U.S. Mint to unveil new Lincoln penny

[UpInArms]

Source: Bloomberg

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Mint will unveil designs for a series of four pennies commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln in the first makeover of the 1-cent coin in a half-century.

The coins, which will be released on the 100th anniversary of the first pennies to bear an image of the 16th President, are scheduled to go into circulation next year.

An unveiling ceremony will be held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Sept. 22. Images of the new coins will also be released on the Internet that day.

The first of the series, a penny marking Lincoln's birth in Kentucky, will be issued on Feb. 12, the President's birthday in 1809 at Hodgenville, Ky.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/09/14/2008-09-14_us_mint_to_unveil_new_lincoln_penny.html

[msongs]

1. get rid of pennies, they have no value and are a nuisance nt

[RB TexLa]

4. That can be said about all cash and coins

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Although I'll tell you, the dollar coin IS very handy.

I've taken to keeping a roll in my pocket at all times, and it's great for vending machines or correct change.

[RB TexLa]

10. It's rather silly that with the technology we have we still use cash and coins

[MadHound]

15. You may like having your every purchase tracked, stored and data mined,

But many of us don't. Furthermore, by going to a cashless society you would be opening up all of us to the tender mercy of banks and bank fees, and if you don't think that banks wouldn't drop a bunch of fees on plastic when there is no cash alternative, I've got some fine swampland to sell you. Finally, if we went to a cash only society, our economy would collapse. Best estimates for the black market, which is generally cash only, in this country is that it makes up anywhere from 10-20% of our economy. Hmm, collapsing ten percent of our economy in one fell swoop would also devastate our economy. That's an ugly little secret that the economic wonks don't want to tell you, but it is the truth none the less.

[Igel]

20. Some gas stations in Houston were open last night.

But they couldn't take plastic; the connections were down. Cash and carry.

Cash came in handy for those needing gas. Even if the price per gallon was $3.50.

[verges]

21. It' s difficult

to tip strippers anything other than cash!

[Lorien]

8. That would profoundly effect the poor

in a very bad way.

[Lorien]

9. That would profoundly effect the poor

in a very bad way.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

19. How?

Explain.

[asdjrocky]

27. It cost money to have a bank account.

Many poor people have poor credit, many times not their fault because of medical bills, or just food and gas and rent, and you can't open a bank account with poor credit.

As it is now many poor people are forced to spend a portion of their check just to cash their check at a check cashing business. You know the ones, they seem to sprout up all over poor neighborhoods usually right next to the liquor store and the recruitment office.

Consider street performers and the homeless. Do they have a credit card machine to charge you for your spare change?

Then also, consider the fact that in a cashless society they can track every single thing you buy or spend money on.

No thanks, I'll keep my pennies.

[baldguy]

11. Not gonna happen with an Illinois Senator in the White House.

[bamacrat]

12. How would change be made?

My total is $4.71, and I give them $4.75, how will I get my 4 cents back.

[slackmaster]

14. No doubt the consumer would end up eating the difference on every transaction

:argh:

[jmowreader]

28. Rounding

All prices, including tax, would be rounded to the nearest nickel.

[slackmaster]

13. As a lifelong collector of pennies, I resent that

I have about 200 pounds of them, and am developing a method to automatically segregate older bronze pennies from the current zinc ones.

[hunter]

18. The older pennies are vanishing fast.

Most of them are going to end up as Chinese plumbing.

[tuckessee]

22. Simple. Do it by weight.

There was a company in Ohio that developed a system and was sorting pennies.

They would melt the copper pennies while the zinc ones were rolled and distributed to areas of the country were shortages were occurring.

They were put out of business by a new law banning melting or exporting of small change.

Last I heard an Ohio rep was trying to rescind the law but that was several months ago.

[slackmaster]

24. Sure, 2 grams vs. 3 grams is significant, but I am going for something more elegant

I think it's possible to exploit differences in the diamagnetic properties of the two alloys, to create a separator with no moving parts.

[roamer65]

23. I have heard that they will also make a 2009-S VDB cent.

Is it still true? I heard talk of it a while ago at a coin show. It was supposed to be in the same bronze alloy as its 1909 counterpart.

[susu369]

2. Wonder what % copper in the composition this time?

since 1982 pennies have been 97.5% zinc core and 2.5% copper plating.

:shrug:

[Pab Sungenis]

5. That's actually up in the air.

There's a bill before the Senate right now (the House already passed it) to change the cent to copper colored steel. If they pass it and Chimpy signs it before he leaves, then the new cents will be steel, but look like copper. If not, they'll stay zinc.

The Mint does have permission to mint bronze versions for proof sets and collector's versions, however.

[susu369]

7. Thanks for the information

*nt*

[jimshoes]

16. I hope that whatever combination of metals they use

in the new pennies that they dont wind up as unrecognizable blobs of black and green corrosion like many of the current ones wind up as.

[Pab Sungenis]

17. Getting rid of the zinc should help that.

It's the zinc that turns black. Copper colored steel should tone more gracefully.

[Pab Sungenis]

3. There's going to be a cent shortage next January, then.

Usually, they're releasing new cents within the first couple weeks of the year due to heavy demand. If they're waiting until February 12th to even begin releasing next year, there's going to be a shortage in January.

[fascisthunter]

25. These Will Be Very Collectable...

and as I have read elsewhere, the new penny will have the same metal content the original 1909 did. It will cost more, but the return from collecting will overwhelm the cost itself. Mark my words on this...

[Bombero1956]

26. does it look like this?