WEBVTT - 9 Extremely Valuable Facts About Pennies

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Part Time Genius, a production of Kaleidoscope

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<v Speaker 1>and iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Guess what, Mango?

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<v Speaker 1>What's that? Will?

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<v Speaker 2>All right? So when somebody offers you a penny for

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<v Speaker 2>your thoughts, they're actually using a phrase that's over five

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<v Speaker 2>hundred years old. And you know how much I love

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<v Speaker 2>old stuff, so I was super excited about this. It

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<v Speaker 2>was first documented in fifteen twenty two in philosopher Thomas

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<v Speaker 2>Moore's treatise. It was called The Four Last Things, and

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<v Speaker 2>here's what he writes.

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<v Speaker 1>Quote.

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<v Speaker 2>It often happens that the face shows the mind walking

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<v Speaker 2>of pilgrimage in such a way that other people suddenly

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<v Speaker 2>say a penny for your thought. But if you want

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<v Speaker 2>to be historically accurate, which I know you do, you

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<v Speaker 2>have to account for the fact that a penny in

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<v Speaker 2>Thomas Moore's time was worth more than it is now.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, it was worth about three dollars and sixty

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<v Speaker 2>three cents in today's money.

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<v Speaker 1>Somehow, three dollars and sixty three cents for your thoughts

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it doesn't, but it would make it much more

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<v Speaker 2>worth it to offer those thoughts. But it is annoying

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<v Speaker 2>when inflation ruins a catchy's saying, here's the good news, though,

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<v Speaker 2>We've got eight more fascinating facts all about pennies, and

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<v Speaker 2>you really can't put a price on that, So let's

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<v Speaker 2>dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Will Pearson, and as always I'm joined by my

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<v Speaker 2>good friend Mangesh hot Ticketter and over there in the

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<v Speaker 2>booth wearing a truly terrifying clown costume. That is our

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<v Speaker 2>pal and producer Dylan Thing, And I almost couldn't look

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<v Speaker 2>over there because it really is so scary close. I

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<v Speaker 2>think he might have misunderstood when I told him we

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<v Speaker 2>were doing an episode about pennies, and I think he thought,

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<v Speaker 2>you said, penny Wise, what do you think's going on here?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, I fully expected to walk in and

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<v Speaker 1>see him dressed up like Abraham Lincoln or like once

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<v Speaker 1>in candies all over the place. But yeah, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I've never actually read a Stephen King book, and I

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<v Speaker 1>actually haven't watched that much Stephen King. But it's crazy

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<v Speaker 1>how my kids, who have also never watched like it,

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<v Speaker 1>are somehow obsessed with penny Wise. Like I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>how they know it. They love the reference for some

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<v Speaker 1>reason as a punchline.

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<v Speaker 2>It's absolutely true, same same with mine. But anyway, we've

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<v Speaker 2>got a great show today, all about pennies. But Mango,

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<v Speaker 2>I have to ask, why are you recording inside a

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<v Speaker 2>pillow fort?

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<v Speaker 1>I know, so if the sound here sounds a little awkward,

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<v Speaker 1>it's because I brought my family to tennis camp, where

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<v Speaker 1>you figure out how much your family dislikes tennis over

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<v Speaker 1>the course of two days.

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<v Speaker 2>Or each other for that matter.

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<v Speaker 1>Whatever. Day one has been pretty successful, but finding a

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<v Speaker 1>place to record has been a little dicey. So this

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<v Speaker 1>is me and a pillow fort.

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<v Speaker 2>That's fun, though, and I know you guys are having

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<v Speaker 2>a great time, and how much fun do we all

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<v Speaker 2>be together and playing a great sport.

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<v Speaker 1>But we should get to our next fact. So this

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<v Speaker 1>one is about the United States Mint and it was

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<v Speaker 1>established in seventeen ninety two after Congress passed the Coinage

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<v Speaker 1>Act and George Washington signed it into law. Now, the

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<v Speaker 1>Act authorized the Director of the Mint to purchase up

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<v Speaker 1>to one hundred and fifty tons of copper and turn

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<v Speaker 1>it into circulating currency. In seventeen ninety three, the newly

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<v Speaker 1>minted US Mint released its very first coins, a series

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<v Speaker 1>of eleven thousand, one hundred seventy eight copper pennies. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>these were a lot bigger than modern pennies, closer to

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<v Speaker 1>the size of almost like a modern silver dollar, and

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<v Speaker 1>the face of these early pennies featured a woman's profile

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<v Speaker 1>with long, wavy hair. Today, this incredibly rare coin is

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<v Speaker 1>known as the seventeen ninety three Flowing Hair Large cent,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you're lucky enough to own one in flawless

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<v Speaker 1>uncirculated condition, it could be worth as much as one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred twenty five thousand dollars. Isn't that amazing?

