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Truth in Advertising: A Novel
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Flight Behavior: A Novel
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The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
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Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients
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Home Vegetable Gardening
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Classic Zester
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Hand Blender
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Blade for 5-Quart KitchenAid Mixers
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Seedling Heat Mat
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Grow Light System
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The History of US: A Novel
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The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink
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A Prayer for Owen Meany
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Edible Selby
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Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect and Inhumane Treament..
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Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of
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Meatless: More Than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes
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Jumbo Spoon Rest
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A {Painted} Penny For Your Thoughts
Beginning early next year, pennies will no longer be manufactured in Canada, ending over 150 years of production by the Canadian Mint. The poor penny has been deemed “unnecessary” to the Canadian economy and the one-cent tender will become a thing of the past.
Reaction to the news is mixed. Economists are thrilled, since it will save Canada nearly $10-million a year in production costs. Retailers are not so happy, since it means having to reprogram cash registers and reprint price tags to balance sums of change that will no longer use pennies.
But what about the nostalgists among us: the penny collectors, the wishing-well traditionalists, the “lucky penny” enthusiasts? What will become of us? What will we do with our array of tiny copper disks?
The options, it seems, are many.
Creative and inventive artists have used pennies to coat floors, to decorate walls, create murals and make sculptures and I’m quite sure that as pennies become less and less prominent on the economic scene the fascination with them will only increase.
Some, like artist Jacqueline Lou-Skaggs, have used pennies as tiny canvases, painting little portraits and landscapes on the 1.43 millimeter surface. Below are five images of her beautiful creations.
So, would you miss the penny if it disappeared from your wallet, or would it be a blessing? A penny for your thoughts…
All artwork by Jacqueline Lou-Skaggs
Andrew Ritchie is the creator of Martha Moments, a blog devoted to Martha-Stewart related content and her community of supporters. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada, and has been a longtime friend of Brent & Josh, Beekman 1802 and Sharon Springs. Each week he’ll scour the world (wide web) to find the 5 most beautiful things to inspire you. Follow Andrew on Pinterest.
Such eyesight. The little girl almost looks like a photograph. Never able to be bored with life with these capable, inventive folks making the days shine. Love it. Pennies, and missing them, sort of opposed to one more thing of our history being removed for one reason or another. So easy to throw things away now and a trifle sad. If history goes, we know nothing to learn from. They can be cumbersome, but still and all, would like to see them stay.
I would miss them too! I like the copper… and I like looking at Abe Lincoln! I wonder if the artist could make the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the penny look like the Beekman mansion? I bet she could!
I would miss the penny…for me they have many uses. I have four antique copper and brass fire extinguishers filled with them that are used for speaker stands. They provide excellent weight to combat low frequency vibrations. Also a huge ceramic cat penny bank that weighs in around 40 lbs. sits on a lower lamp table shelf, stabilizing it for the protection of the stained glass lamp above. At the age of five, ( 60 now ), an uncle introduced me to the coin collecting hobby. So as a nearly life long numismatist, I have a sort of intimate relationship with them. One of my favorite taverns has dedicated an entire bar top entombing them in acrylic. In recent years the vinyl record has made a come back among certain collectors and nostalgia groups. Without the lowly penny and some scotch tape how will we keep our records from skipping on cheaper vintage turntables? ( I just felt all record collectors cringe at the thought of the penny taped to the tone arm. I mention it only as a ancient customary use in defense of the cent.) And as you have just shown us they’re a wonderful source of artistic inspiration. I for one would mourn the penny’s demise.
Ken, thank you for sharing your insights and anecdotes. I’m with you. I’m sure I’ll miss the Canadian penny once it slips into oblivion. Thankfully, I too have quite a collection: a big flower pot filled with them. I’ll keep them for posterity.