Pennies around the world

As I mentioned in my last post, my son Alex is in Europe right now, and before he left, I sent  list of things he had to do while abroad, including throwing a penny into the Trevi Fountain for good luck. Yearly, thousands of American travelers throw pennies into this fountain, as if to say, "I was here and am leaving a little piece of me with you."

This got me thinking about all of the times I have traveled to foreign lands and ended up with a pocket full of coins that never managed to get exchanged back to american currency. If I have change from around the world, then chances are thousands of people that have visited the United States probably have left with some of our change, including pennies. Where pennies are potentially worth a fraction of a cent other places, my guess is that pennies can be found in change jars, scrapbooks, and souvenir boxes across the globe. It is my hope that when these guests stumble across their American change, that it brings a smile to their face to remind them of their time in our country. 

Find a penny...

The 1978 hit movie, Greece, was on last night and I happened to start watching right when the T-Birds are about to race for pink slips. Marty spots a penny and says, "find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck." Well, if you've seen the movie, you know how the rest of the story goes: Marty drops the penny in front of Kenickie, Kenickie hits his head, Danny drives to victory, so maybe the saying is true.

Can pennies really bring good luck? I think that this tradition helps remind us that with positive thinking something as small as a penny can brighten any one's day. It might even bring some added luck.

I was just thinking that a fun social experiment might be to take some pennies and leave them places for others to pick up, that way they can have good luck too. Just take one or two pennies and drop them on the sidewalk in front of a cafe you are having breakfast at, or at the gas station while you are filling your tank. Wait a few minutes and see if anyone picks them up and document their reaction.