especially the really old coins.

Every so often bills will come through Congress to eliminate the penny altogether, which have been lobbied heavily against by Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, etc. (States associated with Lincoln's life). The sad truth is that it costs our Gubmint (with our money) more than a penny to mint a penny. How long could you stay in business doing that? At least they last a long time, an estimated 60+% of which are languishing in piggy banks and pickle jars all over the country. When I was running a retail shop I rounded every purchase to the nearest nickel, and never even counted the pennies in the till. A big reason they are still around has to do with sales tax, both local and state. A nickel increase in tax likely wouldn't fly, but they can slide a penny in there from time to time without much fuss from consumers, until the sales tax equals a dime or more; kinda like the boiling frogs thing..

What's the consensus here? Should we keep the penny as it is, or do away with it?

P.S. Don't even get me started on the dollar coin.

I am not a fan of pennies. At all. Useless little change things.

Greg Voth wrote: I am not a fan of pennies. At all. Useless little change things.

Unless it has a Miata on it...

I don't mind pennies.

Joey

pinchvalve wrote: Can you see any tourists in the Memorial under the stereoscope?

Yes, and the shrubs at the base on each side of the stairs are Rodadendrums.

I don't mind pennies. They're cash, just like any other denomination.

I've noticed the state quarters series has expanded to include the District of Columbia and Territories, I got a Guam quarter in my change the other day.

It can be hard to get the Guam off your quarter. Some people say to freeze it first. Others say to use peanut butter. Some use chemicals like Goof-Off.
Was it chewing Guam?

The gov't is trying to cut spending, yet is wasting money to remake the penny? Are they being copied that much? (yeah right)

Who still uses cash?

jrw1621 wrote: Of the 4 designs, I feel the one depicting the building of the capital could be mis-interpreted (when take out of context) as the collapse of the nations capital. Somewhat an annolgy for the whole country. Maybe it is not the collapse, maybe we sold of parts of the building to forign interests. Maybe some of the building was forclosed on by the bank and sold at auction. Maybe the gold dome was sent in a secured envelope to turn "Gold into Cash."

Or it could be the fact that Lincoln wouldn't stop the construction of the capital dome even during the Civil war.

Greg Voth wrote: I am not a fan of pennies. At all. Useless little change things.

I gotta call BS on this one.......they're great for pegging a-hole drivers through open windows!

Gearheadotaku wrote: The gov't is trying to cut spending, yet is wasting money to remake the penny? Are they being copied that much? (yeah right)

Collectible coins are a profit center.

Australia doesn't have pennies anymore. Or 2 cent coins, if I remember right. And the dollar bill is gone, along with the 2 dollar. Those are coins. Great for buskers.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote:

Greg Voth wrote: I am not a fan of pennies. At all. Useless little change things.

Unless it has a Miata on it...

Last time I parked my Miata on a penny, you couldn't even see the penny.

You know what a Gazing Ball is? Those colorful globes people stick on their lawn up on a concrete pedistal. I don't get it. I made my wife one by gluing brand new pennies to a black bowling ball, then shooting it with clear.

What else are pennies good for?

Dan

If I couldn't pitch pennies when I was a lad, I would have been shooting craps. I may have ended up a pimp.

They're fun to squish.

My favorite is the one of Abe taking a dump.

Josh wrote: My favorite is the one of Abe taking a dump.

Lincoln's log.