A penny ( plural pence in the United Kingdom and plural pennies in Canada and the United States ) is a coin in several countries where people speak English . This includes United Kingdom , the United States ( where a penny is worth one cent , and Canada , where `` penny '' is an informal term for one cent coins . Thus a coin worth five times as much as one penny is worth five pence , but `` five pennies '' means five coins , each of which is a penny .