2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
In the US, the smallest coin is rarely officially called a cent. More often they say "penny". It just so happened that 5 cents is a nickel, 10 is a dime, and 25 is a quarter, that is, a quarter (in our country, of course, this word means something completely different). Americans in general are conservative people, they change the design of their money reluctantly and only involuntarily. So the modern 1 cent coin looks the same as it did a hundred years ago.
What is a cent?
If "dollar" is a distorted "thaller", then "cent" comes from the Latin word "centum", meaning a good old hundred. Roman centuries, in which centurions, senti, centazimo served - all these "hundred" designations have a similar etymology. In each of the languages, they mean one percent (another formation from this word). Not only in America, but also in dozens of other countries in which the base unit is not always called the dollar, these coins are in use. And in Australia, and in united Europe, and in exotic Brunei, and in Canada, and in Hong Kong, and in Mauritius, and in the little-known state of Kiribati, and in many other places, no one is surprised that the mosta small coin is 1 cent. But for the first time this unit was introduced after all in the North American States.
The appearance of the coin
In fact, cents appeared on American soil three years earlier than the most common currency today, namely in 1783. It was one hundred of these coins that formed one dollar. Until 1857, there were also half cents (and in Russia then half a penny went).
George Washington's 1 cent profile coins of the same design that are still in use today, put into circulation in 1909. Then the dollar was very expensive, it was backed by gold, and "weighed" about one gram. Today, such a quantity of "yellow metal" goes for forty dollars or more, there is no binding, and the price is determined by the exchange rate, but then, more than a century ago, there was no point in saving on metal for making "penny", and it was made from an alloy with a high copper content. As it turned out now, it turned out to be expensive.
Appearance of coins
There is no small change in the world as diverse as 1 cent. The coin is issued in different countries, its appearance reflects national and natural features, including flora and fauna of different climatic zones. But the main thing is still considered the American cent, the appearance of which has also changed several times. At first, the reverse (reverse from the nominal side) was decorated with various symbols of freedom, the main value of the New World. In the nineteenth century, the attention of the employees of the Federal Reserve System, or rather its issuing centers, was attracted by other personifications of America - bald eagles,bison and even Indians, indigenous people (the attitude towards them has not changed). The previous century was marked by respect for the first president of the United States, and in addition to him, the 1 cent coin was traditionally decorated with an assurance of faith.
Expensive coin
Over the past decades, the dollar has lost ground in its purchasing power. Pragmatic Americans, accustomed to calculating everything in the world, thought about how much 1 cent costs, and whether it costs taxpayers too much. The USA is a rich country and is proud of its traditions, but in this matter they have clearly come into conflict with the economy. The public reacted to this situation with a practical boycott of the "penny". Some outlets simply refuse to accept the smallest bronze coins, rounding prices to the nearest nickel. This decision is supported by simple calculations. Firstly, the production of a “cent” costs each of the emission centers almost 1.8 times more than its face value. Secondly, in the States they remember that time is money, and spending it on counting almost worthless little things is wasteful, it takes the average US citizen 2 hours 24 minutes a year. In addition, the minting of coins and the preparation of bronze is a technological process, the ecological cleanliness of which the people doubt. So it is quite possible that soon cents, if they are taken into account, then only for cashless payments.
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