CENT vs PENNY.. What is the correct term?

The correct term is Cent, however I don`t care if you use Penny, Pennies, Pennia, Pfennig, Penning.
What I want to know is when and why did you change Defence to Defense ?

 

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http://grammarist.com/spelling/defence-defense/
starts with "Defence and defense are different spellings of the same word."

 

No one's given a good reason why you should call the coin a cent and not a penny.

Some of the lame reasons given so far are that the British and Australians have coins called pennies, and that the coin has the word cent on it. Not too convincing.

 

Well the good reason is, it has "CENT" on the coin and not Penny.
Australia no longer has coins with "Penny", theirs are also "Cent" although they have got rid of the One and Two Cent and rounded up to Five Cents.

 

4 pages to argue about nomenclature. I thought these words were pretty much interchangeable and were each used depending on the context.

Cashier: That will be $3.01
Me: (Hands the cashier $5)
Cashier: "Do you have a penny"
Me: No
Cashier: "That's okay, there's one in the "Give a penny tray"

Now try to insert the word "cent" in that example and tell me whether it sounds right to you?

 

Because on a US coin, it says CENTS, and on British coins, it says PENNY.

 

But the mint says it is a penny. Go argue with them.

 

I use penny & will continue to use penny. Dont matter whats correct as we all know what it means.

 

The mint is in the business of selling coins, and if the majority of their market calls them pennies, then pennies it is. I was never corrected when saying pennies until I just the coin community. And I have no problem with it. But when someone says "No one's given a good reason why you should call the coin a cent and not a penny", in the coin community, because it says cent on US coins and penny on British.

 

Can you show me where on a five cent coin it says 'nickel'?
That puts a huge hole in your argument, now doesn't it?

 

It doesn't say nickel on it but it is made of nickel, which is a valid reason to call it a nickel. The cent saying "cent" on it is also a valid reason to call it a cent.

This argument supports calling them what they are called (i.e. cent and nickel). It is not an argument against calling it a penny. Looking for a similar argument for calling it a penny.

 

From this moment forward, all US coins will have new names. Anyone caught using the old names, with be flogged and quartered.

1 cent or penny = coinarooski(s)
5 cent or nickel = whatachmacallit
10 dimes or dime = soultrain
25 cent or quarter or 2 bits = half of a half

 

4 pages of this argument?! WOW!
There sure are a lot of anal retentives here on CT.

There are some here that should, as quickly as possible, sell off their collections and use the proceeds to buy a life.

 

I know. And we didnt start discussing dimes yet.

 

Yet, it does say 'ONE DIME' on the coin.
Or is it 'DISME'?
This ought to be good.

 

An American dime has ten cents because Americans have ten fingers.
An English shilling has twelve pennies because English have twelve fingers.

 

I've always looked at it like this: "cent" is the denomination of the coin. The coin that is worth "one cent" is called, commonly, a "penny". When speaking of the coin of value "one cent", either term is correct though "penny" is likely more common. When speaking specifically about value or denomination, then "cent" is the only term that is correct.

Rob

 

Languages change. Remember when 'gay' meant happy?

You can't call a happy guy gay anymore.

 

Just about every other denomination has had 2 or 3 names at least. Like "Quarters" or "Nickels" for example. (which by the way used to be called a "Half Dime" before nickel was used in coins!)

So it wouldn't make sense to limit One Cent to only one name.

~ That's my "pennies" worth....

 

Yep! There is something about this topic that just drives people over the top. I have not clue what it is. I am as big a penny/cent collector as most everyone here. I could care less! So long as the one you are speaking to understands it, you can call it a buck for all I care.