see a penny, pick it up

U.S. Mint rolls out a new penny

The Lincoln Cent has been redesigned again. But not everyone is celebrating.

Posted by Money Staff on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 12:18 PM

This post comes from Anna Vander Broek of MSN Money.

Those of you who still use the penny as currency (rather than as a screwdriver or for scratching off lottery tickets) may soon notice America’s 1-cent coin has gotten a facelift.

The U.S. Mint has changed the design for the reverse -- or “tails” -- side of the 2010 Lincoln Cent, which entered circulation on Feb. 11 (everywhere but Puerto Rico, which received the new penny in late January). Michael White from the U.S. Mint says penny inventory is very high, however, so you may not see a new penny right away.

The U.S. Mint kicked off the release of the new penny during a ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. The design was chosen out of 18 candidates. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made the final call.

The penny’s new reverse side features a union shield with 13 vertical stripes and a scroll draped across reading “One Cent.” (Check your nearest couch cushion and you’ll see the old penny portrays the Lincoln Memorial.) The Web site of the U.S. Mint explains that the stripes represent the 13 original states and the banner signifies “a single union in support of the federal government.” The new penny’s front face will continue to illustrate President Lincoln, designed by American sculptor Victor David Brenner back in 1909.

The 2010 penny follows the four different reverse designs, each one depicting a stage of Lincoln’s life, used on the 2009 Lincoln pennies. The special pennies were produced last year to commemorate the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent.

A penny for your thoughts

Not everyone is excited about the prospect of a new penny. Some would rather see the coin disappear altogether. The anti-penny group Citizens for Retiring the Penny explains on its Web site why it believes the penny is a waste of time and money.

The half penny was eliminated in 1858, when it was worth over 10 times what the penny is worth today. Assuming that the timing was correct before, this means that we should have eliminated the penny 50 years ago.

Some Americans won’t even accept the penny as currency. Alko Office Supply, owned by Gary Shows in downtown Berkeley, Calif., has a sign hanging over the cash register that reads, "We are a penny free store,” reports NPR.org in a story debating the worth of the penny.

Even President Obama seems to think the penny has overstayed its welcome. “We have been trying to eliminate the penny for quite some time -- it always comes back,” he said at a press conferience in 2008, according to a blog post on Politico.com. (Although in 2005 when Obama was a senator from Illinois, he co-sponsored the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin Redesign Act, which required the new penny designs in 2009 and 2010.)

A penny actually costs more to make than it's worth. In 2009, the unit cost to produce the penny was 1.62 cents, according to the U.S. Mint.

Find a penny, pick it up

The penny still has many fans. Pro-penny group Americans for Common Cents "aims to inform and educate policymakers, consumers and the media about the penny’s economic, cultural and historical significance." The group also emphasizes the penny’s importance for charity through organizations such as Penny Lovers of America and Habitat for Humanity’s Parade of Pennies.

A poll conducted by Coinstar in 2006 found that only 27% of Americans want to get rid of the penny. Four out of five Americans will still pick up a penny on the ground.

so, what do you think? i am personally a penny supporter, simply because of math. 1 is a factor of 5. so until that changes, i'll still be saving pennies.

SWAT!

jarvis varnado is your new ncaa shot-blocking record holder, with 536 blocked shots, and the season isn't over yet!

GO DAWGS!

wednesday wussy

there are not enough hours in the day. do any of y'all feel this way? between working during tax season, trying to lose weight, cook dinner (and make sure the kitchen is stocked!), teach pilates (more on that) and keep a clean house, a walked dog and a happy husband, there is no time left for me to veg out watching golden girls and olympic figure skating (which the law student says is not a sport. i disagree vehemently) or finish my painting unless i forego more than one of the above-listed necessary chores. i just cannot make it all happen before 9 o'clock.

more on pilates: i'm annoyed. i teach one class a week to pay for my membership, then sub in as needed. i was scheduled to sub for a 4:30 class last week in addition to my regular 5:45 class that day, when we had an emergency at work. plus, we were going to see the north mississippi allstars that night, and i wanted to work out, and cook dinner (please see grievance above), so i tried to get out of it due to the work emergency (i really didn't know what i would have to do, and our hours are extended during tax season). but she (instructor) wouldn't hear of it, not even due to the emergency and said there was no way we could cancel class. so i agree to teach (again), everything at work goes normally, and i head out to the studio at 4:30. now, this class alternates between an aerobics class and a pilates class. i only do pilates, so that's what i was teaching. so, how many people show up? ONE. it's normally a full class of college girls who come for cardio. i thought it was very strange none of them showed up. and why couldn't she teach the class? she had a date. in town. i ended up seeing her out at the show (with her date), and she apparently had started partying at 4:30 on the dot. now, she had cancelled the sunday class. why? again, her date. i know it's her business, but it seems silly to cancel a full afternoon class for lots of clients but not a repeat class for one person, all because of a date. but you can't go by me.

and that brings us to figure skating. the law student thinks this is a bogus sport because appearance plays a part in the judging. sorry, dude, no one wants to look at frumpy, ill-dressed figure skaters. they have to be perfect, glide seemingly effortlessly over ice on metal blades, jump in the air and land, and look good doing it too. time doesn't control the winner--they do, by constantly out-performing the previous skater. they are every bit as much an athlete as any other olympian. so there, law student.

