20210904_153301
I came across this American one cent coin amongst my bits and pieces. I must have picked it up in change on a Stateside visit and kept it as a souvenir. I thought to snap it for Flickr and in doing so stopped to consider it more deeply. At the first level it is of course 100th of a U S Dollar. Also called a penny - at one time when its exchange rate value was 2.40 to the GB Pound it held the same value as a British penny, of which (pre decimalisation) there were 240 in the pound. The obverse, or 'head' of the coin shows Abraham Lincoln, with the mottoes 'Liberty' and 'In God We Trust' and lastly its year of minting, 1975. The reverse (see accompanying image) shows the Lincoln Memorial, the motto 'Epluribus Unum' - one out of many - plus the coin's denomination of One Cent and the national identity, United States of America. But, at a deeper level, it is more than just a coin. It purports an image of solidity and decency with its portrayal of Lincoln, the Civil War president and his Gettysburg Address - Of the people, for the people.... and the various mottoes listed on it. Sentiments that a free and civilised world would surely subscribe to. And so we have a coin that embodies the aspirations, not just of a nation, but of the free world, tried and under pressure as it currently may be. Mobile image.
20210904_153301
I came across this American one cent coin amongst my bits and pieces. I must have picked it up in change on a Stateside visit and kept it as a souvenir. I thought to snap it for Flickr and in doing so stopped to consider it more deeply. At the first level it is of course 100th of a U S Dollar. Also called a penny - at one time when its exchange rate value was 2.40 to the GB Pound it held the same value as a British penny, of which (pre decimalisation) there were 240 in the pound. The obverse, or 'head' of the coin shows Abraham Lincoln, with the mottoes 'Liberty' and 'In God We Trust' and lastly its year of minting, 1975. The reverse (see accompanying image) shows the Lincoln Memorial, the motto 'Epluribus Unum' - one out of many - plus the coin's denomination of One Cent and the national identity, United States of America. But, at a deeper level, it is more than just a coin. It purports an image of solidity and decency with its portrayal of Lincoln, the Civil War president and his Gettysburg Address - Of the people, for the people.... and the various mottoes listed on it. Sentiments that a free and civilised world would surely subscribe to. And so we have a coin that embodies the aspirations, not just of a nation, but of the free world, tried and under pressure as it currently may be. Mobile image.