Apenny is acoin (pl.:pennies) or a unit ofcurrency (pl.:pence) in various countries. Borrowed from theCarolingiandenarius (hence its former abbreviationd.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is the formal name of theBritish penny (abbr. p) and thede facto name of theAmerican one-cent coin (abbr. ¢).
Penny is also the informal name of the centunit of account in Canada, althoughone-cent coins wereremoved from circulation in 2012.[1]
The namepenny is also used in reference to various historical currencies, also derived from theCarolingian system, such as theFrenchdenier and theGermanpfennig. It may also be informally used to refer to any similar smallest-denomination coin, such as theeuro cent orChinese fen.
TheCarolingian penny was originally a 0.940-finesilver coin, weighing1⁄240pound. It was adopted byOffa of Mercia and other English kings and remained the principal currency in Europe over the next few centuries, until repeated debasements necessitated the development of more valuable coins. TheBritish penny remained a silver coin until the expense of theNapoleonic Wars prompted the use ofbase metals in 1797. Despite the decimalization of currencies in the United States and, later, throughout theBritish Commonwealth, the name remains in informal use.
No penny is currently formally subdivided, althoughfarthings (1⁄4d),halfpennies, andhalf cents have previously been minted and themill (1⁄10¢) remains in use as aunit of account in some contexts.
Penny is first attested in a 1394Scots text,[n 1] a variant ofOld Englishpeni, a development of numerous variations includingpennig,penning, andpending.[n 2] The etymology of the term "penny" is uncertain, although cognates are common across almost allGermanic languages[n 3] and suggest a base *pan-, *pann-, or *pand- with the individualizing suffix-ing. Common suggestions include that it was originally *panding as aLow Franconian form ofOld High Germanpfant "pawn" (in the sense of a pledge or debt, as in apawnbroker putting up collateral as a pledge for repayment of loans); *panning as a form of the West Germanic word for "frying pan", presumably owing to its shape; and *ponding as a very early borrowing ofLatinpondus ("pound").[3] Recently, it has been proposed that it may represent an early borrowing ofPunicpn (Pane orPene, "Face"), as the face ofCarthaginian goddessTanit was represented on nearly allCarthaginian currency.[4] Followingdecimalization, the British and Irish coins were marked "new penny" until 1982 and 1985, respectively.
From the 16th century, the regular pluralpennies fell out of use in England, when referring to a sum of money (e.g. "That costs tenpence."), but continued to be used to refer to more than one penny coin ("Here you are, a sixpence and four pennies."). It remains common in Scottish English, and is standard for all senses in American English,[3] where, however, the informal "penny" is typically only used of the coins in any case, values being expressed in "cents".[5] The informal name for the American cent seems to have spread fromNew York State.[6]
In Britain, prior to decimalization, values from two to eleven pence were often written, and spoken as a single word, astwopence ortuppence,threepence orthruppence, etc. (Other values were usually expressed in terms of shillings and pence or written as two words, which might or might not be hyphenated.) Where a single coin represented a number of pence, it was treated as a single noun, asa sixpence. Thus, "a threepence" (but more usually "a threepenny bit") would be a single coin of that value whereas "three pence" would be its value, and "three pennies" would be three penny coins. In British English, divisions of a penny were added to such combinations without a conjunction, assixpence-farthing, and such constructions were also treated as single nouns. Adjectival use of such coins used the ending -penny, assixpenny.[3]
The British abbreviationd. derived from theLatindenarius. It followed the amount, e.g. "11d". It has been replaced since decimalization byp, usually written without a space orperiod. From this abbreviation, it is common to speak of pennies and values in pence as "p".[3] InNorth America, it is common to abbreviate cents with thecurrency symbol¢. Elsewhere, it is usually written with a simple c.
The medieval silver penny was modeled on similar coins in antiquity, such as theGreek drachma, theCarthaginianshekel, and theRomandenarius. Forms of these seem to have reached as far asNorway andSweden.[citation needed] The use ofRoman currency inBritain, seems to have fallen off after theRoman withdrawal and subsequentSaxon invasions.
Charlemagne's fatherPepin the Short instituted amajor currency reform aroundAD 755,[7] aiming to reorganizeFrancia's previoussilver standard with a standardized .940-finedenier (Latin:denarius) weighing1⁄240pound.[8] (As theCarolingian pound seems to have been about 489.5 grams,[9][10] each penny weighed about 2 grams.) Around 790,Charlemagne introduced a new .950 or .960-fine penny with a smaller diameter. Surviving specimens have an average weight of1.70 grams, although some estimate the original ideal[clarification needed] mass at1.76 grams.[11][12][13] But despite the purity and quality of these pennies, they were often rejected by traders throughout the Carolingian period, in favor of the gold coins used elsewhere; this led to repeated legislation against such refusal, to accept the king's currency.[14]
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| O: Draped bust of Aethelred left.+ÆĐELRED REX ANGLOR[UM] | R: Long cross.+EADǷOLD MO CÆNT |
| Anglo-Saxon silver "Long Cross" penny ofAethelred II, moneyer Eadwold, Canterbury,c. 997–1003. The cross made cutting the coin into half-pennies orfarthings (quarter-pennies) easier. (Note spellingEadƿold in inscription, using Anglo-Saxon letterwynn in place of modernw.) | |
Some of theAnglo-Saxon kingdoms initially copied thesolidus, the late Romangold coin; at the time, however,gold was so rare and valuable that even the smallest coins had such a great value that they could only be used in very large transactions and were sometimes not available at all. Around 641–670, there seems to have been a movement to use coins with lower gold content. This decreased their value and may have increased the number that could be minted, but these paler coins do not seem to have solved the problem of the value and scarcity of the currency. The miscellaneoussilversceattas minted inFrisia andAnglo-Saxon England after around 680 were probably known as "pennies" at the time. (The misnomer is based on a probable misreading of the Anglo-Saxon legal codes.)[15] Their purity varied and their weight fluctuated from about 0.8 to about 1.3 grams. They continued to be minted inEast Anglia underBeonna and inNorthumbria as late as the mid-9th century.
