A pfennig was 1/100 of the German unit of currency
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A pfennig was one hundredth of the German unit of currency, the DMark. Since this was replaced by the Euro, a pfennig has no currency exchange value.
This quote makes more sense if you correct the typo to read: 'If I give you a pfennig, you will be one pfennig richer and I'll be one pfennig poorer. But if I give you an idea, you will have a new idea, but I shall still have it, too.' Exchanging money makes the giver poorer, but exchanging ideas enriches the receiver without making the giver poorer.
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One-half of a U.S. cent. Before the euro was adopted Germany's currency unit was the mark. One mark = 100 pfennige (that's the plural of "pfennig"). At its last valuation in 2002 the mark was worth about 50 cents (U.S.) so a pfennig was pretty far down on the scale.