National One Cent Day

The first penny was issued by the United states and minted in 1787. The designer of this one cent coin was Benjamin Franklin. Both sides of the coin were printed with words with one side saying"mind your business" and the other "we are one." In addition this early coin was made up of 100% copper and was known as the Fugio cent.

A short time later the United States mint was created in 1792. The first coins created by this mint were known as Chain cents because of the 13 links of chain that formed a circle representing the 13 colonies. The flip side of the coin showed an image of a woman with flowing hair to illustrate Lady Liberty. While this one cent piece replaced the original coin with Ben Franklin it would not remain long either

The next one cent piece would show up in 1859 and would be known as the Indian Head cent. This coin would remain in circulation for decades. It was replaced in 1909 with the new Abe Lincoln penny that is made up of both copper and zinc. Between the years of 1959 to 2008 the coin featured the Lincoln Memorial. Starting in 2009 the penny honored the 200th birthday of President Lincoln by featuring various scenes from his lifetime and on the flip side the Union Shield

Fun Facts about pennies:

• In 1943 the united States was at war and needed copper for war materials. Pennies were made out of zinc coated steel. The color of the coin was silvery and was hard to distinguish from a dime. The following year the coins were once again made from copper
• America's first one cent coin was called a "large cent" and was first created at the mint in 1793. It was a large coin that was hard to use and nearly as big as a half-dollar coin. The coin was not changed in size for nearly a half-century in 1857.
• The Lincoln penny in circulation from 1959 to 2007 featured the president on both sides of the coin. One side his face in profile and the other Abe is seated at the Lincoln Memorial. The coin also has 2 sets of initials for each engraver

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