The incredible shrinking cent (penny)!

Zoins

OMG! I just found out that not only has:

• the diameter been getting smaller and
• the intrinsic value becoming smaller

but the weight is also shrinking!

It makes sense but it's just interesting to see how everything is getting smaller with this coin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)

Here's a recent "shrunken" cent.

tincup

A good example of Gresham's Law "bad money drives out good".

Another interesting thing to do would be a comparison of what a cent would buy.... years ago the cent actually had some value and was able to purchase something, instead of just being a means of facilitating tax collection like it is now.

Zoins

@tincup said:
A good example of Gresham's Law "bad money drives out good".

Another interesting thing to do would be a comparison of what a cent would buy.... years ago the cent actually had some value and was able to purchase something, instead of just being a means of facilitating tax collection like it is now.

Definitely. I was recently looking at comic books that used to cost a dime and are now four dollars.

It used to cost 10 cents to buy a comic book and it now costs 40x more at 399 cents to buy a comic book.

It would be great to see what used to cost a cent.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1050250/the-worth-of-our-coins#latest

ricko

I recall penny candy or bubble gum, one cent stamps.... Not much else....Memory dims that far back Cheers, RickO

JRocco

I remember tootsie rolls that cost a cent.
When I was a kid they were fairly large tootsie rolls for a cent.
Then they got smaller, but still for a cent. Then smaller, then smaller.
When I owned a store in the late 80's the one cent tootsie rolls I had
in a plastic bin by the register were smaller in length than a cent