inner dork: pennies

Did you know...
The penny has the head of President Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States.

Above the image is the saying, "In God We Trust," with the word, "Liberty" to the left. The Coinage Act of 1792 decreed that each U.S. coin must have "an impression emblematic of Liberty," a mythical female figure that appeared as the symbol of the United States during colonial times.

The letter below the date that the coin was minted tells where it was minted. If no letter appears below the date it means it was minted in PA. 'D' means it minted in Denver, Co; 'S' indicates San Francisco, and 'CC' means Carson City, NV. However, today pennies are only minted in Denver and Philadelphia.

On the back of the penny is the Lincoln Memorial. The phrase, "E Pluribus Unum," which means "one out of many," or literally, "from many, one." This is on the Great Seal of the United States and on all U.S. coins. The phrase was adopted by the Continental Congress and adopted in 1782. Ben Franklin wanted the phrase, "Rebellions to Tyrants Is Obedience to God."

Factiods:

During WWII copper was needed for bullets and cartridges. In 1943 pennies were made from zinc-coated steel and were called, "war pennies."

The last pure copper penny was minted in 1981 because the U.S. mint was losing money. Since then all pennies have been made from copper-coated zinc.