p.s. the scale says 115.4 today--almost down to fighting weight! i'm sure it's just being polite, but i'll take it.

obedience

please check out this post. i am always so challenged by katie. this post is so true--we are called to God's heart, and faith without works isn't worth much. we have to choose the story we want to live in: the world's, or our God's. and i struggle daily, because i am so comfortable. and in the spirit of the lent season, i thought it was so appropriate. enjoy!

weekend recap

krista, kissey and mandi

i am so glad to be home. but not because i didn't have fun.

i went to nashville this past weekend to visit one of my best and first friends from college, since she's now so much closer than new york. we had a blast! i don't really go out much at home unless there's something major going on (like the north mississippi allstars last week), or i drag the law student out of the house because, contrary to popular belief, there is only so much criminal minds one can watch.

friday night we went out to hear a band, then on to a local favorite. mandi decided on tequila shots at the end of the night, and we all thought it was a great idea. at first, it was--those things made us giggle. everything for the next 45 minutes was absolutely hilarious. but after that, things weren't so funny and nobody felt really awesome saturday morning until after heath made breakfast (pancakes from scratch!). we shopped a bit and then dropped by a bachelorette party, followed by sushi for dinner. then, krista and mandi decided to take me to a lesbian bar to see my reactions, since i'd never been to one before. we listened to lots of karaoke, and i think we got hit on by 2 swinger couples, but you can't go by me. we did not end the night with tequila shots, and everyone was ok with that. sunday brought us the sweetest stray pit bull mix that mandi named "lady." she had mange, but not too bad, and was skinny, but not too skinny. we called a pit rescue service, since the humane society would have put her down immediately. she was super sweet, only wanted to be petted, and obviously had been someone's pet and then recently abandoned. i hated to leave her!

and now, the bad part. i absolutely hate driving in the rain. i hydroplaned a few years ago, then had a few more bad experiences, and have been terrified ever since. it reduces me to tears, and last night was no exception. i drove head-on into a huge band of storms around jackson, tennessee (after fighting terrible and uncharacteristic traffic out of nashville). but i handled it well, for me. then there was memphis. by this time it was pouring rain so hard i couldn't see the road, it was dark, and i was scared stiff. i made it through memphis and breathed a sigh of relief, only to have it start pouring again in southaven all the way to holly springs. i was going 45 miles an hour, couldn't see the road to save my life, and cars are just flying past me. i have no idea how they made it. by the time i pulled off on my exit, i was starting to lose it. i pulled into a gas station and sat and squalled for 20 minutes by myself. i called ben and mom and cried to them too (scared them to death, i'm sure). i collected myself finally and waited out the storm per weather reports. but when i finally decided to drive the last 28 miles home, my car wouldn't start. battery=DEAD. apparently, i had left my car turned on while having my come-apart in the car. great. i started crying all over again. so i went into the gas station, with wet hair and puffy eyes, and the sweet man working had jumper cables and gave me coffee while he waited for someone he knew to come jump me off. someone finally walked in and agreed to jump off my car. so i walked out into the rain and popped the hood of my car (rather unsuccessfully). there was a truck next to me, and i thought this was the nice man who was going to get me home and end my awful night. but it wasn't. it was another guy (who finally got my hood up) and he ended up getting me going while the original guy looked on. my battery is super corroded, and the law student is actually getting me a new one right now. so, i made it home at 9 o'clock, physically and emotionally drained, but grateful.

p.s. while the 2 men were jumping off my car, popping my hood and examining my battery, etc., one of them made a comment about where i live. "oh, does your daddy or your boyfriend live there?" "yeah, my husband is in law school there." apparently i look barely old enough to drive.

bride of christ

the glorious hem

such a sweet sweet message. i got chills and tears in my eyes. what a wonderful promise!

"... I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." -Revelation 21:2-5

valentine's post

in honor of the hallmark holiday based on a massacre, here are 14 (random, not exclusive) things i loooooooove, in no particular order.

1. a snack of lays potato chips and a cold coke. sweet and salty.
2. cherry 7-up
3. weekends at smith lake with sunset cruises and water skiing.
4. horses. riding horses, drawing horses, the smell of horses, baby horses, horse races, you name it. i am a horse freak.
5. my daily dose of dear prudence, margo howard, and celebrity gossip on msn.
6. snow skiing. my favorite activity. it's been over a year since i've been.
7. the golden girls on dvd. i watch them incessantly and it never gets old.
8. joe's jeans. they fit so well. i'll never wear another brand.
9. organic eating, and mouthing off all kinds of information about it to friends and family so that they look at me funny.
10. my grandmother's dream cookies. oh my gosh, we marshall grandchildren just go NUTS for them. i just made my first batch, and they came out more than ok. the law student says i've opened pandora's box.
11. roxy and rowena.
12. hysterically laughing at absolutely nothing with best friends. i miss you and all our random jokes, nights out, slumber parties and lazy afternoons.
13. curling up with a good book that i can't put down. except to eat lay's potato chips or dream cookies. except in bed.
14. the law student. he's my favorite. and i'm his. i'm incredibly blessed.


p.s. i have not worked out in 2 days and i just scarfed down 2 extra-large dream cookies. i put extra frosting on the second one (shame, but only a little). the scale will not be so generous tomorrow, i'm afraid.