# I am very disappointed in the new US pennies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673 "2017-09-06T21:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/1 "2017-09-06T21:40:06Z")
They look like they are of some really inferior quality. They don’t even look like real money. In fact, they remind me of these cheap ass tokens they gave me that one time I went to a peep show. Look, it wasn’t my idea, I just went along with it - my friends pressured my into it; I didn’t enjoy it at all, I felt weird and creepy. I never went back. Do those things even still exist anymore? You’d think with all the free internet porn and web cam stuff there wouldn’t be much of a market for that sort of thing these days, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/2 "2017-09-06T21:43:49Z")
New since 2010? Or there something newer? I like the 2010 design. I don’t know what kind of peep show you’d get for a penny, but I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/3 "2017-09-06T22:04:27Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > New since 2010? Or there something newer? > > I like the 2010 design. > > I don’t know what kind of peep show you’d get for a penny, but I’ll pass. I wouldn’t know what kind of peep show you’d get for a penny; I was comparing the pennies I don’t like to the peep show tokens; they were a dollar I think; but this was 90’s dollars so you got like 60% more for every dollar you spent. You could buy a gallon of gas, or play the same arcade game 4 times with one dollar back then. I don’t remember how much it cost to initially unfog the window - and I don’t know what happened if you kept putting tokens in the slot (supposedly something exciting, I never found out). The design is OK if you ask me, but the quality of the penny itself totally sucks in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/4 "2017-09-06T22:22:20Z")
He didn’t say the peep show admission was a penny. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/5 "2017-09-06T22:29:46Z")
This is one case where [I’m not sure where the hyphen was supposed to go](https://xkcd.com/37/). ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/6 "2017-09-06T22:37:18Z")
Pennies haven’t been real money in a long time. Or nickels really. They are the things you throw away or save up in giant jars to eventually exchange for usable denominations. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/7 "2017-09-06T22:40:37Z")
Well, that OP certainly developed in an unexpected direction. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/8 "2017-09-06T22:52:00Z")
I am nominating you for the 2017 SDMB Left Turn Award. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/9 "2017-09-06T22:57:57Z")
I am very disappointed that they still bother minting pennies. and dollar bills, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/10 "2017-09-06T23:11:58Z")
The design on the back is neat, but it reminds me of play money. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/11 "2017-09-06T23:15:32Z")
I hate the shield design on the penny, if that’s what we are talking about. It looks cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/12 "2017-09-06T23:16:57Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > They don’t even look like real money. They’re not. They’re pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/13 "2017-09-06T23:18:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I hate the shield design on the penny, if that’s what we are talking about. It looks cheap. It’s a _penny_. It’s only worth _one cent_ and there’s been nothing you can buy with one for decades. If it looks cheap, that’s entirely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/14 "2017-09-06T23:28:03Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I am very disappointed that they still bother minting pennies. > > and dollar bills, for that matter. Canada has dealt with both those little problems. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/15 "2017-09-06T23:28:12Z")
The composition was changed in 1982 to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper from 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. The change not only makes them lighter they do not stand up to circulation as well and they really don’t stand up to the elements. You will no longer find a penny that’s been laying around in the dirt for years. Future old men with metal detectors are out of luck on the penny front! mc ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/16 "2017-09-06T23:37:44Z")
It doesn’t even matter if pennies don’t stand up to circulation, since they really don’t circulate. Many people throw them out, or just let them accumulate at home. There’s really little reason to continue to produce them (or to produce nickels or dimes). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/17 "2017-09-07T00:03:59Z")
I think they should have kept the Lincoln Memorial on the obverse. It was the only coinage that had the same person on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/18 "2017-09-07T00:12:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This is one case where [I’m not sure where the hyphen was supposed to go](https://xkcd.com/37/). I didn’t even think of that - usually my grammar problems revolve around semicolons. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/19 "2017-09-07T00:15:47Z")
Of course they don’t look like real money, because they aren’t real money. It costs more to make a penny out of base metal than the damn thing is worth, and how much is that? If you think about the value in terms of everyday purchases, it’s like the barber cutting off one of your hairs probably. It’s a fraction of a mouthful of beer at the pub. It’s completely idiotic that we still have to have them. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673/20 "2017-09-07T00:23:39Z")
But the current design only costs 1.67¢ each to make! (Its predecessors cost more.) What a bargain! :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-very-disappointed-in-the-new-us-pennies/795673.md?page=2)