Pennies in the Peas

My mom always used to throw in four or five copper pennies when she cooked peas. One penny doesn't seem to work She used to have the pennies in a little wire bag attached by a chain so she could pull them out when the peas were done. A teensy bit of the copper dissolves and the peas come out brighter, lighter and much more appetizing.

[peekawho]

Wow!  That's a new one for me!  

[peekawho]

Found this:

A penny is not what you think. Indeed, from 1783 to 1837, a cent was pure copper. But newer pennies are made mostly of zinc. Here's the history, according to the U.S. Mint:

    * From 1837 to 1857, the cent was made of bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc).
    * From 1857, the cent was 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance.
    * The cent was again bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc) from 1864 to 1962, except: In 1943, the coin's composition was changed to zinc-coated steel.  This change was only for the year 1943 and was due to the critical use of copper for the war effort.  However, a limited number of copper pennies were minted that year.
    * In 1962, the cent's tin content, which was quite small, was removed.  That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc.

The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc).  Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.

The penny's original design was suggested by Ben Franklin. The word "penny" comes from the British "pence." More than 300 billion pennies have been minted, according to pennies.org. See, you shoulda saved them!

Here's a neat fact. The faces on all coins currently in circulation face left, except for Abe Lincoln on the penny. Lincoln's likeness is an adaptation of a plaque done by sculptor Victor David Brenner. The direction that Lincoln faces on the cent was not mandated but was simply the choice of the designer.

[caregiver222]

I would guess that we need pre-l982 pennies!

[swampcritter]

If you flip the penny in the air, you can tell the copper ones because they ring. The new pennies are silent.

Look on a new penny on the base of the bust of Lincoln and slightly to the left of center. You will see very tiny letters -- VDB. Victor Brennan was the designer of the Lincoln cent. Look on the back and to the right of the Lincoln memorial and you'll see LG, which are the designer's initials for the reverse of the coin (this change was made in 1959 to correspond with the anniversary of the Lincoln memorial).

Before there were Lincoln cents, there were indian head cents. Before those, there were large cents -- pennies were roughly the size of today's quarter. If you ever find a real penny from 1840, it will seem large to you.

[Lucey12]

If you grab a hand full of pennies, and wave a magnet over, some stick. I cant remember what metal it is that does that (brain fart) but they are starting to make them out of it.