Mountain View Coins

Copper Coin, Cents, Pennies, etc Home Page

Welcome to the home page for the United States cent coin, commonly, and incorrectly referred to as the penny. The official name of the coin is "cent" and is equal to one one-hundredth of a dollar. The term "penny" comes from a British coin.

The history of the US cent is rich and fascinating. From the first cent coined by the US Mint in 1793 to today, the coin has undergone numerous changes in design, shape/weight and composition. With the exception of 1815, due to a copper shortage, the US cent has been produced by the US mint every single year. No other coin can make that claim.

While the cent was first coined in 1793 by the US Mint, there were numerous cent/penny type coins produced by private mints. Those coins also have a rich history and can provide a coin collector with a good challenge.

The Cent has the distinction of many firsts in our history such as:

First coin to feature a real person (Lincoln Cent, 1909)
First denomination to exceed 1 million, 1 billion and 10 billion in production in a single year
Only coin to be produced in steel (one year in 1943 due to war time materials shortage)

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