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, that is a lot of money for a penny.

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<v Speaker 2>But believe it or not, Mango, that's not even close

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<v Speaker 2>to being the most valuable penny out there. That was

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<v Speaker 2>one of the things I was most eager to look up.

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<v Speaker 2>But that honor goes to the nineteen forty three d

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<v Speaker 2>Lincoln Bronze wheat penny, which is worth two point four

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<v Speaker 2>million dollars when it is in ment condition, but only

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<v Speaker 2>in men condition. You're like, I get it. If it's

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<v Speaker 2>in ment condition, I get why somebody paid two point

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<v Speaker 2>four million dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>Two point four million dollars. Is so much money for

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<v Speaker 1>a penny? How is that po possible?

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<v Speaker 2>I did not know the answer to this, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>actually because of an accident. So during World War Two,

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<v Speaker 2>the United States began making pennies out of zinc coated steel,

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<v Speaker 2>and this was in order to save copper for the

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<v Speaker 2>war effort. But at some point in that transition, a

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<v Speaker 2>few copper pennies actually got made because there was copper

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<v Speaker 2>left behind in the men's presses. Now, this happened at

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<v Speaker 2>all three mint facilities that existed at the time. These

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<v Speaker 2>were in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco, but the ones

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<v Speaker 2>from Denver are especially rare because they're marked with a

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<v Speaker 2>D on the face. Only one nineteen forty three d

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<v Speaker 2>copper cent is known to exist, but it's actually believed

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<v Speaker 2>that there are a few others out there. However, a

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<v Speaker 2>word of warning, though, because they are so valuable, these

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<v Speaker 2>pennies are one of the most frequently counterfeited US coins.

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<v Speaker 2>Be a real bumber to pay two point four million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars and realize that it was not real. But luckily

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<v Speaker 2>there's an easy way to tell if your nineteen forty

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<v Speaker 2>three penny is one of those rare copper accidents, So

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<v Speaker 2>you hold it up up to a magnet. If it sticks,

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<v Speaker 2>it's steel. If it doesn't, it's copper. Now there's one

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<v Speaker 2>other thing to be aware of. Some scammers have actually

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<v Speaker 2>taken nineteen forty eight Denver pennies and filed down the

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<v Speaker 2>eight so it looks like a three. So whatever you do,

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<v Speaker 2>don't give someone millions of dollars for an old penny

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<v Speaker 2>unless it has truly been authenticated.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I remember my grandmam telling me the same words

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<v Speaker 1>a long time ago.

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<v Speaker 2>So wise.

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<v Speaker 1>So you may be wondering when Abraham Lincoln first appeared

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<v Speaker 1>on the penny, and the answer is in nineteen oh nine,

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<v Speaker 1>which would have been his one hundredth birthday. The iconic

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<v Speaker 1>design was the work of Victor David Brenner, a Lithuanian

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<v Speaker 1>sculptor and engraver who emigrated to the US as a teenager. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>he arrived in New York City and support himself with

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<v Speaker 1>the engraving skills he'd learned from his father, and then

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<v Speaker 1>he continued his studies and friends. He kind of became

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<v Speaker 1>this expert medallist, and that's an artist who designs coins,

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<v Speaker 1>medallions and other small items with raised designs. Anyway, nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>oh seven, Brenner made a portrait of Lincoln on a

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<v Speaker 1>bronze plaque, and President Teddy Roosevelt happened to see it,

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<v Speaker 1>and he decided it would be the perfect thing to

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<v Speaker 1>grace the new penny, and of course Brenner jumped at

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity. He designed the reverse of the coin to

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<v Speaker 1>feature wheat stocks with the words one cent and the

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<v Speaker 1>United States of America between them, and of course he

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<v Speaker 1>signed his work placing his initials VDB below the wheat.

