National One Cent Day 2025
April Fools Day is April first. It is also National One Cent Day. The intersection of these days lay in the fact that serious consideration has been leveled toward ending the use of the penny in US commerce. I agree the penny coin likely doesn't get the use it should.I also have this sense of nostalgia tugging at my heart strings. The penny was the first coin I was ever given as a child. I had a lot of nickles, dimes, and quarters as well over the years but the first coin I ever received was the penny.
The US first issued the one cent coin, designed by Benjamin Franklin. On one side, the coin read "Mind Your Business", and on the other side, "We Are One". It was hand crafted without machines and larger — made of pure copper unlike the alloy adulterants used in much of the coinage of today.
 |
I have a lot of pennies I have collected over the years. I have indian heads, wheats, as well as the more modern versions. Perhaps therein lay part of the problem. Maybe collectors have made the cent unuseful to the government.
I know a lot of people who don't use bank cards — or even visit banks — and wonder how they will fare if we ever phase out currency totally in favor of other commerce instruments.
Happy National One Cent Day to you and the penny.