Columnists

A trip down penny lane 

Pennies, those thin copper disks at the lower end of our monetary scale, seem to sift through our fingers.  

We spend them effortlessly, give them to children without a second thought, toss them into a container on the bureau top, and pass them by on the pavement.  

Pennies jingle with the other coins in pockets of men’s trousers and find their way to the bottom of women’s pocketbooks. Yet they are held securely, as a treasure, in the small, sweaty hands of young children.  

Occasionally we look at them with interest, especially if they appear to be old. We sometimes show them to a companion if the back depicts stalks of wheat, or if there is unusual mint-mark below the date.  

Some people spend the pennies they receive as change, while others would prefer to ignore them. No matter how you look at them, 100 pennies still make a dollar.  

What can you buy with a single penny? Very little. If you’re lucky, you might find a gumball machine that hasn’t raised its price, but most now charge .05 or .10 cents.  

From time to time there is talk about discontinuing the minting of pennies, but it hasn’t been done. Somehow, I think the American people would object to such a plan.  

Each Sunday morning, when I was 3 or 4, I would ask for my penny allowance. My dad would be buying the Sunday Boston Globe after church, at Kelly’s Rexall Pharmacy, where the red gumball machine stood by the door.  

With penny in hand, I would approach the machine, which showed its rainbow-colored treats through the glass. Cautiously, I would slide the penny into the slot, but before turning the handle, I would position my hand beneath the little door, lest the gumball escape and become spoiled on the muddy floor. The few hours of chewing enjoyment to follow made this a well-invested penny.  

In more recent years, my uncle, who would regularly exercise on the local track, would pick up the various dropped items he came upon. From time to time, he would inventory them, and invariably the quantity of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters found would be in direct proportion to each coin’s value. The pennies in his collection far outnumbered the other coins. Is this because more pennies are given as change than other coins, or because people are less likely to stoop down to retrieve a mere cent? Probably both.  

Though it is just a utilitarian little coin, we might pause to consider its past. Long gone are the days of the penny postcard and the penny postage stamp. And even further removed are the days of the nursery rhyme, “one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.” 

But if we seek wise words to live by, as the pennies slip through our fingers, we might try to heed a familiar, well-worn axiom: A penny saved is a penny earned.  

Ann can be reached at [email protected].