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For thirty years, Penny-Wise has been the journal of the Early American Coppers Club. A typical issue has its table of contents and a directory of club officers followed by a one-page "Introduction by the Editor." The journal publishes minutes of club meetings and reports from club officers. Regional meetings are announced and reported. Discoveries of new varieties and of new examples of rare varieties are reported. Letters to the Editor include commentary on member activities and reaction to events and previously published articles. Each issue has a section for "Swaps and Sales" where members may solicit an orderly succession of ownership. Articles featured in Penny-Wise cover the field of early copper. Some are scholarly and lengthy and may become the standard reference for a topic. Others may be short or light-hearted. The following list covers some of "The Best of Penny-Wise."

John W. Adams contributed several articles on early collectors including "The American Numismatic Society and Mr. Clapp" (5-15-73); "Thomas Harrison Garrett 1849-1888" (5-15-74); "Early Auction Catalogues" (11-15-77); "The Hall-Brand Saga" (9-15-78); "Rarity and Value of Large Cent Literature" (3-15-79) and "The Henry Hines Collection" (11-15-79).

Dan Argyro contributed "Major Die States of the Year 1848" in eight parts 5-15-93 to 3-15-95.

John S. Ashby, Jr. contributed his series "Looking at Large Cent Errors" in fourteen parts 1-15-82 to 5-15-84.

Mark Auerbach offered "On the Trail of Dr. Maris" in the 3-15-89 issue. It tells of the discovery of a photo of Maris.

Roy Bonjour wrote "The Republic of Vermont - From Landscape to Bust!" (7-15-84)

Walter Breen was a contributing editor of P-W and submitted "Walter Mould and the Morristown Mint" (7-15-77). Breen's autobiography in the January 15, 1978, issue is one of the best sources of information on Breen.

Breen and editor Lapp collaborated on "Old Time Collectors and Dealers" (7-15-69).

Rod Burress wrote "The Use of Sulfur Ointment in Recoloring a Copper Coin" (3-15-84).

George E. Ewing, Jr. wrote "Edge Devices" (9-15-81) and "Coining Early Copper Coinage" (5-15-82).

David M. Gale submitted "Patinas I Have Known" for the 9-15-82 issue. It offered a description of the chemistry involved with toning.

John Griffee had a long running series "New Jersey Coppers" in 35 parts between 9-15-90 and 11-15-96. This series received the Editor's Award for 1995.

Bob Grellman is a regular contributor of his series "Late Date Cent Update" that began in 1986 and continues. He reports on changes since publication of his book.

Ron Guth wrote "Vermont Coppers - A Real Challenge." (3-15-88)

Fred Iskra made several contributions with "S-276 Die States and Rotations" (5-15-92); "Die States of 1807 Sheldon 271" (3-15-93); "S-274 and S-275 Die States" (3-15-94) and "S273 Die States" (1-15-95). The 1993 Editor's Award went to Fred Iskra for his articles on die states of 1807 varieties.

William T. Jones contributed "A Historical Look at Hard Times Tokens" in three parts 5-15-81, 9-15-81, 11-15-81 and returned to the topic with "A Historical View of the Hard Times Tokens" beginning in the issue of September 15, 1989. "A Half Cent Condition Census for the Intermediate Collector" in four parts 11-15-86 to 5-15-87)

Editor Warren A Lapp contributed some unsigned articles plus "The Yellow Fever Epidemics in Philadelphia" (5-15-68); "Suggestions For the Library of the Large Cent Collector" (5-15-68); "A Description of the First U.S. Mint" (9-15-68); "The Directors of the Mint During the Period of Large Cent Production" (three parts 9-15-68, 1-15-69, 3-15-69); "Howard R. Newcomb - A Biography" (11-5-68); "The Chapman Brothers" (3-15-69); "More on Old-Time Collectors and Dealers" (3-15-70); "Joseph Wright, The Mint's First Die Sinker" (3-15-71) and "The Talbot, Allum & Lee Tokens" (9-15-75).

Denis Loring contributed a series intended as an update for Sheldon's book "The Early Cent Revision" in twelve parts 3-15-73 to 3-15-75 followed by "The Early Cent Revision, Update" in eleven parts 1-15-79 to 1-15-81; and "United States Proof Large Cents" (11-15-91 to 1-15-92)

Tom Madigan contributed "Die States of New Jersey Coppers" in three parts 9-15-94 to 1-15-95.

