Un centavo es una moneda ( pl. Centavos ) o una unidad monetaria ( pl. Peniques ) en varios países. Tomado del denario carolingio (de ahí su antigua abreviatura d. ), Suele ser la denominación más pequeña dentro de un sistema monetario. Actualmente, es el nombre formal del penique británico ( abreviado p ) y el nombre informal de la moneda estadounidense de un centavo ( abreviatura ¢ ), así como la designación informal irlandesa de la moneda de euro de 1 centavo ( abreviatura c ). Es el nombre informal de la unidad de cuenta de centavos en Canadá, aunque las monedas de un centavo ya no se acuñan allí. [1] El nombre también se usa en referencia a varias monedas históricas también derivadas del sistema carolingio, como el denier francés y el pfennig alemán . También puede usarse informalmente para referirse a cualquier moneda similar de menor denominación, como el céntimo de euro o el fen chino .
El centavo carolingio era originalmente una moneda de plata fina de 0,940 que pesaba 1 ⁄ 240 libras . Fue adoptado por Offa de Mercia y otros reyes ingleses y siguió siendo la moneda principal en Europa durante los siguientes siglos hasta que repetidas degradaciones requirieron el desarrollo de monedas más valiosas. El centavo británico siguió siendo una moneda de plata hasta que los gastos de las guerras napoleónicas provocaron el uso de metales básicos en 1797. A pesar de la decimalización de las monedas en los Estados Unidos y, más tarde, en toda la Commonwealth británica , el nombre sigue siendo de uso informal.
Actualmente, ningún centavo se subdivide formalmente, aunque ya se han acuñado farthings (¼d), medios peniques y medio centavo y el molino (1/10 ¢) sigue utilizándose como unidad de cuenta en algunos contextos.
Etimología
Penny se atestigua por primera vez en un texto escocés de 1394 , [n 1] una variante del inglés antiguo peni , un desarrollo de numerosas variaciones que incluyen pennig , penning y pendiente . [n 2] La etimología del término "penny" es incierta, aunque los cognados son comunes en casi todas las lenguas germánicas [n 3] y sugieren una base * pan- , * pann- o * pand- con el sufijo individualizante -ing . Sugerencias comunes incluyen que fue originalmente * panding como Baja Franconia forma de antiguo alto alemán pfant "peón" (en el sentido de una prenda o la deuda, como en una casa de empeño colocación de garantía como una promesa para el pago de los préstamos); * panning como una forma de la palabra germánica occidental para " sartén ", presumiblemente debido a su forma; y la charca como un préstamo muy temprano del latín pondus (" libra "). [3] Recientemente, se ha propuesto que puede representar un préstamo temprano de pn púnico ( Pane o Pene , "Rostro"), ya que el rostro de la diosa cartaginesa Tanit estaba representado en casi toda la moneda cartaginesa . [4] Después de la decimalización , las monedas británica e irlandesa se marcaron como "nuevo centavo" hasta 1982 y 1985, respectivamente.
A partir del siglo XVI, las monedas de un centavo en plural regular dejaron de utilizarse en Inglaterra para referirse a una suma de dinero (p. Ej., "Eso cuesta diez peniques"), pero siguió usándose para referirse a más de una moneda de un centavo ("Aquí , seis peniques y cuatro peniques "). Sigue siendo común en inglés escocés y es estándar para todos los sentidos en inglés americano, [3] donde, sin embargo, el "centavo" informal generalmente solo se usa para las monedas en cualquier caso, los valores se expresan en "centavos". [5] El nombre informal del centavo estadounidense parece haberse extendido desde el estado de Nueva York . [6]
En Inglés británico, antes de decimalization, los valores de dos a once peniques y en menor medida 18 peniques, fueron a menudo escrita y oral como una sola palabra, como dos peniques o dos peniques , tres peniques o thruppence , etc. (Otros valores se expresa habitualmente en términos de chelines y peniques o escrito como dos palabras, que pueden estar divididas con guiones o no.) Cuando una sola moneda representaba un número de peniques, se trataba como un solo sustantivo, como seis peniques . Por lo tanto, "tres peniques" (pero más generalmente "un bit de tres peniques") sería una sola moneda de ese valor, mientras que "tres peniques" sería su valor y "tres peniques" serían tres monedas de un centavo. En inglés británico, las divisiones de un centavo se agregaron a tales combinaciones sin una conjunción, como sixpence-farthing , y tales construcciones también se trataron como sustantivos únicos. El uso adjetivo de tales monedas usaba la terminación -penny, como sixpenny . [3]
La abreviatura británica d. derivado del latín denario . Siguió la cantidad, por ejemplo, "11d". Ha sido reemplazado desde la decimalización por p , generalmente escrito sin espacio ni punto . De esta abreviatura, es común hablar de centavos y valores en centavos como "p". [3] En Norteamérica , es común abreviar centavos con el símbolo de moneda ¢ . En otros lugares, generalmente se escribe con una c simple .
