h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The slogan quoted in the second paragraph of the Background is slightly incorrect. It should read: "Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute." This was a common motto found on tokens of the early 19th century, and is normally ascribed to General Pinckney. It's worth noting that there is no such monetary denomination as a "penny" in the States, though the term is often conflated with the proper term, "cent."

Among other sources I will site this one;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

You are quite correct the term 'Penny' is not propper US usage, however it is universally understood and may well have been the popular phrase - even though technically incorrect.

When I first read your post I thought it is only logical the the British term for mony would follow weight after all the use Pound Sterling as a basic monetary unit. But the equivilent British coin is Pence, not Penny

Anybody know the origin of 'Penny'?

F S

Anybody know the origin of 'Penny'?

The term Penny was in common usage in the UK up until the time of decimalisation in between 1969-1771. After decimalisation the name was changed to Pence to differentiate it from the old penny. There were 240 old pennies to a pound prior to decimalisation and 100 pennies after. Before decimalisation penny was singular, pence was plural. After decimalisation pence was both plural and singular.

Confused - not half as confused as I was at the time!

The name penny for a coin of low denomination goes back to William the Conqueror. The exact origin is not know but is probably Anglo-Saxon as it is not Norman French.

Correction: That should read ..between 1969-1971...

Donald

I am american, and use penny to refer to the coin itself, but dollars and cents to refer to prices of anything. Most people I know would do the same, and would never visit the site of the US Mint to find out they were wrong.



Back in the days of specie for international trade instead of paper or electric money, I can imagine the rhetorical value of referring to the individual coin instead of a quantity of value; the whole slogan is based on a percieved pricelessness of security.

Hi--

While "penny" has been (and still is) in popular use in the U.S., my point was more that the quotation from Pinckney was incorrect: both the quote and the later tokens I mentioned (not of U.S. Mint origin) used "cent." Today, you hear "penny" more than "cent" in the U.S. though you'd never hear anyone say, "that'll be two dollars and five pennies." In that kind of case, one would say "cents." It's almost as if "cents" were the plural of "penny."

Anyway, I'm rambling. I think "penny" derives from an older German form of "pfennig." The old use of the lower-case d to stand for penny (in English usage) derived from the Roman "denarius."

df

I don't understand how you can attribute

>"When the young United States replied with the slogan 'a million for defense but not a penny in tribute', a series of wars followed."<

as a direct reference to the words of Pinkley or any other specific person. In the context of this entry it is such a small aside that it is almost inconsequential. If I ever get around to writing an entry on the Barbary Wars I will pay closer attention to specific persons, but I stand by 'Penny' in this context.



F S