The penny. The smallest unit of U.S. money was first minted in 1792. Officially the “one cent piece,” was known from the start as the “penny” from historic European use (one meaning is: pawn). Ben Franklin designed the first coin, and Paul Revere supplied some of the copper. Pennies have little copper today (98 percent zinc) and cost 1.67 cents each to make. There are as many as 250 billion pennies in circulation, millions of new ones are minted daily) but its future is not secure. B. Obama and the current secretary of treasury want to eliminate the coin, while polls suggest that six in 10 Americans want to keep it. (By the way, the nickle costs almost 10c to make, and it’s also a drag).

TOM TIEDE