coinage. The Continental Congress, on April 21, 1787, just before the Constitutional Convention met, resolved to create a new copper cent.69 On July 6, they selected a design by Benjamin Franklin. On one side it was inscribed “FUGIO. MIND YOUR BUSINESS” with a sun and sundial. Fugio (“I fly”) and the sundial together mean time flies.70 The other side contained a unifying message: thirteen interlocking rings around the perimeter, one for each state, made a chain. Within the chain was a smaller circle with the words “UNITED STATES” circumscribed. Within that circle were the words “WE ARE ONE.”71
