red cent noun the lowest value denomination, hence the least amount possible US,1839 A copper cent, thus “red”.
I wouldn’t give you a red cent for all your rules[.] — MrSmithGoesto Washington, 1939
He bragged that he’d never give her “one red cent” and warned the merchants in town not to help her by giving her credit. — Mirian Harris, Rape,Incest,Battery, p. 131, 2000