Pennies

“The love we give away is the only love we keep” Elbert Hubbard

I bought a old penny from Ireland for a friend, it was dated 1896 which being a math dunce took me 5 or was it 8 minutes to work, out eventually I worked it out as 117 years old.

It was a bit worn, it’s edges looking less than round and it was very brown. The dates and figures were hard to read too, this was a very old penny.

I didn’t cost much but I wanted to buy it for him, not because it was he collects pennies, but because of some reason I couldn’t quite explain at the time.

Thinking now I am back home why I bought it has made me think about old pennies and what they represent (yes I do think too much), pennies that are out of circulation with no discernible value. But I do think they have value. And this is why…

This old penny has sat in hands and pockets of so so many people all different. Men have brought this home and put it on the mantelpiece or kitchen for their wives, who would have bought food, clothes, paid bills and made a home for their family. People would have paid for homes with this old penny, they may have spent on healthcare. Paid to be with loved ones especially in Ireland, where you had to pay the Match Maker and then the priest if you wanted to get married. Lovers and friends will have bought gifts and treasures for each other with this little penny. Tickets to other countries like England and USA. Yes this little dirty penny has many memories attached to it and has played it’s part in securing a whole lot of futures.

Money is like that it plays its part, but it’s only valuable if it buys something that people value. By itself this is just a piece of bronze, unless it is exchanged and given away it really has no value at all.

For this reason I wanted that penny, just like life we have got to decide what is valuable and what we are willing to pay the price for. And just like my penny it is only when we exchange does it bring real value.

Now this little penny is out of circulation and lost its retail value but all the memories remain, even if the penny can’t tell the story itself. in our society we tend to treat our old people like these old pennies. And just like those old pennies they have met many people and have lots of memories, and unfortunately society sometimes treats them like they have lost their value. We don’t always see the true value of those older in our world.

Either way maybe my friend may not understand why he is getting a old penny, but I know he will understand the importance of memories. And I know the only way to give this old penny it’s true value is to give it to him and hope he it reminds him to make great memories while he is in circulation, just like this old penny….