PENNIES

The last pennies were minted on November 12. 2025/ That ended 230 years of production.  No more penny candy. (Is there any candy that cheap nowadays?) No more, “If you want my two cents.” Businesses are going to price items so the amounts either end in 5 or 0, that or round up or down to the nearest 5 or 0. What happens to the “penny bank?” Or, “A penny for your thoughts.”

Yes, it’s been determined it costs more to print a penny than a penny. I’m going to miss those little copper or pewter colored coins. I know I swallowed a few when I was little. At least that’s what my mother told me. They do take up room in a coin purse, and I never seem to have as many as I need when paying in cash, so I end up with more pennies.

In time, some pennies are going to be quite valuable, especially the last ones minted on November 12th. Some pennies are already very valuable due to errors when minted. I need to go through my pennies and see if I have any of those valuable ones. After that, I’ll either spend the ones I have or drop them in one of those coin counting machines.

PAPERBACKS

The paperback has been in existence for over a hundred years. Penguin Books released the first successful paperback novel on July 30,1935 in the UK and they sold millions the first year. . The paperbacks, being less expensive to produce than a hardcover book suddenly allowed the masses to purchase books and they began to appear in railroad stations, coffee shops, drug stores, and markets besides book stores. Book publisher around the world began publishing paperbacks. They were cheap enough to produce that the publishing houses were willing to take chances with new writers and new genres.

So, what happened? Why are we now hearing “It’s the end of paperback books?”

Primarily because there’s been a significant decline in the sales of paperback books. The cost of producing one has risen. Bookstores have closed and library budgets have been cut. My publisher for four of my mysteries primarily sold hardcovers and sold them to libraries across the US. Libraries didn’t have the money to buy as many hardcovers as they once did and they didn’t want paperbacks. They don’t hold up as well as hard covers. My publisher didn’t have an interest in producing paperbacks. Readers were choosing ebooks and audio books. Readers aren’t willing to pay a high price for a paperback, but they will pay more for a trade paperback. Major distributors stopped distributing paperbacks to grocery and drug stores. So…

Unless something changes, it’s the trade paperback size that we’ll see on the racks.

Times, indeed, are changing.