Find a Penny...

A close-up of "Lucky Bucky" 6/29/18 dwm

 Find a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.

 That's a popular phrase and on National Lucky Penny Day it seems like a good way to start a blog about a coin that is considered both worthless and invaluable at the same time!

 Pennies were minted for the first time in 757 but they are thought to be inspired by the Roman denarius which dates back to Biblical times.

 In terms of actual value, a penny won't even purchase 'penny candy.'  However, if there were no more pennies, how would we participate in leaving or taking a penny? 

11,759 pennies covered Bucky.

May 23rd is always National Lucky Penny day (not sure why), but if you are still using cash on occasion to pay for items, there will be a time you either fish one out of your pocket or purse or accept the clerk grabbing one from the take/leave a penny cup.

I'm one of those guys (surprise!) that likes giving clerks the correct coinage so I either don't get back coins or don't receive pennies with the change.  When I pay $1.05 for a $1.04 purchase, I usually leave my penny for the next person because someone before me has usually left a couple for me.

Coins were in short supply during Covid so stores frequently asked customers to pay with coins.  I did that for weeks, walking in with 83 pennies to pay for my refilled soft drink cup (most of the time clerks didn't bother to count).

Do you have a penny jar on your nightstand or dresser?  Fill up the jar then take it the bank or one of those machines that will cash them out for you.  For my money, the best collection of the one cent coin was Lucky Bucky when he was on display during the Bucky parade back in 2018.

9 pennies are tail-side up.  6/29/2018 dwm

 All photos by David Mossner, 6/29/2018