The first Carolingian-style pennies were introduced byKingOffa of Mercia (r. 757–796), modeled on Pepin's system. His first series was1⁄240 of theSaxon pound of5400grains(350 grams), giving apennyweight of about1.46grams. His queenCynethryth also minted these coins under her own name.[16] Near the end of his reign, Offa minted his coins in imitation of Charlemagne's reformed pennies. Offa's coins were imitated byEast Anglia,Kent,Wessex andNorthumbria, as well as by twoArchbishops of Canterbury.[16] As in the Frankish Empire,[8] all these pennies were notionally fractions ofshillings (solidi;sol) andpounds (librae;livres) but during this period neither larger unit was minted. Instead, they functioned only as notionalunits of account.[17] (For instance, a "shilling" or "solidus" of grain was a measure equivalent to the amount of grain that 12 pennies could purchase.)[18] English currency was notionally .925-finesterling silver at the time ofHenry II, but the weight and value of the silver penny steadily declined from 1300 onwards.
In 1257,Henry III minted agold penny which had the nominal value of 1 shilling 8 pence (i.e. 20d.). At first, the coin proved unpopular because it was overvalued for its weight; by 1265 it was so undervalued—thebullion value of its gold being worth 2 shillings (i.e. 24d.) by then—that the coins still in circulation were almost entirely melted down for the value of their gold. Only eight gold pennies are known to survive.[19] It was not until the reign ofEdward III that theflorin andnoble established a common gold currency in England.
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The earliesthalfpenny andfarthing (¼d.) found date from the reign ofHenry III. The need for small change was also sometimes met by simply cutting a full penny into halves or quarters. In 1527,Henry VIII abolished theTower pound of 5400grains, replacing it with theTroy pound of 5760 grains (making a penny 5760/240 = 24 grains) and establishing a newpennyweight of 1.56 grams, although, confusingly, the penny coin by then weighed about 8 grains, and had never weighed as much as this 24 grains. The last silver pence for general circulation were minted during the reign ofCharles II around 1660. Since then, they have only been coined for issue asMaundy money, royalalms given to the elderly onMaundy Thursday.
Throughout the 18th century, the British government did not mint pennies for general circulation and thebullion value of the existing silver pennies caused them to be withdrawn from circulation. Merchants and mining companies, such asAnglesey'sParys Mining Co., began to issue their owncopper tokens to fill the need for small change.[20] Finally, amid theNapoleonic Wars, the government authorizedMatthew Boulton to mint copper pennies and twopences atSoho Mint inBirmingham in 1797.[21] Typically, 1 lb. of copper produced 24 pennies. In 1860, the copper penny was replaced with abronze one (95% copper, 4%tin, 1%zinc). Each pound of bronze was coined into 48 pennies.[22]
The United States' cent, popularly known as the "penny" since the early 19th century,[6] began with the unpopularcopperchain cent in 1793.[23] Abraham Lincoln was the first historical figure to appear on a U.S. coin when he was portrayed on the one-cent coin to commemorate his 100th birthday.[24]
The penny that was brought to theCape Colony (in what is nowSouth Africa) was a large coin—36 mm in diameter, 3.3 mm thick, and 1 oz (28 g)—and the twopence was correspondingly larger at 41 mm in diameter, 5 mm thick and 2 oz (57 g). On them wasBritannia with atrident in her hand. The English called this coin theCartwheel penny due to its large size and raised rim,[25] but theCapetonians referred to it as theDevil's Penny as they assumed that only the Devil used a trident.[26] The coins were very unpopular due to their large weight and size.[27] On 6 June 1825,Lord Charles Somerset, the governor, issued aproclamation that onlyBritish Sterling would belegal tender in theCape Colony (colonialSouth Africa). The new British coins (which were introduced in England in 1816), among them being the shilling, six-pence of silver, the penny, half-penny, and quarter-penny in copper, were introduced to the Cape. Later two-shilling, four-penny, and three-penny coins were added to the coinage. The size anddenomination of the 1816 British coins, with the exception of the four-penny coins, were used in South Africa until 1960.[26]
Handling and counting penny coins entailtransaction costs that may be higher than a penny. It has been claimed that, formicropayments, the mental arithmetic costs more than the penny. Changes in the market prices of metals, combined with currency inflation, have caused the metal value of penny coins to exceed their face value.[28][29]
Canada adopted 5¢ as its lowest denomination in 2012.[30] Several nations have stopped minting equivalent value coins, and efforts have been made to end the routine use of pennies in several countries.[31] In the UK, since 1992, one- and two-penny coins have been made from copper-plated steel (making them magnetic) instead of bronze.
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