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One Penny
Using this small metal disk, with a size and weight familiar
to almost everyone, let's take the next step.
value 1¢, (one cent)
width 0.75 inches, (3/4 of an inch)
height 0.75 inches, (3/4 of an inch)
thickness 0.0625 inches, (1/16 of an inch)
weight 0.1 ounces, (1/10 of an ounce)
area 0.5625 square inches
home
Sixteen Pennies
or
16
Every journey begins with a single step. So, to get to big numbers, you
have to start small. Lay sixteen pennies in a line and you have one foot, stack
them and you have an inch. Okay, so much for the small numbers - let's move up.
value 16¢, (sixteen cents)
width (side-by-side) 12 inches, (one foot)
height (stacked) 1 inch
thickness 0.0625 inches, (1/16 of an inch)
weight 1.6 ounces
area (laid flat) 9 square inches
home , 1
Visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult. People regularly talk about millions of
miles, billions of bytes, or trillions of dollars, yet it's still hard to grasp just how much a
"billion" really is. The MegaPenny Project aims to help by taking one small everyday item,
the U.S. penny, and building on that to answer the question: "What would a billion (or a
trillion) pennies look like?"
All the following pages have tables at the bottom, listing things such as the value of the
pennies, size of the pile, weight, and area (if laid flat). All weights and measurements are
U.S. standards, not metric.
It's best to step through the project starting from the beginning, but if you'd like to just
jump in, links are available below.
Pages, in order:
• One penny
• Sixteen pennies
• One Thousand pennies
• Fifty Thousand pennies
• One Hundred Thousand pennies
• One Million pennies
• Ten Million pennies
• One Hundred Million pennies
• One Billion pennies
• Ten Billion pennies
• One Hundred Billion pennies
• Pennies Currently in circulation
• One Trillion pennies
• One Trillion (part II)
• Empire State Building
• Sears Tower
• One Quadrillion pennies
• One Quintillion pennies
• Index, Table and Links
• MegaMoo - a special bonus section
Various Awards
1,000
[5 pennies wide x 5 pennies high x 40 pennies tall]
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49,152
Forty-nine thousand one hundred and fifty-two Pennies
[16w x 16h x 192 tall] - one cubic foot.
Remember this cube, since it will be the building block for all upcoming
penny-structures you see in these pages. Now let's double it.
value $491.52
(Four hundred ninety-one dollars and fifty-two
cents)
width 12 inches, (one foot)
height 12 inches, (one foot)
thickness 12 inches, (one foot)
weight 4,915.2 ounces, (307.2 pounds)
height stacked 3,072 inches, (256 feet)
area (laid flat) 192 square feet
home , 1 , 2 , 3
98,304
Ninety-eight thousand three hundred and four Pennies
[ Two cubic feet ]
Doubling our 50,000 pennies to 100,000, we now have two one-foot cubes.
Given, this wasn't a big jump, but now we're going to start climbing the
numerical ladder by powers of ten. Ever wonder what a million pennies
would look like?
value $983.04
(Nine hundred eighty-three dollars and four cents)
width 24 inches, (two feet)
height 12 inches, (one foot)
thickness 12 inches, (one foot)
weight 614.4 pounds
height stacked 512 feet
area (laid flat) 384 square feet
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
1,003,776
One million, three thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six Pennies
[ A wall five by four by one feet thick with a 9-inch cube stepstool ]
Say hello to our friend Graham. Now that the pennies have really begun to pile up,
he'll be standing in for scale. Graham is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and he weighs
about 180 pounds, or about 35 times less than the 1 million pennies stacked beside
him. Next step, Ten million.
value $10,037.76
(Ten thousand, thirty-seven dollars
and seventy-six cents)
width Four feet
height Five feet
thickness 12 inches, (one foot)
weight 6273.6 pounds (3.14 tons)
height stacked 5,228 feet ( 0.99 Miles )
area (laid flat) 3,921 square feet
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
10,017,024
Ten million, seventeen thousand and twenty-four Pennies
[ A cube 6 x 6 x 6 feet ]
Ten Million cents. If you laid these all out flat, side-by-side, like a
huge carpet of pennies, it would nearly cover one acre. Click here
for a look at 100,000,000 copper disks.
value $100,170.24
(One hundred thousand, one hundred
seventy dollars and twenty-four cents)
width Six feet
height Six feet
thickness Six feet
weight 31.3 tons
height stacked 9.88 Miles
area (laid flat) 39,129 square feet (0.9 acres)
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
100,016,640
One hundred million, sixteen thousand, six hundred and forty Pennies
[ Two cubes, one 12x12x12 feet, the other 7x7x7 feet ]
Since these cubes are mostly dense metal, their weight is impressive. One
hundred million pennies weighs over 300 tons. For comparison, the largest living
animal, the Blue Whale, weighs less than 150 tons as an adult.
