Penny for your Thoughts?

Google flashed up the neon penny as one of their quirky images. I clicked on it out of curiosity only to discover that they were commemorating the "death of the penny." Tomorrow is the last day of the penny and it is to be phased out of our currency. The thing is, can they phase it out of our language? I can't imagine the world without that belittled wee coin. It might not stick to the magnets, nor be of much value commercially, but it seems to be entrenched in our culture.

Can you imagine saying "a loonie for your thoughts?" Wouldn't that imply that you were crazy? If you want to know what someone is thinking then you offer a penny for them. This is a link to the past when a penny was worth something. Now, most of  my thoughts are probably too random for people to wonder about in the first place but, I like the old fashioned coin of the phrase. I also love some of the literature that comes with the penny. Like this one:

Pennies from Heaven

Submitted by: Beverly Faith

Author: Copyright © 1998 C Mashburn

I found a penny today
Just laying on the ground.
But it's not just a penny
This little coin I've found.

Found pennies come from heaven
that's what my Grandpa told me.
He said Angels tossed them down
Oh, how I loved that story!

He said when an Angel misses you
They toss a penny down,
sometimes just to cheer you up
To make a smile out of your frown.

So don't pass by that penny
When you're feeling blue.
It may be a penny from heaven
That an Angel's tossed to you.

How can you lose your lucky penny? Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you will have good luck. I learned that as a child and have been superstitious about it ever since. I even point out lucky pennies to the kids so that they can pick them up. Luck is not housed in nickles, dimes and quarters. They are the wrong color and the wrong weight. Since the olympics, Canadians like their lucky loonies too. But that reverts back to the humor that is intrisic to our culture. Oh Canadians have a culture, but it is hard to define to those outside of it. Those of us that like our history like our pennies too.

Pennies have always been fun to collect. Parents used to give a penny for candies, and would let you collect pennies in the lamp for a rainy day. There have been special pennies for interesting events - my favorite was always the centennial penny. It was always a challenge to find the oldest penny in the jar. Pennies have been used for gambling and to play games. They have always been residing from the pick a penny leave a penny jars. And what about the wishing wells? Pennies have always had a place in making wishes come true.

Brown Penny

I WHISPERED, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

William Butler Yeats

 

Pennies - I will miss you.