Historia
Antigüedad
El centavo de plata medieval se inspiró en monedas similares en la antigüedad, como el dracma griego , el siclo cartaginés y el denario romano . Formas de estos parecen haber llegado hasta Noruega y Suecia . [ cita requerida ] El uso de la moneda romana en Gran Bretaña parece haber disminuido después de la retirada romana y las posteriores invasiones sajonas .
Imperio franco
El padre de Carlomagno , Pipino el Breve, instituyó una importante reforma monetaria alrededor del 755 d.C. [7] con el objetivo de reorganizar el patrón de plata anterior de Francia con un denier fino estandarizado de 0,940 (en latín : denario ) que pesaba 1 ⁄ 240 libra . [8] (Como la libra carolingia parece haber sido de unos 489,5 gramos , [9] [10] cada centavo pesaba unos 2 gramos .) Alrededor de 790, Carlomagno introdujo un nuevo centavo fino de 0,950 o 0,960 con un diámetro más pequeño. Los especímenes sobrevivientes tienen un peso promedio de 1,70 gramos, aunque algunos estiman que la masa ideal original [se necesita aclaración ] es de 1,76 gramos. [11] [12] [13] Pero a pesar de la pureza y calidad de estos centavos, a menudo fueron rechazados por los comerciantes durante el período carolingio en favor de las monedas de oro utilizadas en otros lugares; esto llevó a una legislación repetida contra tal negativa a aceptar la moneda del rey. [14]
England
O: Draped bust of Aethelred left. +ÆĐELRED REX ANGLOR[UM] | R: Long cross. +EADǷOLD MO CÆNT |
Anglo-Saxon silver "Long Cross" penny of Aethelred II, moneyer Eadwold, Canterbury, c. 997–1003. The cross made cutting the coin into half-pennies or farthings (quarter-pennies) easier. (Note spelling Eadƿold in inscription, using Anglo-Saxon letter wynn in place of modern w.) |
Some of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms initially copied the solidus, the late Roman gold coin; at the time, however, gold was so rare and valuable that even the smallest coins had such a great value that they could only be used in very large transactions and were sometimes not available at all. Around 641–670, there seems to have been a movement to use coins with a lower gold content. This decreased their value and may have increased the number that could be minted, but these paler coins do not seem to have solved the problem of the value and scarcity of the currency. The miscellaneous silver sceattas minted in Frisia and Anglo-Saxon England after around 680 were probably known as "pennies" at the time. (The misnomer is based on a probable misreading of the Anglo-Saxon legal codes.)[15] Their purity varied and their weight fluctuated from about 0.8 to about 1.3 grams. They continued to be minted in East Anglia under Beonna and in Northumbria as late as the mid-9th century.
The first Carolingian-style pennies were introduced by King Offa of Mercia (r. 757–796), modeled on Pepin's system. His first series was 1⁄240 of the Saxon pound of 5400 grains (350 grams), giving a pennyweight of about 1.46 grams. His queen Cynethryth also minted these coins under her own name.[16] Near the end of his reign, Offa minted his coins in imitation of Charlemagne's reformed pennies. Offa's coins were imitated by East Anglia, Kent, Wessex and Northumbria, as well as by two Archbishops of Canterbury.[16] As in the Frankish Empire,[8] all these pennies were notionally fractions of shillings (solidi; sol) and pounds (librae; livres) but during this period neither larger unit was minted. Instead, they functioned only as notional units of account.[17] (For instance, a "shilling" or "solidus" of grain was a measure equivalent to the amount of grain that 12 pennies could purchase.)[18] English currency was notionally .925-fine sterling silver at the time of Henry II, but the weight and value of the silver penny steadily declined from 1300 onwards.
In 1257, Henry III minted a gold penny which had the nominal value of 1 shilling 8 pence (i.e. 20 d.). At first, the coin proved unpopular because it was overvalued for its weight; by 1265 it was so undervalued—the bullion value of its gold being worth 2 shillings (i.e. 24 d.) by then—that the coins still in circulation were almost entirely melted down for the value of their gold. Only eight gold pennies are known to survive.[19] It was not until the reign of Edward III that the florin and noble established a common gold currency in England.
