In Memory of the Penny

Yesterday,  November 12, 2025 was a very special day for me. First of all, it was our 31st wedding anniversary! It's really hard to believe how quickly time has flown by. 

And, the last penny was minted in Philadelphia yesterday too. Wow do I feel old! 

Pennies were much a part of my childhood. I remember penny candy. It was at the bottom of the candy aisle in places like 7-11. The little bins filled with Bazooka gum and Tootsie Rolls were such a treat after school. You felt like a queen buying handfuls of sweets in such great variety.

Another memory of pennies is sorting through them looking for wheat pennies. I think at the time they were worth 2 cents, and we felt rich if we had a handful of them, even if we never turned them in anywhere.

I also remember playing an ice-breaker game with pennies at a church small group. A bunch of pennies were placed on the table and we each grabbed one. We checked the year that was stamped on it and told what we were doing that year. I suppose you could do it with

And how about those old machines that were frequently seen at tourist attractions, the ones where, for a quarter and a penny have your penny pressed into an oval disc that portrayed an image of the place? So fun!

So today I stamped a label and adhered it to a Dollar Tree jar. It's my goal to fill it with pennies just for the memories. I only have four in there, but the oldest one is from 1974. It's been in circulation for over 50 years! I love to think of all the places it's been and the things it's paid for. And when my small jar is full, that will be it. The memories, even if unknown, will be in a sort of resting place. As with everything, life changes, but I'm glad to have a little memorial to something that I was blessed to have a part of in my life.