red cent

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English

Etymology

Probably from the color of the copper from which the coin was minted. Prior to 1909, a brighter nickel-based cent was used, often called the white cent. It is also possible that the red originally referred to the obverse bearing an Indian head stamp. See Indian Head cent.

Noun

red cent (plural red cents)

  1. (US) A copper penny.
  2. (US, colloquial, chiefly in the negative) A very small amount of money.
    I wouldn't pay one red cent for a ticket.
    • 1867, Augustin Daly, Under the Gaslight, Act III, Scene 2, page 28:
      Snorkey. But I ain't got two cents. What's a fellow to do if he hasn't got a red?
    • 1989 December 10, John Zeh, quoting Tony Allen, “AIDS Groups' Execs Arrested In D.C.”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 22, page 1:
      Day by day for two-and-a-half years, I've seen resources diminishing, disappearing. We're begging, damn near down on our knees, and not getting one red cent.
    • 2011, Jann Arden, Falling Backwards: A Memoir, page 158:
      My dad said he wasn't going to pay the bastards ten red cents.

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