Even the mint uses cent and penny interchangeable!! "In Case You Missed It...Check out some of our recent social media posts: April 1 was National One Cent Day! The one cent piece, or penny, was one of the first coins issued by the Mint after it was created in 1792. On April 2, we celebrated our 225th anniversary–#USMint225. Enjoy this fun one-minute video." For the latest press releases, check out the Mint Newsroom. https://www.facebook.com/UnitedStat...=CoinsOnline&cm_mmca2=All&cm_mmca3=Newsletter
Technically the word penny means a small coin, often the smallest minted by a nation but not always. Britain had halfpennies and farthings, for instance. Germany had pfennig. So while cent is the correct name for the US coin it is also a penny in the sense of being a small coin. You can see more examples if you look up the article in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny
Here is an old thread on the same subject created by some crazy CoinTalk member https://www.cointalk.com/threads/cent-vs-penny-what-is-the-correct-term.259971/ Oh wait.. that was me who created the thread
It's a ONE CENT because that's what it says on the reverse side of the coin, just like the coin we incorrectly call a nickel is correctly a FIVE CENT because that's on its reverse side.
By the same token, "DIME" is okay because it says that on the coin (why?), but QUARTER is technically incorrect unless you say "QUARTER DOLLAR". What would we do in this hobby if we couldn't pick at the technical correctness of universally-understood common terms?
Everyone on this site who doesn't think it is also a penny, and corrects any knew collectors to say cent... And when you buy a box it clearly says 25$ pennies. And on some rolls. I personally think its a preference, which doesn't make the correct term a cent or a penny. The correct term is what you prefer personally.
I was just kidding! Did you see my thread?@James0813 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/cent-vs-penny-what-is-the-correct-term.259971/
