A penny (pl. pence or pennies) is a coin or a unit of currency used in several English-speaking countries. Value In the 8th century, Charlemagne declared that 240 pennies or pfennigs should be minted from a pound of silver. A single coin thus contained about 1.9 grams of silver. (Today, this amount of silver would cost about 56p sterling.) The penny is among the lowest denomination of coins in circulation. 1/100 of the British pound sterling (see British one penny coin), the former Irish poun… (More on Penny)