The penny has been pronounced dead. Well, actually, there’s plenty of them still rolling around, but rumor has it that their production has stopped. Some say that the last one was minted on Nov. 12. This marks the end of an era that has lasted 233 years, dating back to 1792. I can hardly imagine life without pennies. We will be forced to come up with a whole new set of sayings and cliches. May I offer “A penny for your thoughts” on the matter, or maybe you would just like to “Add your own 2 cents.”
They say the time will come when instead of paying with pennies, merchants will simply round up or down to the next nickel. I sure am glad that wasn’t the way they did it when I was a kid. How would we have paid for our penny candies? Five pennies back in those days would buy us a fully-grown Milky Way bar. Does that mean those would now cost us an entire quarter after rounding up? Hold on, wait just one minute, those already cost more than a quarter now. I’m getting a headache…I think we’ve created a mess here. If we go broke, we won’t be able to say, “I’m penniless,” because, eventually, everybody will be…penniless, that is. I guess we’ll have to say, “I’m nickel-less,” but, who’s to say the nickel won’t be next on the chopping block?
Does anyone still wear penny loafers? I think the coin slots are too small to bump up to a nickel, so I guess you’ll have to put in dimes. This makes me glad I don’t have a pair anymore (loafers, not pennies), because 20 cents may be too much money to waste on shoe adornment.
I’m not sure when it may happen, but I suppose one day we will not be able to offer someone a penny for their thoughts. Obviously, this will eventually happen, because we won’t have any more pennies to offer. Like everything else in this inflationary age, I guess we will have to offer a nickel for someone’s thoughts. Since they tell us it costs close to 4 cents to make a penny, we might be just as well off to offer a nickel!
Before we go into a blind panic, let me “add my own 2 cents worth” on the subject. It will take us a quite some time to use up the billions of dollars in pennies that are currently in circulation. That’s not to mention those under our seat cushions, under the car floor mat, or that 5-gallon water jug filled with pennies in your closet. I know, you are saving them for a rainy day or for your next beach vacation. Honestly, who is going to count out and roll all those pennies for you? Besides that, there’s probably only enough in there to get you halfway to Gulf Shores or Orange Beach.
One of these days, we may not have a penny to our name, or 2 cents to rub together. If that happens, just remember the old rhyme that says, “Winter is coming, the goose is getting fat – please put a nickel in the old man’s hat – If you haven’t got a nickel, then a penny will do – and if you haven’t got a penny, then God bless you!”
The next time I see a penny on the sidewalk, I’m going to stop and pick it up. I don’t believe they are lucky, and I don’t believe pennies rain down from Heaven, but I do believe in Heaven and that we won’t even need pennies there.
Bill King can be reached at bkpreach@yahoo.com or 334-728-5514 (office).
