Talk:Penny
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What about a six-penny nail? What does "penny" mean in that case? –radiojon 05:10, 2004 May 10 (UTC)
- The cost of a box of 100 long ago -- Nik42 04:19, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Origin of Phrase
Anyone know the origin of the phrase "a penny for your thoughts"? Is this an American phrase, or did it originate outside the U.S.? Is this phrase used outside the U.S.? Thanks in advance, although I'd be surprised if anyone even sees the Penny talk page. --Lord Voldemort (Dark Mark) 16:16, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
"A penny for your thoughts" was first published in A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the proverbes in the Englishe tongue by John Heywood in 1546. Later reprints called it The Proverbs of John Heywood. Heywood was English and therefore I would believe the phrase would be used outside of the U.S. --J. Vincent
Source: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpennythoughts.html
[edit] rewrite
- In Canada, penny originally referred to pence coinage that they used until 1859 since there was a coin with the word "penny" on it (for pence).
I would rewrite this sentence for clarity, but I find I don't actually understand it. What is "pence coinage"? Why is "penny" "for pence"? Does it mean "Canada uses the name 'penny' for the cent coin because until 1859 the cent coin was marked 'penny'?" 207.245.124.66 16:38, 21 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] NO MORE PENNIES!
I heard on the news they are still deciding wheather to stop making pennies because of the cost.--Cute 1 4 u 03:28, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Praise the LORD! Smith Jones 22:54, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
Not entirely true... pennies cost less to make in Canada than their American counterparts. The coins are still in high demand from Canadians...if it does happen it wont be for years to come. -Coinboy
- Canadian cents are still solid copper (and weigh more than US cents). US cents are made of copper-plated zinc. Current London spot prices for copper are about double that of zinc [1]. Even factoring in the additional cost of copper-plating the planchets, and marginally higher labour costs in the US compared to Canada (I'm fairly certain, though I don't have a reference to back it up, that the US Mint still produces its own cent planchets, rather than contracting the work), there's no way that Canadian cents are at any economic advantage compared to the US cent. Put another way, the Canadian cent is just as unprofitable for the Candian government to produce as the US cent, if not more so.--chris.lawson 03:19, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
- Canadian cents are copper-plated steel, not solid copper, and have been since 2000 (they were copper-plated zinc between 1997 and 1999), and 98% copper before 1997). Nik42 22:03, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
Pennies are made of 94% steel, 1.5% nickel and 4.5% copper and have been since 1920. Before 1920 they were made of 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc. Kyro123456789
- This is untrue. See penny (Canadian coin). Steel has only been used since 2000. Nik42 06:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- In 1920, the Canadian penny was changed, but it wasn't a change of composition, just a change of size, from a diameter of 25.4 mm to 19.05 mm Nik42 06:55, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Criticism
I don't think this section belongs here, as it relates specifically to the US and Canadian coins colloquially called a penny, and not to other pennies such as the British coin Nik42 22:06, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
- In the U.S it costs about 1.4 cents this year to make a penny but in Canada it costs less than a cent. Kyro123456789