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<v Speaker 2>Now this is the same Lincoln portrait that's on pennies today, right, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>so it's hard to imagine a penny without it. But

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<v Speaker 2>when they were first released, Brenner's pennies got a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of criticism. Some people in the South were angry that

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<v Speaker 2>Lincoln was on their money. Other people complained that Brenner's

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<v Speaker 2>wheat stocks weren't botanically accurate, which is both wonderful and larrious,

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<v Speaker 2>but perhaps most insulting of all. Some people thought Brenner's

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<v Speaker 2>initials were just too prominent. I mean, I feel a

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<v Speaker 2>little bad for the guy. He just wanted to make

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<v Speaker 2>a nice penny, I.

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<v Speaker 1>Know, a nice wheat penny, but President Taft, who succeeded Roosevelt,

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<v Speaker 1>bowed to pressure and had Brenner's initials removed, and then

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<v Speaker 1>they were restored in nineteen nineteen and stayed on the

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<v Speaker 1>reverse of the penny until nineteen fifty eight, when the

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<v Speaker 1>wheat was replaced with an image of the Lincoln Memorial.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm guessing somebody was like, that Lincoln Memorial doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>look architecturally accurate.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, there's always a critic when it comes to arden

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<v Speaker 1>coins and things like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Very true. All right, Well, here's a quick fact that

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<v Speaker 2>I find absolutely fascinating. So you've heard of a halfpenny, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that was like the old timey British coin.

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<v Speaker 2>That's exactly right, and as the name implies, it was

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<v Speaker 2>worth one half cent. Half penny coins started being made

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<v Speaker 2>in the UK sometime in the thirteenth century and they

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<v Speaker 2>were in use until nineteen sixty nine. Actually, but before

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<v Speaker 2>the coins were produced, people with di wyatt, so they

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<v Speaker 2>would cut pennies in half to make half pennies, or

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<v Speaker 2>in quarters to make farthings, which literally means a fourth thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Huh, that's so weird. I had no idea that's what

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<v Speaker 1>a farthing meant. But also it feels like so much

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<v Speaker 1>work to get a half cent, to actually have to

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<v Speaker 1>cut a penny in half.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it does, which is probably why the Royal Meant

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<v Speaker 2>began making normal round coins called half pennies and farthings.

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<v Speaker 2>But I also learned that the US had its own halfpennies.

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<v Speaker 2>They were one of the original currencies designated in the

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<v Speaker 2>seventeen ninety two Coinage Act that you mentioned earlier. They

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<v Speaker 2>stopped being minted in eighteen fifty seven, which turned the

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<v Speaker 2>penny into our smallest currency at the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, we've got to take a quick break, but when

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<v Speaker 1>we come back, we'll tell you why you shouldn't swallow

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<v Speaker 1>a penny and why you should put one into your loafers.

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<v Speaker 1>So don't go anywhere.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we've gotten halfway

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<v Speaker 2>through an episode about pennies without using the phrase common sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Get it? So?

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<v Speaker 2>I think we do this as there are some applause

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<v Speaker 2>for that, now, don't you mango?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Dylan, can we get some applause soundtrack? You like?

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<v Speaker 2>That might be a little bit canned, but it is

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<v Speaker 2>still rewarding reward. Before the break, you promised listeners that

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<v Speaker 2>we would tell them why you shouldn't swallow a penny.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm curious how this constitutes a fact like it

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<v Speaker 2>goes without saying, right, don't swallow pennies.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And I know our audience is too smart to

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<v Speaker 1>do something like that, But there is a fact here,

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<v Speaker 1>and it has to do with pennies chemistry. So in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen eighties, rise and copper prices forced the US

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<v Speaker 1>Mint to change the way it made pennies. And those

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<v Speaker 1>World War Two era steel pennies you mentioned weren't in

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<v Speaker 1>production for very long. They actually caused a lot of problems.

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<v Speaker 1>For one thing, penny vending machines were designed with magnets

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<v Speaker 1>to catch fake coins, and that meant steel pennies got caught.

