The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 6, February 11, 2007, Article 23

NEW YORK TIMES LINCOLN CENT OPINION PIECE

A February 11, 2007 New York Times Op-Ed piece by David Margolik is
titled 'Penny Foolish'.   The lengthy piece discusses the entire
history of the Lincoln one-cent piece from Roosevelt's goals through
the present day.  Much interesting numismatic lore is covered,
including some items I don't recall seeing in print before, such as
poems about the coin and some accounts of the public clambering to
get them when first released in 1909.

"Even rain couldn't dampen the intensified rush in Lower Manhattan,
which by Friday saw crowds extending from Pine and Nassau Streets
east to William Street, then around the corner to Wall Street. Banks
complained that their regular customers couldn't get through the swarms.

"Some people near the front of the lines sold their spots for a dollar.
The more impatient and ingenious hired women, who in a still chivalrous
era were not made to wait. “Within 15 minutes there were enough girls
at the door to make it look like a bargain counter sale on a busy Monday,”
The Sun reported. To The Times, the scene resembled Wall Street during
the panic two years earlier.

"Many in what The Tribune called “the penny-mad crowd” were poor children,
faces out of Jacob Riis or Lewis Hine photographs, some carrying a single
battered Indian Head penny to trade in, others far more entrepreneurial.
The resale rate hovered around three new pennies for a nickel, though it
shot up whenever supplies ran low."

"No one was more pleased with the new coins than African-Americans. A
report from Middletown, N.Y., described “a furore among the colored
residents, many of whom appear to think that the pennies were issued
for their special benefit.”

But the new coins were not always so welcome. They were too thick for
vending machines and, to the horror of the telephone company, could
pass for nickels. Their shininess gave thieves conniptions: a man
sticking up a train in Altoona, Pa., carted off a bagful, worth $50,
while leaving another bag, containing $5,000 in gold, behind."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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