The earliest halfpenny and farthing (¼d.) found date from the reign of Henry III. The need for small change was also sometimes met by simply cutting a full penny into halves or quarters. In 1527, Henry VIII abolished the Tower pound of 5400 grains, replacing it with the Troy pound of 5760 grains (making a penny 5760/240 = 24 grains) and establishing a new pennyweight of 1.56 grams, although, confusingly, the penny coin by then weighed about 8 grains, and had never weighed as much as this 24 grains. The last silver pence for general circulation were minted during the reign of Charles II around 1660. Since then, they have only been coined for issue as Maundy money, royal alms given to the elderly on Maundy Thursday.
United Kingdom
Throughout the 18th century, the British government did not mint pennies for general circulation and the bullion value of the existing silver pennies caused them to be withdrawn from circulation. Merchants and mining companies—such as Anglesey's Parys Mining Co.—began to issue their own copper tokens to fill the need for small change.[20] Finally, amid the Napoleonic Wars, the government authorized Matthew Boulton to mint copper pennies and twopences at Soho Mint in Birmingham in 1797.[21] Typically, 1 lb. of copper produced 24 pennies. In 1860, the copper penny was replaced with a bronze one (95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc). Each pound of bronze was coined into 48 pennies.[22]
United States
The United States' cent—popularly known as the "penny" since the early 19th century[6]—began with the unpopular copper chain cent in 1793.[23] Abraham Lincoln was the first historical figure to appear on a U.S. coin when he was portrayed on the one-cent coin to commemorate his 100th birthday.[24]
South Africa
The penny that was brought to the Cape Colony (in what is now South Africa) was a large coin—36 mm in diameter, 3.3 mm thick and 1 oz (28 g)—and the twopence was correspondingly larger at 41 mm in diameter, 5 mm thick and 2 oz (57 g). On them was Britannia with a trident in her hand. The English called this coin the Cartwheel penny due to its large size and raised rim,[25] but the Capetonians referred to it as the Devil's Penny as they assumed that only the Devil used a trident.[26] The coins were very unpopular due to their large weight and size.[27] On 6 June 1825, Lord Charles Somerset, the governor, issued a proclamation that only British Sterling would be legal tender in the Cape Colony (colonial South Africa). The new British coins (which were introduced in England in 1816), among them being the shilling, six-pence of silver, the penny, half-penny, and quarter-penny in copper, were introduced to the Cape. Later two-shilling, four-penny, and three-penny coins were added to the coinage. The size and denomination of the 1816 British coins, with the exception of the four-penny coins, were used in South Africa until 1960.[26]
Crítica
Handling and counting penny coins entail transaction costs that may be higher than a penny. It has been claimed that, for micropayments, the mental arithmetic costs more than the penny. Changes in the market prices of metals, combined with currency inflation, has caused the metal value of penny coins to exceed their face value.[28][29]
Australia and New Zealand adopted 5¢ and 10¢, respectively, as their lowest coin denomination,[30] followed by Canada, which adopted 5¢ as its lowest denomination in 2012.[31] Several nations have stopped minting equivalent value coins, and efforts have been made to end the routine use of pennies in several countries, including the United States.[32] In the UK, since 1992, one- and two-penny coins have been made from copper-plated steel (making them magnetic) instead of bronze.
En la cultura popular
- In British and American culture, finding a penny is traditionally considered lucky. A proverbial expression of this is "Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck."[n 4]
- "A penny for your thoughts" is an idiomatic way of asking someone what they are thinking about. It is first attested in John Heywood's 1547 Dialogue Conteinying the Nomber in Effect of All the Proverbes in the Englishe Tongue,[34] at a time when the penny was still a sterling silver coin.
- "In for a penny, in for a pound," a common expression used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.
- To "give (one's) tuppence/tuppenny/two'penneth (worth)", is a commonwealth saying that uses the words for two pence to share one's opinion, idea, or point of view, regardless of whether or not others want to hear it. A similar expression using the US term of cents is my two cents.
- In British English, to "spend a penny" means to urinate. Its etymology is literal: coin-operated public toilets commonly charged a pre-decimal penny, beginning with the Great Exhibition of 1851.
- Around Decimal Day in 1971, British Rail introduced the "Superloo", improved public toilets that charged 2p (equivalent to nearly 5d).[35]
- In 1936 U.S. shoemaker G.H. Bass & Co. introduced its "Weejuns" penny loafers. Other companies followed with similar products.
