Which pennies are still in circulation?
Have you ever looked at the dates of the pennies in your pocket?
Have you ever looked at the dates of the pennies in your pocket?
The goal of this activity is to discover which United States' one cent coins are still in circulation.
Individuals or small groups of students need to gather samples of 100 pennies that are presently in circulation around the United States. Samples should come from coins that are actually in circulation. Do not use coins that have been in long term storage. Parents and relatives are a good source for samples, piggy banks are not.
Once 100 pennies have been collected you should examine the dates on each coin and tally the number of coins minted in each year. Once all 100 dates have been recorded the data can be added to the results on this web site.
The Questions:
Which coins are the most common? Why?
Which coins are the most scarce? Why?
Each year billions of pennies are minted in the United States, but within a few years many of these coins seem to disappear and are no longer in circulation. What do you think happens to these coins? How many are stored in containers or piggy banks?
Submit your data to the following e-mail address. You may need to attach a spread sheet, table or list to an email document addressed to kleggett@avenew.com.
This project will run through Dec. 15, 2002. I will e-mail all participants a copy of the final spreadsheet and graph. The spreadsheet, graph and analysis will be updated on a regular basis as I receive more data.
Penny Links: These are some interesting links about pennies and coins. I have also included a few activities that you can do at home or at school.