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<v Speaker 1>Two plus people kept mistaking steel pennies for dimes. So

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<v Speaker 1>the Mint went back to a mix of ninety five

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<v Speaker 1>percent copper and five percent sinc. But in nineteen eighty two,

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<v Speaker 1>copper became costper hit, so the ratio actually got flipped

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<v Speaker 1>and pennies became mostly zinc with a thin layer of

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<v Speaker 1>two point five percent copper to give them their characteristic

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<v Speaker 1>color and charm. And that's when they became seriously toxic.

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<v Speaker 1>So researchers at Duke, a school you might be familiar with,

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<v Speaker 1>found that swallowing a post nineteen eighty two penny meant

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<v Speaker 1>that the zinc combined with stomach acid to form a

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<v Speaker 1>mixture that is quote as corrosive as car battery acid hikes.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, now, hypothetical question, what if I have a

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<v Speaker 2>penny from nineteen eighty two, Like, did they make this

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<v Speaker 2>composition change exactly on January one? Or are there some

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty two pennies that mostly are copper and not zinc.

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<v Speaker 1>So again, if you're thinking of eating a penny, don't right,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the first piut. But if you have a nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty two penny, it could be either type and you

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<v Speaker 1>can't really tell by looking at it. Apparently, though, if

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<v Speaker 1>you flip the penny in the air and it makes

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<v Speaker 1>a high pitch whistling sound, it's mostly copper, and if

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<v Speaker 1>it's silent, it's zinc. And then when it lands on

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<v Speaker 1>a table, a copper coin might make a higher pitched

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<v Speaker 1>ting while zinc makes a heavier thud.

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<v Speaker 2>I love all these rules that we're learning about which

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<v Speaker 2>ones will attach to magnets, which ones This is pretty cool.

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<v Speaker 2>All right. Well, I told you earlier I love stories

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<v Speaker 2>about old stuff, but you know I also love stories

0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.439
<v Speaker 2>about space, so I was excited to find this next fact.

0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.760
<v Speaker 2>This goes back to November twenty six, twenty eleven, when

0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.240
<v Speaker 2>the Mars Curiosity Rover blasted off from Cape Canaveral and

0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.160
<v Speaker 2>along with its lasers, high tech cameras, and particle spectrometers,

0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.240
<v Speaker 2>it carried a single nineteen oh nine penny, one of

0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.719
<v Speaker 2>the first from a series designed by Victor David Brenner. Now,

0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.920
<v Speaker 2>the historic scent was mounted on the rovers calibration target,

0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.920
<v Speaker 2>and this was sort of an homage to the field

0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.880
<v Speaker 2>of geology. One of Curiosity's main tasks was to explore

0:12:55.880 --> 0:13:00.000
<v Speaker 2>the Martian landscape and examine rock samples there, and in geology,

0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.800
<v Speaker 2>it's common practice to include a coin in specimen photos

0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.520
<v Speaker 2>to show how big an object is.

0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.240
<v Speaker 1>Oh, that's really cool. You know. This is a total aside,

0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.160
<v Speaker 1>But my favorite thing about the Curiosity Rover is that

0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.400
<v Speaker 1>someone at NASA programmed it to play Happy Birthday to

0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.120
<v Speaker 1>itself one year after landing on Mars, which is sometimes

0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.080
<v Speaker 1>it's so great and so lonely.

0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.200
<v Speaker 2>That is terrific.

0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.520
<v Speaker 1>But something that's even crazier is that the rover only

0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.199
<v Speaker 1>played the song once and never played it again on

0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.679
<v Speaker 1>subsequent birthdays because it actually took so much power and

0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.679
<v Speaker 1>the rover has this finite supply, so it didn't have

0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.559
<v Speaker 1>the power to like sing itself again, which is kind

0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:42.319
<v Speaker 1>of crazy, so.

0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.520
<v Speaker 2>Weird, like I wouldn't guess that something like that would

0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.440
<v Speaker 2>take that much power. But that also makes it even sadder.

0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:49.600
<v Speaker 2>It just never got to sing Happy Birthday in the future.

