A final goodbye tonight to the penny.
The last one was minted earlier Wednesday in Philadelphia. The government is getting out of the penny business, which wasn't a great business. The U.S. Mint said it costs 3.69 cents cents to produce and distribute each penny.
Oh, and it's not actually called a penny. It's a one-cent piece. The word "penny" is left-over from the British.
Today, I started feeling guilty about how I've treated the penny. I can't remember the last time I used one for something other than making a wish or squishing in a machine to make a souvenir. And I haven't even bothered to pick one up, so all day long I'd have good luck, in a very long time.
Ben Franklin "coined" the phrase "a penny saved is a penny earned." Maybe if we hadn't saved so many, they wouldn't have stopped making them, which they've been doing at the Denver Mint since 1911.
They'll still be legal tender and something expensive will still cost you a pretty penny. And I'll still tell you what I'm thinking if you offer me a penny for my thoughts.
But it's the end of the line for the humble one-cent piece. You'll always be penny to me.
