My Two (Billion) Cents

Despite its declining buying power — and a call by some to drop it from circulation altogether — the penny is still the U.S.'s most popular coin. In 2008, 5.4 billion pennies were produced. That's more than twice the number of quarters minted and five times as many dimes. The Lincoln penny accounts for roughly half of all coins minted within a year. About 1,000 pennies are made per second.

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