Lista de centavos
- Australia: penny (1911–1964) and cent (1966–1992)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: pfenig (1998–present)
- Canada: cent (1858–2012)
- Denmark: penning (c. 830[36]–a. 1873)
- England: penny (c. 785–1707)
- Estonia: penn (1918–1927)
- Falkland Islands: Falkland Islands penny (1974–present)
- Finland: penni (1861–2002)
- France: denier (c. 755–1794)
- Various German states: pfennig (c. 755–2002) and euro cent (2002–present)
- Gibraltar: Gibraltar penny (1988–present)
- Guernsey, as an 8-double coin ("Guernsey penny", 1830–1921) and 1⁄240 of a Guernsey pound (1921–71) and 1/100 of a Guernsey pound (1971–present)
- Ireland: penny, as 1/240 Irish pound (1928–68) and as 1/100 Irish pound (1971–2002), and euro cent (2002–present)
- Isle of Man: Manx penny (1668–present)
- Jersey: Jersey penny (1841–present)
- Netherlands: penning (8th–16th centuries)
- New Zealand: penny (1940–1967) and cent (1967–1987)
- Kingdom of Poland: fenig (1917–1918) and (1918–1924) during Second Polish Republic
- Norway: penning (c. 1000–1873)
- Saint Helena and Ascension Island: Saint Helena penny (1984–present)
- Scotland: Penny Scots/peighinn (c. 1130–1707)
- Sweden: penning (c. 1150–1548)
- South Africa: penny (1923–c. 1961) and cent (1961–2002)
- Transvaal: penny (1892–1900)
- United Kingdom: penny, as 1⁄240 British pound (1707–1971) and as 1/100 British pound (1971–present)
- United States: cent (1793–present)
- Medieval Wales: ceiniog (10th–13th centuries)
Ver también
- Coins of the pound sterling
- Efforts to eliminate the penny in the United States
- History of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)
- Legal Tender Modernization Act
- One-cent coin (disambiguation)
- Penny sizes of nails
- Pennyweight
- Pfennig
- Sen, equivalent in Japan used between the 19th century and 1953
- Smashed penny
- Prutah
Notas
- ^ "He sal haf a penny til his noynsankys..."[2]
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary notes two families of variants, one comprising pæning, pending, peninc, penincg, pening, peningc, and Northumbrian penning and the other peneg, pennig, pænig, penig, penug, pæni, and peni, the later of which gave rise to the modern form.[3]
- ^ Germanic cognates of penny include Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and Old Saxon penning and German: Pfennig in reference to the coin and Icelandic: peningur, Swedish pengar, and Danish: penge in reference to "money". Gothic, however, has 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍄𐍄𐍃 (skatts) for the occurrence of "denarius" (Greek: δηνάριος, dēnários) in the New Testament.[3]
- ^ This may be the source or a development of the "See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck" recorded in a mid-19th century edition of Mother Goose.[33]
Referencias
Citations
- ^ "Canada's Last Penny Minted". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2012-08-30..
- ^ Slater, J. (1952), Early Scots Texts, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press.
- ^ a b c d e f "penny, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed., 2005.
- ^ Vennemann, Theo (2013). "Ne'er-a-Face: A Note on the Etymology of Penny, with an Appendix on the Etymology of Pane". In Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna (ed.). Germania Semitica. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, No. 259. Walter de Gruyter. p. 467. ISBN 978-3-11-030109-0. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2016-02-08..
- ^ The New Statesman, London: Statesman Publishing, 16 December 1966, p. 896.
- ^ a b Constellation, 12 March 1831, p. 133.
- ^ Allen (2009).
- ^ a b Chown (1994), p. 23.
- ^ Ferguson (1974), "Pound".
- ^ Munro (2012), p. 31.
- ^ Cipolla (1993), p. 129.
- ^ Frassetto (2003), p. 131.
- ^ NBB (2006).
- ^ Suchodolski (1983).
- ^ Bosworth & al.
- ^ a b Blackburn & al. (1986), p. 277.
- ^ Keary (2005), p. xxii.
- ^ Scott (1964), p. 40.
- ^ "The Gold Penny", Coin and Bullion Pages, archived from the original on 2016-02-10, retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ^ Selgin (2008), p. 16.
- ^ "The Cartwheel Penny and Twopence of 1797", British Coinage, Royal Mint Museum, retrieved 15 May 2014[permanent dead link].
