The penny. It used to be worth something. When I was a student in elementary school, a penny would buy four Ike-and-Mikes (similar to jelly beans) or a column of sugar dots. There is an adage that is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. In one of his publications, he wrote, “Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” However, that was an adaptation for Americans of a similar aphorism originated by William Lowndes (1652-1724), Secretary to the Treasury of Great Britain. Lowndes said, “Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.” Good advice on both sides of “The Pond.”
It seems that we Americans so revere Ol’ Ben that we’ve adapted some of his advice over the years to fit our current language usage. For example, he never actually said “A penny saved is a penny earned.” He proclaimed, “A penny saved is a penny got.” Similarly, he wrote, “A penny saved is two pence clear; a pin a day’s a groat a year.” That first independent clause is understandable; I’m not sure that the second part of the sentence can be understood completely because a groat is the term for an obsolete British silver coin.
Additionally, it was another Briton, Robert Burton, who first said, “Penny wise and pound foolish.” Again, Franklin is often credited with forming the wise words. Ben, who was as forthcoming as Honest Abe Lincoln, wrote about his adapted clever sayings, “Why then should I give my readers bad lines of my own, when good ones of other people are so plenty?” I appreciate Ben’s candor, but what interests me more is the fact that a penny was worth comment two hundred years ago and still had actual buying power even when I was a kid.
Don’t make no cents
On Nov. 12, 2025, the last penny was struck at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. When the press shut down, the last penny that will ever exist had been created. Writing for Microsoft News, Daniel Monroe of Cuyahoga Community College in Philadelphia, commented, “It’s the kind of moment that sneaks up on you, and most people probably didn’t notice it…” He continued, “Now, millions of Americans are sitting on jars, cups, and piggy banks full of pennies and wondering: What exactly are they supposed to do with them?” The answer: Spend them while they still have value.
The transition away from the use of pennies will be gradual. Businesses, charities, and the general public need time to adapt before the penny disappears entirely. Eventually, the penny will become as extinct as a British groat. Monroe points out, “The Treasury Department is actively encouraging the public to spend on-hand pennies to support a smooth transition and allow retailers and point-of-sale system providers time to adapt.”
Actually, the decision to discontinue production of pennies was probably overdue. For nearly two decades, the United States government’s cost of producing a penny increased from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents. Monroe writes, “It’s like baking a loaf of bread that costs you twelve dollars in ingredients to sell for three.” He further points out, “Countries including Canada (2012), Australia (1992), and New Zealand (1990) had already discontinued their lowest-value coins without the sky falling.”
The European change-over
Time changes almost everything. Several European countries discontinued pressing and printing their own money in order to adopt the Euro, the official legal tender of the European Union. On January 1, 1999, the Euro became the standard money for eleven EU member states, including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
The countries initially used the euro for electronic transactions only. Physical euro banknotes and coins were not introduced until 2002. Today, nearly all of Europe has adopted the euro as its “coin of the realm.” And euros may take the form of banknotes or coins. Countries may print banknotes in the following denominations: €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, and €5. Coins include: €2. €1, 50 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, 2 cents, and — believe it or not — 1 cent. Of course, less expensive metals are used for the lower-value coins.
Meanwhile, nothing has changed about the value of your pennies. They are now and will continue to be worth their face value. Monroe points out, “The federal government has stopped manufacturing new pennies, but the Federal Reserve will continue to recirculate the roughly 114 billion pennies currently in existence for as long as possible.” Still, it is best to get rid of your pennies now. Money stored in your piggy bank does not earn interest. But numismatists will tell you that not all pennies are equal.
Valuable pennies
If you have the time and patience, it’s a good idea to check the dates on the pennies that you hold. If your penny is dated before 1982, there’s a good chance that it contains 95 percent copper. That’s a lot more copper than has been used to mint other pennies. So, the value of those pre-1982 pennies could be worth two or three cents, depending on the fluctuating price of copper. There are also some rare pennies that can be worth significantly more.
Monroe explains, “The 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent is one of the most valuable, often worth thousands of dollars due to its low mintage. Other highly sought-after pennies include the 1943 Copper Penny, which was mistakenly struck in bronze instead of steel and can be worth more than $100.000.” However, the chances of finding one of these pennies are about the same as the probability of holding a multi-million-dollar lottery ticket.
Just hanging on to pennies doesn’t make sense. They will not increase in value for three or maybe four generations, if at all. Meanwhile, they will have only sentimental value, at best. And the face value will decrease as inflation continues to eat away at the value of all money. As the intrepid New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra reminded us half a century ago when he was manager of the New York Mets, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
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Jim Glynn is Professor Emeritus of Sociology. He may be contacted at j_glynn@att.net.