Photo Credit: Maura Teague via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
May 23rd is Lucky Penny Day – a day for people around the world to appreciate the good luck of the penny.
Finding a penny is considered lucky. We all know the saying “See a penny pick it up, all day long have good luck.”
But this simple cent symbolizes more than just good luck.
Superstitions and Symbolism of the Penny
• A penny represents good luck. Angels or good spirits will send a penny to anyone who needs good luck.
• A penny represents new beginnings, the start of a new chapter, and a fresh start.
• Finding a penny is a sign that prosperity and wealth is coming.
• It is a sign of comfort when you have lost a loved one. Finding a penny is an assurance that you are not alone.
• Finding a penny is a reassurance that you are on the right path career-wise.
• You will receive the support you need in life.
• A penny represents that you will receive all of your heart desires.
• Finding a penny can also mean that you should help someone who is in need of assistance.
• A penny is a sign to not give up and to never accept defeat.
• Tossing a penny . . .
. . . overboard while on a boat or ship guarantees a safe trip.
. . . if you have a problem and fate will take care of the problem for you.
. . . into a well or a fountain while making a wish and the wish will come true.
Photo Credit: Vladimer Shioshvili via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Place a penny in a crib so the baby grows up healthy, wealthy, and wise.
• Carry three pennies for good luck.
• Put a penny in your shoe for good fortune and prosperity.
A Little Bit of Penny History
• 720 A.D. – The silver penny is minted in Kent
• 757 A.D. – The first pennies are minted during the reign of King Offa of Mercia in Anglo-Saxon England
• 1793 – The first pennies are minted in America
• 1857 – The Flying Eagle penny was created when pennies are resized and minted into smaller dimensions
• 1859 – The Indian Head penny replaces the Flying Eagle penny
Photo Credit: Jody Davis via Pixabay
• 1909 – The Lincoln penny replaces the Indian Head cent (It was the first American coin to show the portrait of a historical person, and is often referred to as a Wheat Penny due to the wheat design on the back)
• 1943 – The Lincoln Steel Cent was produced due to the need for copper to make munitions during WWII
• 1959 – The Lincoln Memorial Cent was created to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth
Some of the most valuable pennies
• 1792 Birch Cent – About $2.6 Million
• 1943 Bronze Lincoln Penny – About $1.7 Million
• 1793 Strawberry Leaf Cent – About $863,000
• 1793 Liberty Cap Wreath Cent – About $391,000
• 1856 Flying Eagle Cent – About $173,000
Photo Credit: Public Domain
• 1944 Steel Lincoln Penny – About $375,000
• 1958 Double Die Lincoln Penny – About $336,000
• 1909 VDB Proof Lincoln Penny – About $269,000
• 1864 Indian Head Penny With L – About $161,000
• 1914-D Lincoln Penny – About $159,000
How to Celebrate Lucky Penny Day
One of the easiest ways to celebrate Lucky Penny Day is to search for pennies wherever you go. (“Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck). But who has time to walk around all day with their head down?
• Make a little hide-and-seek game by hiding pennies around the house and having everyone search for them. (Great activity for young children).
• Feeling crafty? Turn pennies into works of art. Glue them to picture frames, vases, coasters – whatever you have in mind!
• Bake a batch of lucky pennies cookies.
• Play “Stack the Pennies.” All you need is a bunch of pennies (25 or so per player is good) and a timer. Whoever stacks the most in one minute wins.
Pennies and Your Wedding
It’s unlikely that you will be getting married on Lucky Penny Day this year, as it falls on a Monday, but you can still celebrate with pennies.
Did you ever hear of putting a penny in your shoe for good luck on your wedding day?
Photo Credit: vallgall via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It comes from the saying “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” but the saying doesn’t end there. The last part of this rhyme is “a lucky sixpence for your shoe.” The sixpence is an English coin, and the tradition which associates it with weddings started during the reign of Elizabeth I.
At that time, the Lord of the Manor where the bride lived would give her a sixpence as a wedding gift. Toward the end of the 17th century, parents of the bride gave the groom a sixpence as dowry. Eventually the coin became thought of as a lucky charm which brought wealth and happiness to the married couple.
The tradition of the bride’s father placing a sixpence coin in his daughter’s left shoe on her wedding day dates back to the Victorian era. It is said to guarantee the newlywed couple a lifetime of health, happiness, wealth, and wedded bliss.
Instead of using a sixpence, many brides instead will use a penny with her birth year, the year of her wedding or any other special date. However, any coin that holds special meaning will do.
The custom of giving the sixpence as a lucky coin continues today.
Other Ways To Celebrate With Pennies
Carry a lucky penny in your bouquet or boutonniere
Get a penny minted in the year of your wedding and drill two small holes in it. Thread a small ribbon or heavy thread through the holes, then tie it into your bouquet or boutonniere.
Have a Lucky Penny Wishing Well
1. Get several pennies (one for each person attending your wedding) minted the year of your wedding. (You should be able to get these at your local bank).
2. Have someone pass out a penny to each guest as they arrive to your wedding ceremony, and instruct them to hold onto it during the ceremony.
3. During the Unity Ceremony, or other specified time, the couple will place a penny into a special Lucky Penny receptacle. The receptacle is then placed in the back of the ceremony venue near the exit.
4. After the conclusion of the ceremony, as guests are exiting, they are instructed to make a wish on their pennies for the newly-wed couple and deposit them into the receptacle.
Decorate vases or votive holders
Hot glue some pennies around the rim of a votive holder or the middle of a vase (glue several rows, depending on how thick you want it to be).
Although there is not be much monetary value to a penny these days, as you can see, there is more than meets the eye for this tiny piece of metal.
Hearts, Joy, Love!
Jean
Looking for fun ideas, or need help with your wedding plans? Contact me today at [email protected] or by phone or text at 937-581-3647!
