Plural of “penny”

The plural of penny is pennies (some dictionaries also accept pence).

Why

"Penny" comes from Old English "pening," a word of uncertain but likely Germanic origin, naming the smallest unit of currency for centuries before decimalization. Unusually among consonant-plus-y nouns, English developed two distinct plurals for this word rather than settling on just one -ies form: "pennies" for counting individual coins, and "pence" for referring to a sum of money.

"Pence" descends from a much older, irregular plural pattern once more common in English monetary and measurement terms, similar in spirit to how "foot" (the measurement) doesn't always pluralize the same way "foot" (the body part) might in casual speech; British usage in particular keeps "pence" firmly alive for amounts of money ("fifty pence"), while "pennies" is reserved specifically for physical coins you could hold in your hand and count one by one.

Usage note

Use "pennies" when talking about individual coins ("three pennies were left on the counter"), and use "pence" when talking about an amount of money, especially in British usage ("the item cost forty pence"). American usage relies far more heavily on "pennies" in both senses, since American currency rarely uses "pence" as a unit at all.

Britain's decimalization of its currency in 1971 replaced the old system of pounds, shillings, and pence with a simpler decimal pound divided into one hundred new pence, and the word "pence" survived that transition essentially unchanged. The idiom "penny for your thoughts" and "pinch pennies" both keep the word fixed in a specific grammatical form as part of an established fixed phrase rather than varying between "pennies" and "pence."

Common real mistakes

The main mistake is using "pennies" where an amount of money is meant in British contexts ("it cost fifty pennies" instead of "fifty pence"), or conversely using "pence" to describe a small handful of literal coins in a context where "pennies" would sound more natural. American writers describing British currency should be especially careful here, since American English has no equivalent distinction and defaults to "pennies" or "cents" in both senses, which can lead to awkward phrasing when writing about British money.

The wider pattern

"Penny" is a rare case within the consonant-plus-y family of a word that developed two genuinely distinct plurals tied to two different senses, similar to how "stadium" split into "stadiums" and "stadia" for its two different meanings, though here the split is about counting individual coins versus naming a total sum.

Examples

• She found three pennies under the couch cushion.
• The jar was filled with pennies collected over the years.
• Children love searching for lost pennies on the sidewalk.
• The item cost only forty pence in the local shop.
• He kept a small pile of pennies on his dresser.
• The candy cost fifty pence at the corner store.
• Volunteers counted thousands of pennies for the fundraiser.
• The old jacket had pennies stuck in every pocket.
• Prices rose by a few pence after the tax increase.
• She always saves her pennies in a glass piggy bank.
• The museum displayed pennies minted over two centuries ago.
• Tourists tossed pennies into the fountain for luck.
• The coin collector specialized in rare wheat pennies.
• Shoppers counted out pennies to cover the exact total.
• He emptied his pockets of loose pennies before the wash.
• The charity jar filled with pennies within a single week.
• She rolled the pennies into paper wrappers for the bank.
• The vending machine rejected the worn pennies.
• The kids searched the couch cushions for stray pennies.
• A jar of pennies sat untouched on the shelf for years.
• The toll booth still accepted pennies well into the 1990s.
• The antique shop sold jars of old foreign pennies.
• She donated a bag of pennies to the school fundraiser.