Harvesting Pennies

The one-cent coin is often called a penny, but the U.S. Mint's official name for this coin is cent. The Indian Head one-cent coin was produced by the United States Mint from 1859 through 1909. It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. According to the U.S. Treasury, the production of the five-cent nickel and the one-cent bronze coin was limited by law to the Philadelphia Mint. An Act of Congress passed on April 24, 1906, provided for the making of these denominations at other Mint facilities.

The manufacture of the Indian Head cent at the San Francisco Mint in November 1908 marked the first time this denomination of coins was minted outside of Philadelphia. One-cent coin production did not begin at the Denver Mint until 1911.

Continuing with the Treasury fact sheet, when the Lincoln one-cent coin made its initial appearance in 1909, it marked a radical departure from the accepted styling of United States coins, introducing as it did for the first time a portrait coin in the regular series. In addition to the prescribed elements on our coins -- LIBERTY and the date -- the motto In God We Trust appeared for the first time on a coin of this denomination. Of interest also is the fact that the Congress passed the Act of March 3, 1865, authorizing the use of this motto on our coins during Lincoln's tenure in office.

With all of that history, today most people find pennies a bother. Some stores won't take them. The stores decide to round up or down a cent to obtain an even number. Some of us save those pennies in a jar or bank. Some kids won't take pennies anymore, they only want paper. There are people who are anxious for those pennies. A Penny a Day is one of those organizations. According to their website, you can make a difference today by committing to a certain dollar (or cent) amount each day (payable according to a monthly cycle) to the organization(s) of your choice. The organization request you use the Pledge Coupons (http://www.apennyaday.org/assets/apadGetInvolved.pdf).

Americans for Common Cents website provides contacts for other organizations accepting donations including pennies, such as Penny Lovers of America and Good Cents for Oakland. (http://www.pennies.org/index.php?Itemid=36&id=23&option=com_content&task=view)

For five weeks - from Jan. 5 to Feb. 6, 2009 - Vinland students participated in the school's second annual Pennies for Peace (P4P) drive, raising funds for the Montana-based Central Asia Institute (CAI), which helps build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The school was part of the larger Pennies for Peace organization, where thousands of young people across the U.S. are inspired to raise money for new schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pearson Foundation, in conjunction with Pennies for Peace and the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation, announced a new K-12 service-learning toolkit designed to help educators create effective penny-raising campaigns as part of their school's curriculum according to a PR release.

Nonprofits can make every penny count. Children connect with their parents, friends, and neighbors as they go in search of pennies. The Philanthropy Roundtable makes organizations like the Penny Harvest distinctive among programs by giving children the power and the freedom to decide how to spend their harvest funds. There are other educational, not-for-profit organization, which specializes in creating and managing service-learning programs for young people. Just need to get involved.