MSI Press Blog

  For some, the penny was a first lesson in value. Dropped into piggy banks. Pressed into palms at checkout counters. Saved, counted, traded—for gum, for stamps, for dignity. For others, it’s already a relic. A coin they’ve never used. A phrase they’ve only heard in stories. The pending disappearance of the penny marks more than an economic shift. It marks a generational divide in how we understand worth, thrift, and memory. Older generations remember the sound of coins on a counter. Younger ones tap a screen and round to the nearest dollar. One group learned to stretch. The other learns to swipe. But somewhere in between, there’s a bridge. A moment where memory meets metaphor. Where the smallest coin becomes a symbol of what we once carried—and what we still pass on. a post inspired by the forthcoming book,  No Pennies to Pinch  (Franklin) See related posts  HERE . Watch for precerpts (book excerpts prior to publication) of  No Pennies to Pinch...

  The penny was never just a coin. It was a cultural placeholder—small, familiar, and quietly powerful. Now that it’s gone, we’re watching subtle shifts ripple through everyday life. We’re rounding prices. We’re rethinking value. We’re losing the tactile ritual of counting change. But we’re also losing language. Idioms like “a penny for your thoughts” or “penny-pinching” now float untethered, relics of a currency no longer in use. The penny once signaled thrift, humility, and overlooked worth. Its disappearance marks a shift—not just economic, but emotional. We’re entering a world where the smallest denominations are digital. Where rounding replaces reckoning. Where the weight of a coin no longer anchors memory. And in that shift, we’re invited to ask: What did the penny teach us about value? What do we carry forward when the smallest things are no longer counted? a post inspired by the forthcoming book,  No Pennies to Pinch  (Franklin) See related posts ...

  The penny is about to be gone. Not just from our pockets, but from our language, our habits, our sense of scale. It vanished quietly, without ceremony—retired for costing more to make than it was worth. But when the smallest things disappear, what do we lose? We lose the comfort of rounding down. We lose the sound of coins in a jar. We lose the metaphor that once meant thrift, humility, and overlooked value. We lose the chance to say, “Here’s a penny for your thoughts,” and mean it literally. We lose the tiny rituals that made scarcity feel survivable. And maybe, just maybe, we lose a little bit of ourselves—the part that knew how to stretch, save, and savor the smallest things. a post inspired by the forthcoming book, No Pennies to Pinch (Franklin) See related posts HERE . Watch for precerpts (book excerpts prior to publication) of No Pennies to Pinch  on Wednesdays. CONTACT editor@msipress.com FOR AN ADANCE REVIEW COPY MSI Press,  a veteran-owned   publi...

  When Marsha Franklin chose the title No Pennies to Pinch for a forthcoming book that we do still plan to publish, she was playing with metaphor: scarcity, thrift, and the emotional weight of small things. But now, the metaphor is literal. As of November 2025, the U.S. Mint has stopped producing pennies. The coin that once bore Lincoln’s profile and anchored idioms like “a penny for your thoughts” is slipping into history. 🌍 Global Echoes: When Small Coins Disappear We’re not the first. Other countries have retired their lowest-denomination coins: Canada phased out its penny in 2013, adopting “symmetric rounding” for cash transactions. Australia removed 1- and 2-cent coins in 1992; New Zealand followed in 1990 and later dropped its 5-cent coin. Sweden began eliminating öre coins in the 1970s, embracing digital payments early. The Bahamas , Belgium , and Finland have also discontinued small coins, citing inflation and production costs. In each case, the disappearance ...