The first U.S. penny sold for nearly $1.2 million
Thursday night at an auction in Baltimore.
The first U.S. penny is 223 years old, and is also
worth a lot more than one cent.
It sold for nearly $1.2 million Thursday night at an
auction in Baltimore.
The coin, known as the "Birch Cent," was made in
1792, months after the one-cent denomination was
first authorized by Congress, according to the
auction house Stack's Bowers Galleries.
It was made in a trial run for the penny, and depicts
Lady Liberty. Thomas Jefferson and George
Washington discussed the design in letters dated
August 1792, before it was presented to Congress
as an option for the new coin.
Today, there are only 10 of these coins in
existence, as far as collectors know. But it's
possible that more were made at the time,
according to Stack's Bowers.
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