National Lucky Penny Day is observed each year on May 23rd..
See a penny, pick it up… All day long you’ll have good luck.
When you are out and about, look on the ground for pennies. It just might be your lucky day!
Years ago a penny was able to buy something. (Check out National Taffy Day – to see what we used to get for a penny.) Today, due to inflation, the penny does not buy much of anything. The metal value and cost of minting pennies exceed their face value. Many nations have stopped minting equivalent value coins and efforts are being made to end the routine use of pennies in several countries including the United States.
- 1793 – The first pennies in the United States are minted. They were made of copper.
- Back in old-times, this coin actually had buying power, especially in the candy store. All those “penny candies” we see now selling for a quarter once were really only a penny apiece
- As inflation continues to devalue its worth, some countries are campaigning to end the use of pennies altogether
- Search for pennies everywhere you roam on this day – if you see one heads-side-up, pick it up; according to legend, these are the ones that are the luckiest finds.
- If you’re looking for a little extra push towards a special dream you have, toss a penny over your left shoulder into a wishing well. According to legend, it will make your dream come true.
- Carry a penny minted in your birth year for an extra boost of good fortune.
- Placing a penny in your shoe can also bring good things your way.
- The U.S. Mint produces more than 13 billion pennies each year, although the official name is the “cent” not penny. Nearly 70% of all coins minted in the U.S. are pennies, and it costs 1.67 cents to make a penny.
- The average penny lasts 25 years. So anything older than 1992 is “above average”!
- An estimated 130 billion pennies are currently in circulation.
- Today’s penny was modelled on the ancient Roman denarius. When the Ancient Romans invaded the part of Europe known today as England, they brought their monetary system with them. Even when the Romans departed the region several hundred years later, the idea remained, and later English coins were made to be similar to those used by the ancient Romans.
- The penny was officially introduced into England in 757 A.D., and they traveled to America with the first settlers.
- Pennies were the first U.S. coin to feature a historical figure… Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln penny was introduced in 1909.
- The reverse side of pennies have changed over the years.
- “Wheat” back pennies were made from 1909 to 1958.
- 1959 to 2008 pennies have the Lincoln Memorial, introduced the year of Lincoln’s 150th birthday.
- To commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln penny, 2009 pennies have four different backs depicting scenes from Lincoln’s life.
- Pennies from 2010 to present day have a shield, representing the Union shield and Lincoln holding the country together.
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