Why is a penny worth 1 cent?

Answer 1

It's a matter of terminology. There's actually no US (or former Canadian) coin called a "penny"; the official name is "cent". However when the coins were first made in the 18th and 19th centuries they were large, about the same size as British one-penny coins. Because many people were familiar with the old British pennies, they continued to call the new 1-cent coins "pennies" as a slang term, and it's stuck ever since.

It's the same way we talk about "dialing" a telephone even though rotary-dial telephones haven't been in common use since the 1970s.

Answer 2

• It was black
• It cost a penny

It was quickly replaced with the Penny Red.

Answer 3

looks like one