When you hear talk of "billions" of something (dollars, miles, people, etc), it's
hard to visualize. But up next, we have a visual for you - one billion pennies.
value $1,000,166.40
(One million, one hundred sixty-six
dollars and forty cents)
width 12 feet (7 feet)
height 12 feet (7 feet)
thickness 12 feet (7 feet)
total weight 312.5 tons
height stacked 99 Miles
area (laid flat) 390,690 square feet (9 acres)
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7
1,000,018,176
One billion, eighteen thousand, one hundred and seventy-six Pennies
[ Five school buses. ]
Each of these blocks represents one 9x11x41 foot school bus - as seen below. If you were
to stack all these pennies in a single pile, one atop the other, the stack would reach nearly one
thousand miles high. For comparison, note that the Space Shuttle typically orbits only 225 miles
above the Earth's surface.
Only in North America and the general scientific community is this number (1,000,000,000) called
a "billion". Most European countries call this number either "one thousand million" or,
in some cases, a "milliard". Enough international confusion, let's move on to ten billion.
value $10,000,181.76
(Ten million, one hundred eighty-one
dollars and seventy-six cents)
width 45 feet
height 11 feet
thickness 41 feet
total weight 3,125 tons
height stacked 987 Miles
area (laid flat) 3,906,321 square feet (89.7 acres)
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8
10,000,023,552
Ten billion, twenty-three thousand, five hundred and fifty-two Pennies
[ Fifty school buses (as defined previously). ]
Current estimates place the world's population at six billion people. The pile of pennies
above would then be nearly enough for two pennies for every person on Earth. The U.S.Mint
currently manufactures about this many pennies every year.
In the image above, Graham and his ten billion coins are now standing on a standard U.S.
football field (360 x 160 feet) for further scale. Next up, the hundred-billion cube.
value $100,000,235.52
(One hundred million, two hundred thirty-five
dollars and fifty-two cents)
width 90 feet
height 11 feet
thickness 205 feet
total weight 31,250 tons
height stacked 9,864 Miles
area (laid flat) 897 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9
100,017,659,336
One hundred billion, seventeen million, six hundred fifty-nine thousand
three hundred and thirty-six Pennies
[ One cube measuring 127 x 127 x 127 feet ]
If you took these hundred billion pennies and laid them out like a carpet, you could cover 14
square miles. Compare that to Manhattan Island, which measures 22 square miles.
The cube you see above is made up of over 4.1 million stacks of 24,330 pennies. Now, we
are getting close to the limits of existing pennies. How many pennies do you think are
currently in circulation?
value $1,000,176,593.36
(One billion, one hundred seventy-six thousand
five hundred and ninety-three dollars and
thirty-six cents)
width 126.72 feet
height 126.72 feet
thickness 126.72 feet
total weight 312,555.2 tons
height stacked 98,660 Miles
area (laid flat) 8,969 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10
200,035,318,672
Two hundred billion, thirty-five million, three hundred eighteen thousand
six hundred and seventy-two Pennies
[ Two cubes, each measuring 127 x 127 x 127 feet ]
Current estimates by the U.S. Mint place the number of pennies in circulation at around
140 billion. Others have estimated as many as 200 billion currently circulating. Since the
first penny was minted in 1787, until present-day, over 300 billion pennies have been minted
in the United States. So that leaves about 100 billion pennies that have been retired by the
Mint, lost down sewer drains, stored in jars, smashed by trains, or collected by numismatists
in the past 200 years.
Now that we have reached the limits of what actually exists, let's move beyond, and into
the Trillions.
value $2,000,353,186.72
(Two billion, three hundred fifty-three thousand
one hundred and eighty-six dollars and
seventy-two cents)
width 253.44 feet
height 126.72 feet
thickness 126.72 feet
total weight 625,110.4 tons
height stacked 197,320 Miles
area (laid flat) 17,938 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11
1,000,000,016,640
One trillion, sixteen thousand six hundred and forty Pennies
[ One cube measuring 273 x 273 x 273 feet ]
The same football field as the last two pages, set beside our new cube for scale. Notice
our friend Graham, still barely visible as a speck at lower left.
Let's look at this new cube a little more closely to get a better idea of its size.
value $10,000,000,166.40
(Ten billion, one hundred and
sixty-six dollars and forty cents)
width 273 feet
height 273 feet
thickness 273 feet
total weight 3,125,000 tons
height stacked 986,426 Miles
area (laid flat) 89,675.2 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12
1,000,000,016,640
One trillion, sixteen thousand six hundred and forty Pennies
[ One cube measuring 273 x 273 x 273 feet ]
From right to left (to scale), we have the same old football field, then the Lincoln
Memorial (yes, the one pictured on the back of the penny), then the Washington
Monument (555 feet tall), then our cube of one trillion pennies, then the Empire
State Building (1,250 feet tall), then the Sears Tower (1,450 feet tall).