Ron Manley received the 1997 Editor's Award for his articles on U.S. Half Cents. These included "1800 LIBEKTY Half Cent" (9-15-94); "Is There a Missing Half Cent Variety?" (3-15-95); "Rarity Estimates of 1794 Half Cents and Their Relationship to Lettered Edge Planchet Styles" (5-15-95); "Exploring the Possibility of 1794 C-7, C-8 and C-9 Half Cents With Large Edge Lettering" (9-15-95); "A Bicentennial Salute to 1796 Half Cents" (3-15-96); "A Case For Proof-Only 1831 Original Half Cents" (5-15-96); "A Follow-up on 1796 and 1831 Half Cents" (7-15-96); "The Reverse Die States of the 1804 B-5, C-7, G-9 Spiked Chin Half Cent" (11-15-96); and "Another Turn at Half Cent Rotations" (1-15-97).

Michael McLaughlin began with "The Fugio Cent: Die Varieties, & Preliminary Census;" continued with "The Fugio File" and concluded with "Fugio File Updates" in twelve parts 7-15-88 to 7-15-94.

Jeffrey Oliphant wrote "Symbols on Large Cents" (9-15-71) and "Large Cent Errors, Defects and Other Irregularities" (5-15-75).

Milton Pfeffer had a long series "Catalogue sales of the Circulating Half Cents" (1-15-74 to 1-15-78)

Harry J. Rescigno wrote "Vermon Auctoru - Some Basic Work" (11-15-81) and "Connecticuts - Where to Begin" (3-15-83).

Tom Reynolds contributed "Examining the Rarity Ratings" in fourteen parts 1-15-89 to 7-15-91. Reynolds has kept a record of every half cent and cent in his collection and dealer inventory over the past 20 years and compared his observation of occurrences with the assumed rarities of those pieces.

Jeff Rock submitted "Books on Copper Worth Their Weight in Gold" in two parts 5-15-85 and 7-15-85. It was reprinted in The Asylum, journal for the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

Jim Roecker contributed "Middle Date Die States" in three parts 7-15-91 to 11-15-91.

William H. Sheldon, M.D.. submitted "'The Big Four' of the Old Copper Cents" (3-15-71).

Herb Silberman is a contributing editor of P-W and contributed "Gleanings of the Morristown Mint" (1-15-77).

C. Douglas Smith contributed "How I Got My AU55 Starred Reverse, My MS70 S-217, and Sundry Others of Similar Desirability" (7-15-72). He told the remarkable story of his relationship with a rabbit named "Weirdo."

Pete Smith contributed "Names With Notes" (9-15-90 to 1-15-92). These were short biographies of people important to the study and collection of large cents. The series was later published as a monograph.

William R.T. Smith contributed his irregular column "Cents and Nonsense" where he offered commentary on the market and its abuses.

Colonial coin specialist Gary A. Trudgen wrote "Machin's Mills Halfpence - An Overview" (3-15-85); "Make Your Early American Coppers Come Alive" (5-15-85) and "James Atlee's Halfpence" (11-15-88)

Bill Weber wrote "A Forgotten Half Cent Patron, Commodore W.C. Eaton" (1-15-85).

Howard W. Whitaker, M.D.. offered "The Toxicology of Xylene" (7-15-78) and "On Cleaning Large Cents" (9-15-78).

Raymond H. Williamson wrote "Copper For Early American Cents" (3-15-84).

Thomas P. Wolf submitted "Aluminum Foil Pressings That Really Work" (9-15-70). He described a way to copy coins in foil for reference.

John Wright has contributed his "Ask John" column irregularly since 1-15-81. His "Study of Overdated U.S. Large Cents" in seven parts 1-15-68 to 1-15-69 was reprinted in The Numismatist. He submitted "A Survey of Large Cent Auctions" in seven parts 5-15-71 to 11-15-72; "The Phrygian Cap, The Pileus and the Liberty Cap" (9-15-71). He presented his study of middle date cents year by year 1816-1839 from 1-15-75 thru 5-15-79.