- ^ EB (1911).
- ^ "Timeline", Historian's Corner, Washington: US Mint, archived from the original on 2011-02-25, retrieved 2011-01-30.
- ^ "Penny History - Americans for Common Cents".
- ^ Severn Internet Services – www.severninternet.co.uk. "Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Information Centre". BMAGiC. Archived from the original on 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ a b "South African History of Coins". Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Currencyhelp.net". Currencyhelp.net. Archived from the original on 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "Around the Nation; Treasurer Says Zinc Penny May Save $50 Million a Year", New York Times, 1 April 1981, archived from the original on 11 April 2012, retrieved 2009-05-07
- ^ Hagenbaugh, Barbara (10 May 2006), Coins cost more to make than face value, USA Today, archived from the original on 7 March 2009, retrieved 2009-05-07
- ^ "Article 2897480", Mytelus, archived from the original on 12 June 2008, retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ^ Smith, Joanna (30 March 2012), "Federal Budget 2012: Pennies to Be Withdrawn from Circulation", The Star, Toronto, archived from the original on 6 October 2016, retrieved 8 September 2017
- ^ Lewis, Mark (5 July 2002). "Ban The Penny". Forbes. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- ^ Mother Goose's Chimes, Rhymes, & Melodies, H.B. Ashmead, c. 1861, archived from the original on 9 January 2012, retrieved 14 November 2009.
- ^ Corrado, John (11 October 2001), "What's the Origin of "A Penny for Your Thoughts"?", The Straight Dope, archived from the original on 23 July 2011, retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ "Spend a 6d in the superloo", Nation on Film, BBC, archived from the original on April 18, 2006.
- ^ Gullbekk, Svein H. (2014), "Vestfold: A Monetary Perspective on the Viking Age", Early Medieval Monetary History: Studies in Memory of Mark Blackburn, Studies in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, Farnham: Ashgate, p. 343, ISBN 9781409456681, archived from the original on 2016-05-30, retrieved 2016-02-08.
Bibliography
- , Encyclopædia Britannica, XXI (11th ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911, pp. 115–116.
- Allen, Larry (2009), "Carolingian Reform", The Encyclopedia of Money, Sta. Barbara: ABC Clio, pp. 59–60, ISBN 978-1-59884-251-7.
- Blackburn, M.A.S.; et al. (1986), Medieval European Coinage, Vol. 1: The Early Middle Ages (5th–10th centuries), Cambridge.
- Bosworth; et al., An Old English Dictionary.
- Chown, John F (1994), A History of Money from AD 800, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-10279-0.
- Cipolla, Carlo M. (1993), Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000-1700, ISBN 9780203695128.
- Ferguson, Wallace K. (1974), "Money and Coinage of the Age of Erasmus: An Historical and Analytical Glossary with Particular Reference to France, the Low Countries, England, the Rhineland, and Italy", The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 1 to 141: 1484 to 1500, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 311–349, ISBN 0-8020-1981-1.
- Frassetto, Michael (2003), Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation, ISBN 9781576072639.
- Keary, Charles Francis (2005), A Catalogue of English Coins in the British Museum: Anglo-Saxon Series, Vol. I.
- Munro, John H. (2012), "The Technology and Economics of Coinage Debasements in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: With Special Reference to the Low Countries and England", Money in the Pre-Industrial World: Bullion, Debasements, and Coin Substitutes, Pickering & Chatto, republished 2016 by Routledge, pp. 30 ff, ISBN 978-1-84893-230-2.
- Scott, Martin (1964), Medieval Europe, New York: Dorset Press, ISBN 0-88029-115-X.
- Islam and the Carolingian Penny, National Bank of Belgium Museum, November 2006.
- Selgin, George A. (2008), Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage, 1775-1821, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-11631-7.
- Suchodolski, Stanislaw (1983), "On the Rejection of Good Coin in Carolingian Europe", Studies in Numismatic Method: Presented to Philip Grierson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 147–152, ISBN 0-521-22503-5.
enlaces externos
- Copper Penny Importance – Blog post & video covering the importance of retaining copper pennies.
- The MegaPenny Project – A visualisation of what exponential numbers of pennies would look like.
- Silver Pennies – Pictures of English silver pennies from Anglo-Saxon times to the present.
- Copper Pennies – Pictures of English copper pennies from 1797 to 1860.
- US Lincoln Penny on the Planet Mars – Curiosity Rover (September 10, 2012).
- . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
- . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.