Pennies for My Thoughts or My Thoughts on Pennies

Penny Jar

I think there are two kinds of people: people who pick up discarded pennies and those who ignore them. I’m a penny collector and I have the jars around the house to prove it. And the jars do not even contain all the pennies. There are pennies in little dishes and on tables and in the car and in pockets of almost every jacket. And what are my plans for these pennies? Beats me. It’s a habit I inherited from my father; he always picked up change and somehow I don’t want to give up the habit because I would be giving up some piece of him.

Certainly it is not because of the money I make. When I was a child I would walk to the penny candy store (a couple of miles) and whatever I picked up along the way was what I could spend. But that was a long time ago. What do they buy now? I will admit that I have rolled some and brought them to the bank, but it is definitely a “round-to-it” task. It seems pointless with interest rates as low as they are. Another thought I had is that I would try to collect a penny dated for every year of my life. And do what with them?

A year ago my husband found this article. I certainly did not know there was such a thing as a penny hoarder! But I wouldn’t say I am one; the man referenced in the article has WAY beyond my meager amount of pennies. I did learn something though — that pennies before 1982 have more copper in them and are worth more than newer pennies. So what do I do with that knowledge? Now I have another “round-to-it” task: to go through the pennies and separate them. I put aside another big wine bottle for the process.

Big Penny Jar

And how far have I gotten with that task? Hmmph.

But I’ll keep picking them up; I can’t help myself. It’s just been ingrained in me for too long. It’s free money after all.