Opinion | Before the penny rolls into oblivion, thank it for the memories

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Even though you didn’t offer me a penny for my thoughts, you’re going to get them anyway — without spending a cent.

Pennies are hellbent for extinction, as evidenced in the Great Penny Shortage of 2025, which has left such a dearth of the denomination that even banks have trouble finding two coins to rub together.

The paucity of pennies prompted drastic measures at some stores, which round down to avoid even messing with cents.

Complicating the scarcity is the fact that the U.S. Mint rolled out the last penny in history on Nov. 12.

Beyond the fact that the digital age is making cash obsolete, the mint’s action makes economic sense, and cents: It costs around 4 cents to produce a penny.

Pennies had particular niches — to name a few, penny candy, when a kid could grab a Tootsie Roll, root beer barrel or licorice stick or two for just a cent; the penny loafer shoes trend from the 1940s to the 1960s and, of course, the dangerous hack of using a penny as substitute for a burned-out fuse in an electrical box.

I acknowledge the penny as a vital link in the monetary chain for more than two centuries. But as a lifelong word merchant, I lament the fact that we might forget — and future generations will never know — the additional value the penny infused into our lives and literature.

If I had a dime for every time a penny has spawned a cliche, I’d be a wealthy man. For example, beyond the old “penny-for-your-thoughts” incantation, we have:

I could go on and on with cliches, but I’d rather highlight other penny contributions to literature, music and other forms of entertainment, such as:

Despite the demise of the penny, which originated in the late 1700s, the coins won’t disappear anytime soon. About 114 billion are in circulation now (apparently only God knows where), so they probably will hang around like a bad penny (as the cliché goes).

Of course, the penny’s doom won’t be the end of the world — and it might make pennies incredibly valuable in 50 years — but the coin deserves a tip of the hat for its long service to humanity.

And that’s my two cents’ worth.