So, now, the question you're dying to ask: How many Pennies would it take to fill
the Empire State Building?
value $10,000,000,166.40
(Ten billion, one hundred and
sixty-six dollars and forty cents)
width 273 feet
height 273 feet
thickness 273 feet
total weight 3,125,000 tons
height stacked 986,426 Miles
area (laid flat) 89,675.2 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13
1,818,624,000,000
One trillion, eight hundred eighteen billion, six hundred
twenty-four million Pennies
New york's Empire State Building contains 37 million cubic feet of space (minus
the antenna structure). Using our cubic foot of pennies (49,152 total), it's just a simple
multiplication problem - 37,000,000 x 49,152 = 1,818,624,000,000 pennies.
On to Chicago... >>
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14
2,623,684,608,000
Two trillion, six hundred twenty-three billion, six
hundred eighty-four million six hundred and eight
thousand Pennies
Chicago's Sears Tower occupies 53.4 million cubic feet of space. Using
our cubic foot of pennies (49,152 total), it's once again just another
multiplication problem - 53,379,000 x 49,152 = 2,623,684,608,000 pennies.
Okay, enough with the buildings, let's take a giant leap forward. What would
a cube of one quadrillion pennies look like?
value $26,236,846,080.00
(Twenty-six billion, two hundred thirty-six
million,
eight hundred forty-six thousand and
eighty dollars)
total weight 8,199,014 tons
height stacked 2,588,073 Miles
area (laid flat) 235,279.3 acres
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15
1,000,067,088,384,000
One quadrillion, sixty-seven billion, eighty-eight million,
three hundred and eighty-four thousand Pennies
[ One cube measuring 2,730 x 2,730 x 2,730 feet ]
Here we have the buildings we used for scale back at a trillion, but they're now a bit
dwarfed by our new cube of pennies. This is a quadrillion, or a thousand times one trillion.
This cube is roughly a half-mile wide and would weigh an astonishing three billion tons.
home , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16
1,000,067,088,384,000,000
One quintillion, sixty-seven trillion, eighty-eight billion,
three hundred and eighty-four million Pennies
[ One cube measuring 27,300 x 27,300 x 27,300 feet ]
Now we've stepped up another factor of 1,000. One quintillion pennies. This many pennies,
if laid out flat like a carpet, would cover the surface of the earth - twice. If you look hard,
you can still see the Sears Tower and other buildings at lower right. Another way to see it is
to realize that Mt. Everest (29,000 ft.) is only 1,700 feet taller than this 27,300-foot cube.
This is as far as we will go. Three trillion tons of pennies is quite enough. To imagine
larger cubes, (stepping by factors of 1,000), just imagine cubes roughly ten times larger than
the last one. For instance, one quintillion pennies makes the cube above - about 5 miles on
each side. If you step up to one sextillion, imagine a cube about 50 miles wide tall and thick.
Thanks for visiting the MegaPenny Project. You can find further related links and a table of
named "very big numbers" on our index page.
value $10,000,670,883,840,000.00
(Ten quadrillion, six hundred seventy billion,
eight hundred eighty-three million, eight hundred
and forty thousand dollars and zero cents)
width 27,300 feet
height 27,300 feet
thickness 27,300 feet
total weight 3,125,000,000,000 tons
Pennies Links:
• CopperCoins.com - a 'Web Resource for all US Copper Coin Collectors'.
• The United States Mint
• People who want to do away with pennies
• People who want to keep pennies around
• Smashed pennies
• Would you rather be paid one million dollars today, - or -
would you rather be paid one penny today (1¢), twice that tomorrow (2¢), twice that the next (4¢), etc. for 30 days?
Find out here
1
One Holstein Cow
Here's Harriet, our model cow. She's an average adult Holstein, 4 1/2 feet tall, about
6 feet long from nose to rump, and about 3 feet wide. Harriet also weighs in at a healthy 1,500 pounds.
Yes we're dealing with cows now, and not pennies. Why? Well, why not?
back to megapenny
5
Five Holstein Cows
Harriet has brought in four more of her good friends. Since we're going to be
stacking these hapless cows in the near future, we're encasing them in nice little
force-field boxes (don't worry, they can breathe just fine).
72
Seventy-two Holstein Cows
Now we're talking about a lot of cows. Luckily they stack nicely in their little boxes, otherwise it
would be hard to see them all at once. These 72 cows lined up nose-to-tail would be 432 feet long
As it is, these cows stack up into a neat cube that is 18 feet wide tall and deep.
1,002,240
One million, two thousand, two hundred and forty Holstein Cows
Here is Harriet and her million closest cow friends. Over 750,000 tons of grass-munching, milk-giving
animals on 4,008,960 hooves. They are lined up 96 cows tall, 145 cows wide and 72 cows deep.