Change

When I was young, my parents had an antique beer stein that sat on the fireplace mantle. At one time it had a pewter lid but that had broken off years before. Instead of holding beer it held pennies. Whenever a penny was found it would be deposited in the stein. Every once in a while the stein would come off the mantle and my brother and I would count out the pennies with help from a parent. First they would be counted into stacks of five and arranged in rows of ten. Each row was then carefully inserted into a paper penny wrapper and set aside. After counting and adding up the bounty, brother and I would be awarded a roll each. Back then a bottle of pop was 25 cents, an ice cream bar was 10 cents and penny candy was - well, a penny. Wow!

That was how I first learned the value of saving change. Starting with pennies, I moved on to the larger coins. Every night I would empty all my change into a piggy bank and start each new day with only bills to spend. My husband also emptied his pockets onto a tray each night. From time-to-time we would count our change, roll it in paper wrappers and store it in a metal ammo box. Once it was so full it was almost too heavy to carry. I would haul it to the bank. There it would be turned into bills or deposited into my account. Often there was several hundred dollars in the ammo box. I have paid private school tuition for my daughter, taxes and time payments from this change. One time, I put more then $800 down on a camper from pennies, dimes, quarters and nickels I had saved.

Another use for the change came when gambling was first introduced in Atlantic City, New Jersey. My husband and I would buy a bus ticket for one of the casinos and take a $100 each to spend a night gambling. On occasion, we would come out ahead, but we usually broke even or only lost a few dollars. Not bad considering we were only using pocket change.

Whenever, I see change on the ground I stop and pick it up. There is a saying, “pennies from heaven” meaning a loved one who has passed away is up there looking after you. Likewise, there is a saying that when you find a dime it is a sign an angel is looking after you (think Clarence in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”). I truly believe in both those sayings and always look up and say, “Thank you.” Whether they are true or it just puts positive thoughts into my head, they seem to work. See a penny, pick it up. The rest the day, you’ll have good luck.