Penny (disambiguation)
A penny is a coin used in several English-speaking countries.
Penny or pennies may also refer to:
People
In arts and entertainment
Fictional characters
" (disambiguation)
The " symbol is a character with 34 in ASCII.
It may denote:
* (disambiguation)
The symbol * is called asterisk (42 in ASCII). The symbol may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
Other uses
See also
References
河南 (disambiguation)
河南 may refer to:
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The pre-decimal penny (1d) was a coin worth one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound sterling. Its symbol was d, from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same monetary value of one pre-1707 shilling. The penny was originally minted in silver, but from the late eighteenth-century onward it was minted in copper, and then after 1860 in bronze.
The plural of "penny" is "pence" when referring to a quantity of money and "pennies" when referring to a number of coins. Thus a 8d is eight pence, but "eight pennies" means specifically eight individual penny coins.
Before Decimal Day in 1971 twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound, hence 240 pence in one pound. Values less than a pound were usually written in terms of shillings and pence, e.g. 42 pence would be three shillings and six pence (3/6), pronounced "three and six". Values of less than a shilling were simply written in terms of pence, e.g. eight pence would be 8d.
Penny (Irish decimal coin)
The decimal one penny (1p) (Irish: pingin) coin was the second smallest denomination of the Irish pound. It was first issued when the Irish currency was decimalised on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971. It was the second of three new designs introduced all in bronze, the others being a half-penny and a two pence coin. All featured ornamental birds designed by Irish artist Gabriel Hayes on the reverse.
The coin originally had a diameter of 2.032 centimetres and mass of 3.564 grams consisting of copper, tin and zinc. This was identical to the British decimal penny as the two countries' pounds were pegged until 1979.
The coin's official designation was "new penny" and this was changed in 1985 to "penny". In 1990 the decision was taken to produce the coin on a copper-plated steel base as the bronze had become too expensive. The steel base coins are magnetic.
The coin was designed by the Irish artist Gabriel Hayes and the design is adapted from the Book of Kells held in Trinity College, Dublin.
1943 steel cent
The 1943 steel cent, also known as a steel war penny or steelie, was a variety of the U.S. one-cent coin which was struck in steel due to wartime shortages of copper. It used the same design that Victor David Brenner had made in 1909 for the copper Lincoln cent.
History
Due to wartime needs of copper for use in ammunition and other military equipment during World War II, the United States Mint researched various ways to limit dependence and meet conservation goals on copper usage. After trying out several substitutes (ranging from other metals to plastics) to replace the then-standard bronze alloy, the one-cent coin was minted in zinc-coated steel. This alloy caused the new coins to be magnetic and 13% lighter. They were struck at all three mints: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. As with the bronze cents, coins from the latter two sites have respectively "D" and "S" mintmarks below the date.
However, problems began to arise from the mintage. Freshly minted, they were often mistaken for dimes. Magnets in vending machines (which took copper cents) placed to pick up steel slugs also picked up the legitimate steel cents. Because the galvanization process didn't cover the edges of the coins, sweat would quickly rust the metal. After public outcry, the Mint developed a process whereby salvaged brass shell casings were augmented with pure copper to produce an alloy close to the 1941–42 composition. This was used for 1944–46-dated cents, after which the prewar composition was resumed. Although they continued to circulate into the 1960s, the mint collected large numbers of the 1943 cents and destroyed them.
