"Pennies have been jangling around the bottoms of purses and car floorboards, collected in coffee mugs, glass jugs, and other vessels for generations. What baby boomer or Gen X-er hasn't dug between couch cushions to scrounge up loose change to buy candy, gum, or a soda? That tiny pocket on your jeans was originally designed to hold a pocket watch, but as a teenager in the 80s, it held dimes or quarters for the pay phone, and maybe even a lucky penny or two."
"Inside a box in my closet are three navy blue penny collection books, which my father sent to me after my grandparents died. The books were made by the Whitman Publishing Company in Racine, Wisconsin. The oldest penny in the collection is from 1910, of which 146.8 million were made. Now they are my prized collection. My grandparents collected coins and introduced me to their hobby when I was young."
Pennies appear in everyday places like cafe coin dishes, pockets, purses, and car floorboards, and they carry nostalgic associations with childhood and small purchases. Three navy blue Whitman penny-collection books were preserved after grandparents died, and the collection includes a 1910 penny (146.8 million minted). Generational coin-collecting taught observance, prompting careful year checks and rolling pennies into brown paper sleeves—twenty-five per sleeve, with every fourth sleeve equaling a dollar. Jeans pockets once meant for pocket watches later held coins for pay phones. Familial habits now collide with modern indifference, and the planned final minting of the penny in 2025 signals an end to this small-change era.
Read at Business Insider
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