0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.559
<v Speaker 1>So back to pennies. My next fact is about as

0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.000
<v Speaker 1>far from space as you can get. It's about pennies

0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:02.520
<v Speaker 1>on your feet aka penny loafers. So apparently, the first

0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:06.439
<v Speaker 1>penny loafer was designed by a Norwegian shoemaker named Neils

0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:10.000
<v Speaker 1>Tehranger who worked in the US as an apprentice in

0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.640
<v Speaker 1>the early nineteen hundreds, and when he was here he

0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.560
<v Speaker 1>noticed moccasins made in the Iroquois style with no laces,

0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.720
<v Speaker 1>low heel and gathered stitches at the toe, worked something

0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.560
<v Speaker 1>he appreciated, so back home he combined that inspiration with

0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.240
<v Speaker 1>a laceless shoe popular in his hometown of our Land.

0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.280
<v Speaker 1>The result was this simple, unisex design that could be

0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.280
<v Speaker 1>dressed up or down, and the new shoe became popular

0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.800
<v Speaker 1>with American and European tourists who visited the region, which

0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:42.600
<v Speaker 1>was also famous for its salmon fishing. Now, pretty soon

0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.680
<v Speaker 1>loafers went from our land and the valley there to

0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:50.200
<v Speaker 1>the pages of Esquire magazine. In fact, Esquire founder Arnold

0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.680
<v Speaker 1>Gingrich liked them so much that he brought a pair

0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.680
<v Speaker 1>to John Bass, head of the American shoe company gh

0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.680
<v Speaker 1>Bass and Company, and he suggested that he manufacture them.

0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.120
<v Speaker 1>But Bass actually thought the original design wasn't sturdy enough,

0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.840
<v Speaker 1>so we added a thicker sole and a strap across

0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.040
<v Speaker 1>the van for top of the shoe, and he called

0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:13.240
<v Speaker 1>this updated style Ruegian, short for Norwegians. And as the

0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.440
<v Speaker 1>loafers caught on, especially with young people and college students,

0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.760
<v Speaker 1>folks realized that the slit in the strap was the

0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.840
<v Speaker 1>perfect size to store a penny, so if you put

0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:25.400
<v Speaker 1>one in each shoe, you'd actually have two cents, which

0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.560
<v Speaker 1>at the time was a great solution because it was

0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:29.520
<v Speaker 1>exactly how much you'd need to make a call at

0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:30.080
<v Speaker 1>a payphone.

0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.560
<v Speaker 2>Actually, well, speaking of things that are obsolete, we cannot

0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.920
<v Speaker 2>talk about pennies without talking about the push to get

0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:38.600
<v Speaker 2>rid of them. I knew we had to talk about

0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.320
<v Speaker 2>this at some point, and the date, several countries have

0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:46.360
<v Speaker 2>eliminated their pennies, including Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, even Canada,

0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:50.360
<v Speaker 2>which stopped using pennies in twenty thirteen. Now anti penny

0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.160
<v Speaker 2>ciniment has been brewing in the United States too, of course,

0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.880
<v Speaker 2>and in February of twenty twenty five, the President ordered

0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.120
<v Speaker 2>the US meant to stop making them.

0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.000
<v Speaker 1>So I feel like this has been a long time coming.

0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.320
<v Speaker 1>We've read about this in the news. But the knock

0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:06.960
<v Speaker 1>on pennies is mostly that they cost more to produce

0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:07.800
<v Speaker 1>than they're actually worth.

0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.960
<v Speaker 2>Right, that's exactly right, And according to Treasury statistics, each

0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.240
<v Speaker 2>one cent coin costs about three point seven cents to make.

0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.320
<v Speaker 2>But here's the thing that's true of nickels too. In fact,

0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.320
<v Speaker 2>five cent coins cost almost fourteen cents to make, and

0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.800
<v Speaker 2>halting penny production wouldn't necessarily mean a huge windfall for

0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.440
<v Speaker 2>the government. So in fiscal year twenty twenty four, the

0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.040
<v Speaker 2>Treasury minted about three point two billion pennies at less

0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.280
<v Speaker 2>than four cents per That works out to a total

0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.520
<v Speaker 2>cost of one hundred and eighteen million dollars so when

0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.160
<v Speaker 2>you consider the six trillion dollar federal budget, it's a

0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:43.360
<v Speaker 2>drop in the bucket, but you know they are coming

0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.680
<v Speaker 2>out with some savings there. But a better antipenny argument

0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:49.720
<v Speaker 2>is that people don't like using them, so a lot

0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.080
<v Speaker 2>of us just leave them lying around in coffee cans

0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.160
<v Speaker 2>or on the ground, so as currency, they've actually kind

0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:56.480
<v Speaker 2>of become almost worthless.

