It makes cents to follow Jesus.

The “Lincoln memorial cent” is one of the most well-known US coin designs. Abraham Lincoln’s portrait on the obverse has been constant since 1909 to the present day (well, 2023 as I write this at least). The Lincoln memorial reverse shows the Lincoln Memorial (which is in Washington DC). This design was used from 1959 – 2008. The only change during that time was the metal went from copper to copper-plated zinc in 1982.

Today’s coin was minted in 1999, and has beautiful multi-coloured toning in direct light. The lack of a mintmark under the date indicates this coin was minted at the Philadelphia mint, one of 5,237,600,000 identical pieces.

Where this piece differs from many of the others, is the large cross cut out of the center.

Although there is no name or website to denote who made it, the modification of the coin was likely done by Cross Penny Ministries. Creator Steve Petty (Cousin of racing identity Richard Petty) is a Methodist Minister. In 1998 the Hooks United Methodist Church asked Pastor Steve Petty for 500 pennies with crosses cut out of them for their youth group to give away.

The Cross Penny has turned into a ministry tool that has been used to share the Love of Christ around the world. Well, I can’t argue with that, mine made its way to Australia as a free gift from eBay seller RCRedsFan.

As someone who wears a cross on a chain around my neck, this is basically the same idea, a pocket reminder of our faith and our saviour.

As well as the interesting Christian conversation starter, one fascinating thing to me, is the alteration of currency. I am used to the rules being that changing currency in ANY way, is strictly illegal. In Australia: “It is a criminal offence under the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981 (Cth) to deface or destroy current Australian currency coins. It is also an offence to sell or possess current coins that have been defaced. Defacing a coin includes coating the surface of the money with any sort of material. The penalty for defacing coins, or selling or possessing money that has been defaced, is $11,100 or imprisonment for two years for an individual (or both), and $22,200 for a body corporate. You may also be guilty of the offence of making counterfeit money if you alter a genuine coin.” In addition, even using the images from coins is very blurry legally (which is also why I only ever did a couple of “CoinArt” pieces).

In the US however, it is a little more relaxed. It is still, of course, illegal to FRAUDULENTLY alter currency , but as Steve explains in this article from 2017: Some people make jewelry out of the pennies, but Petty says they’re still good for spending. “As long as the ‘In God We Trust’ is still visible, they’re legal,” he said. Steve has even sent machines to other like-minded people to stamp their own cross pennies. The only caveat is that you cannot profit off the coins. Cross Penny Ministries sell 500 pennies for $5 plus shipping. On the site, they note that USPS shipping is $10.45. I wonder what international shipping is (I can’t even ask, they don’t have an email address – you have to print out the order form, fill it in and mail it with a check – something you can’t even get in some countries now!

One final question then: I’ve heard of various movements in the US who have stamped messages on US bills:

• Pro-Trump messages https://www.sonomanews.com/article/news/sonoma-atm-issues-bills-mutilated-with-political-messages/,
• Stamp money out of politics https://dailycal.org/2013/11/01/stamp-money-politics, and
• Rising sea levels for climate change https://www.vice.com/en/article/bmjpea/people-are-stamping-rising-sea-levels-onto-dollar-bills-for-climate-change

Those three being quickly found by a Google search. I’ve also seen individual coins with messages scratched or stamped on them. But, are cross coins the first “mass” messaging via coins? Have you seen any others more than a one-off example?