Coins!

I rang the cash register during my senior high school and college years for High-Low Foods and A&P Foods in Chicago. I collected a few special coins over the years and I was always fascinated by rare coins. I held on to some really old quarters and dimes until I lost them in a storage bin as I moved around.

I have also seen and handled $2 bills, $3 bills and silver dollars. I remember the Ben Franklin silver dollar and the Eisenhower silver dollar when they were in circulation. I also remember the JFK half-dollar. The one thing that I recall is that when cashing one, I had to make sure that the recipient understood that the coin was not a quarter worth 25 cents; but worth 100 cents or 50 cents, respectively. That was the one drawback when dealing with those special coins.

And this brings me to the recent conversations about getting rid of the penny. Wow! There is so much to unpack there. At least for me. Perhaps that is why many retailers are asking customers to round up as they pay for purchases, to eliminate the whole need to make change.

Incidentally, when I rang the register in high school and college, we did not have cash registers that told us how much change to give back to the customer. We had to do our own math, and if we made a mistake and our cash drawer came up short, it came out of our weekly pay. So, yes, I can count quite well, thank you.

Back to the poor penny. With no penny around, what will we do with all the witty sayings like: ‘A penny saved is a penny earned?’ Or, the saying that something ‘may cost a pretty penny’- which means that it is expensive. Another one states, ‘that’s when the penny dropped,’ which is comparable to having an aha moment. Lastly, there is this one. ‘A bad penny always turns up twice.’ Go figure.

In 2000, I briefly worked in an office in Manhattan in NYC as a temp worker. Each time I caught the subway and made change, the machine gave me a host of special coins. They were the bronze dollar coin with Sacajewea and her child on the front. Every time the dispenser rained down the dollar coins, I felt as if I was opening a pirate’s chest of gold. For some reason, the Sacajewea coins did not stay in circulation for long, but I managed to hold on to a couple of them. Perhaps, they will be of great value one day. 

With the beloved penny about to make its exit, it might be smart to hold on to those pennies in the piggy bank or coin jar. In a few years, they will be cherished keepsakes and even conversation pieces for the young people coming along. Imagine. They won’t even know what a penny is. That’s amazing!

Lynn M.
June 7, 2025