0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.720
<v Speaker 1>You know, I totally get that, and I understand, like,

0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.240
<v Speaker 1>ioretically the reason why you wouldn't want pennies, but the

0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.800
<v Speaker 1>idea of a pennyless world is like kind of a

0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.440
<v Speaker 1>little sad to me. And I also feel like, wouldn't

0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.160
<v Speaker 1>there be some impact on prices.

0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we've actually seen this in countries that get rid

0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.320
<v Speaker 2>of their pennies, so prices just get rounded to the

0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.560
<v Speaker 2>next smallest currency, which in our case would be the nickel.

0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.320
<v Speaker 2>So a seven to twenty three latte would cost seven

0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.240
<v Speaker 2>to twenty five. But what's really interesting to me was

0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.720
<v Speaker 2>the effect that this would have on charm pricing, which

0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.720
<v Speaker 2>is the term for all those prices that end in nine.

0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.560
<v Speaker 1>Oh, because you're more willing to buy something for four

0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.280
<v Speaker 1>ninety nine than five dollars right the.

0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.960
<v Speaker 2>Second Oh, Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, and so consumer

0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.960
<v Speaker 2>research has consistently shown that this kind of pricing has

0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.520
<v Speaker 2>a big impact on sales. This goes back decades. There's

0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.120
<v Speaker 2>even a chain of stores called ninety nine cents Only.

0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.320
<v Speaker 2>This began in nineteen eighty two and was valued at

0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.520
<v Speaker 2>one point six billion dollars by twenty eleven. Another example

0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.520
<v Speaker 2>that some of us are old enough to remember is

0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.560
<v Speaker 2>the iTunes store, which made a fortune selling songs and

0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:04.000
<v Speaker 2>movieers for ninety nine cents each forgotten, Yeah, for real.

0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.520
<v Speaker 2>And if you look at your app and software subscriptions now,

0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.159
<v Speaker 2>you'll find a lot of them ending at nine. The

0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.040
<v Speaker 2>psychology is simple. People see four ninety nine and they

0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.440
<v Speaker 2>think four, not five, and that one penny actually makes

0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:17.120
<v Speaker 2>all the difference.

0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:19.840
<v Speaker 1>Okay, well, so we've reached the end of this episode.

0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.480
<v Speaker 1>But instead of one of us deciding who gets today's trophy,

0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:25.919
<v Speaker 1>I think we could do something a little more fitting.

0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.400
<v Speaker 1>Why don't we flip a penny for it? Oh? I

0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:29.800
<v Speaker 1>like that?

0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.000
<v Speaker 2>Okay, can I guess? Can I take heads?

0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.400
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Yeah, you can take heads, and I'll take tails obviously,

0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:42.920
<v Speaker 1>And here goes it is heads. So congrats will.

0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much. That feels really good and thank

0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:48.360
<v Speaker 2>you to the Penny, which may be on its way out,

0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.919
<v Speaker 2>but it's given us plenty of stories to remember it

0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.080
<v Speaker 2>by now. If you like this episode, be sure to

0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.880
<v Speaker 2>subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Leave us a five

0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.080
<v Speaker 2>star rating and a review. We love to hear from

0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.400
<v Speaker 2>you. You can also find us on Instagram at part Time Genius,

0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.959
<v Speaker 2>where we read every comment that we get, every single comment,

0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.399
<v Speaker 2>every single one, and from Dylan Gabe, Mary Mango and

0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.080
<v Speaker 2>me thank you so much for listening.

0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:26.919
<v Speaker 1>Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.

0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.399
<v Speaker 1>This show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me Mongaishatikler,

0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.760
<v Speaker 1>and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's

0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.160
<v Speaker 1>episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan

0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:42.840
<v Speaker 1>with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced

0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.399
<v Speaker 1>for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social

0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:50.800
<v Speaker 1>media support from Sasha Gay, Trustee Dara Potts and Viny Shorey.

0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.960
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:59.480
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0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:03.480
<v Speaker 2>Another