Facts on the Penny and Coins

Coinstar just sent me the following:

With today being Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln penny we thought we’d pass on some fun penny facts from Coinstar for you to share with your readers!

Fun Facts About Pennies & Coins:

• According to a 2006 Coinstar study, almost two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) still feel the penny should be retained as an important symbol of American culture, history and the economy.

• According to a Coinstar study, two-thirds (66%) of Americans say they tend to accumulate loose change.  And of those who accumulate change, 32 percent say they are recycling or cashing in their change more now than a year ago. 

• Coinstar asked Americans which group of well-known figures beyond presidents they’d like to see on a U.S. coin. The poll revealed that more than 25 percent of Americans rank Notable Scientists and Inventors as their top choice.

• According to the Coinstar National Currency Poll, 81 percent of Americans said that they don’t feel guilty about having change sitting around, not being put to use.  However, 78 percent of poll respondents said they would make more of an effort to put coins back into circulation if they knew it would reduce environmental impacts.

• The Lincoln cent was the first U.S. circulating coin to bear a president's image.

• Forty-two percent of the change you get back every day is handed out in pennies.

• A penny stays in circulation for 30 years.

• It costs the U.S. government 1.2 cents to make a 1-cent penny.

• According to Coinstar there’s more than $10 billion in loose change hiding in homes across the U.S., which is roughly $90 per household!

Comments

[Noah]

"According to Coinstar, use Coinstar!"

Pretty cool you found new ways to put ads in FMF besides the easy ones on the sides.

[FMF]

Noah --

Thanks for the comment. I can always count on you to assume the worst in people.

In case others are wondering, I did NOT receive any payment from Coinstar to post this. I simply thought the facts were "fun" (hence the category I posted it to) and interesting (especially the $90 number at the end.)

[Shaun Connell]

I am not going to sleep at night knowing that there's about $90 hiding from me under my nose. ;-)

[kmn1]

These are great facts to know! Thank you!

[Noah]

Assume the worst in people? Really? You're a class act, anonymous internet man.

[KevinC]

Fact: the US does not have a penny. That is an English term. Nowhere in any law, authorizing the strike of coinage is there a mention of a "penny". We have a 1 cent coin.

[thomas]

Interesting facts indeed. I'm shocked that we actually produce something that costs more than it's value. Really smart.

Noah is probably just upset that the hopes and change promised by this administration is only going to net him $1.68 a day in tax cuts.

[Bobby]

When my wife & I started out, we used to keep all change received to put in a mason jar. This is when we first started out and had trouble sticking to budgets and always had cost overruns, we since corrected all these issues. It was easy to save for a rainy day or small vacation or part of one. We used the mason jar and when that got full moved it to a gallon jug, repeat and rinse. We actually used CoinStar when we finally decided to use it as part of a getaway...grand total accumalated just over a year...$792...YEEHAW! At the time this was the only sure way for us to save instead of lightly build up and spend. We come far from those days. But my point is this: Coins are important to us in numerous ways. I used coins to learn how to save money and to know when or not to spend it. Since it was an effort to accumalte all those coins. Thanks FMF

[BRCA1]

Wasn't the 1909 cent the first US coin with any real person on it, not just an idealized image of liberty, eagle, etc.? I'm not sure about the colonial issues though. The coin collector in me regrets the fact that the budget hawk in me wins the "kill the penny" debate. Though both sides are happy about forcing one dollar coins on people!

[KevinC]

Previous to the Lincolns were the Indian Head cents. The image of the indian, however, was from a real person(model) who was not of Native American decent. Before that, were the short-lived Flying Eagle cents (the first small cents). Prior to that were the Large Cents- all with an allegorical Liberty on the obverse.

[Noah]

Gave you a chance to apologize to one of your most contributory posters. You didn't. Again, great anonymity and a great showing off those christian values harp on.

-1 subscriber.

[FMF]

Noah --

Again, you prove my point.

Bye.