Comments on Puzzle #8729: This puzzle isn't worth one red cent.
By Tom O'Connell (sensei69)
peek at solution solve puzzle
quality: 
difficulty: 
solvability: line & color logic only
peek at solution solve puzzle
quality: difficulty: solvability: line & color logic only
Puzzle Description:
lol
#1: Tripper (TripperCR) on May 7, 2010
I guess it is worth one red cent! :P#2: Susan Duncan (medic25733) on May 7, 2010
Good quality image for a little puzzle#3: Jota (jota) on May 19, 2010
Indeed :-D#4: Sarah Andrews (sarah) on Oct 31, 2010
cute#5: Kristen Vognild (kristen) on Aug 25, 2012
How 'bout a plug nickel?#6: Tom O'Connell (sensei69) on Aug 25, 2012
how about a thin dime?#7: Susan Nagy (susannagy54) on Feb 9, 2014
well done!#8: JoDeen Mozena (ozymoe) on Mar 4, 2022 [SPOILER]
How about 2 bits? lol#9: Joe (infrapinklizzard) on Mar 5, 2022 [SPOILER]
Two bits is, oddly, 25¢. But that would mean that one bit is 12½¢? Yes. And the reason is that one bit is a piece-of-eight: a Spanish dollar that was cut into eight pieces back in the colonial days (and made famous by pirate stories).#10: JoDeen Mozena (ozymoe) on Mar 5, 2022 [SPOILER]
Ohhhhhh...thanks, Joe...I learn something from this community every day. Hmmm...I wonder if a red cent called a red cent because it is made of copper?#11: Joe (infrapinklizzard) on Mar 5, 2022 [SPOILER]
Yes, the red was in reference to the copper. The reason that they were scorned is a little more vague, though. It's possible that it was just because they were low value, but then why needlessly specify the "red"?#12: JoDeen Mozena (ozymoe) on Mar 6, 2022
With some digging into coinage history, I found out that when Congress passed the 1792 Coinage Act establishing national currency, they specified the silver coinage (from the half-dime through the dollar) and the gold coinage (from the quarter-eagle —$2.50— to the eagle —$10).
They also provided for the coining of copper money — the half-cent and the cent. However, these were not given the designation of "legal tender", so they could be refused as payment.
It seems to me that this distinction between the copper money and the other metals could be the reason for the derogatory usage of "red" in "not one red cent".
Thanks, Joe...so interesting!#13: Byrdie (byrdie) on Mar 6, 2022 [SPOILER]
I always thought the "red cent" came from the WWII years when copper was needed for bullets so, for a limited time, pennies were made from steel. The steel would rust giving the pennies a red appearance. General public opinion at the time was that the rusty steel pennies were not worth as much as a copper cent. Not generally the opinion held by collectors today.#14: JoDeen Mozena (ozymoe) on Mar 7, 2022 [SPOILER]
Wow, Byrdie...what you're saying makes "cents," too. I wonder if there is a con"cents"us on this information!!?#15: Joe (infrapinklizzard) on Mar 7, 2022
That could have contributed to it staying in the lexicon, but it has been around for centuries now
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