One of the habits that our youngest, Nighean Dhonn, acquired from an early age was the collection of pressed pennies. For those that may not be aware, a pressed penny (also known as an elongated penny or smashed penny) is a penny which is placed into a machine, run through a series of gears and presses, converted into a souvenir of a particular location. I cannot quite remember when she first started collecting them, but over the years she has gotten them at many places that we have visited - or, others have gotten them for her.
Somewhat to my surprise, these have a much longer history that I would have anticipated, first appearing in 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL.
As a reliable father, I have taken to carrying to makings of an elongated penny - a penny and two to four quarters - on my person just in case, because you never know. That emergency stash was used in her recent visit to New Home 2.0 (Two points to the home team).
Thus it was with a bit of trepidation that I heard, earlier this year, that pennies are being discontinued.
As a potential gift, I suggested to The Ravishing Mrs. TB that she get a roll of pennies to give Nighean Dhonn for Christmas (along with a roll of quarters). She went to the bank - and got the last roll they had. Apparently, they can no longer order pennies. They will only have them if someone turns them in.
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It is hard for me to imagine a world without pennies.
Yes, of course I understand that a penny now is not what a penny was when I was young. But pennies were the sort of ubiquitous coin that always seemed to be present. The idea of finding a "lucky penny" buoyed my spirits up more than once as I crossed a parking lot or found one in a store (it still does, honestly).
Pennies, for me, served as a gauge of how much things had increased in cost since "the old days": how many times did I read of the late 19th or early 20th century where a penny would buy any number of things. It served as a tangible link to finance of the past.
And now, it appears, it will in turn become a thing of the past.
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Like most coins, they will not immediately disappear. They will still be roaming in the population. For now, people will still use them. And then stores will stop price things in such a way that they have to use pennies (this is going to be an issue for sales tax, of course). And slowly they will slip out of circulation, into the hands of those that use them for other things or collect them, because they will have no use as currency.
I suppose it is ridiculous to get sentimental about the loss of use of a coin - after all, it is not like I use cash all that much anymore. Perhaps my sentimentality derives from the fact that another thing which figured so much into my past and my understanding of the world is slowly slipping away out of use.
It does sadden me a bit that younger generations will not get the thrill of randomly found penny on the ground. But - sadly - perhaps we now live in a world beyond such simple pleasures.
Or at least, most of us. I will still continue to look for them and be filled with joy when I find one.
My kids have a bowl of pressed Pennie’s as well and I’ve made more than one trip back to the car to obtain the correct mix of Pennie’s and quarters for a souvenir. I likely have a lifetime supply of Pennie’s at home in a large glass jug but will have to remember to take a few along with me when we go on vacation, at least until the pressing machines disappear.
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