Happy National Lucky Penny Day, Boise!
Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck!
Happy National Lucky Penny Day! That’s right—if you didn’t know, today’s the day the bronze-colored one-cent coins are said to have an especially magical effect on people who find ‘em or flip ‘em. Whether you’re superstitious or just a wee bit ‘stitious, heads or tails, it’s said not to matter.
You’re gettin’ lucky, friend. And what that really entails is entirely not our business.
In honor of the luckiest day of the year, we pulled together a short series of fast facts on the coin of the day. We also saved the best for last with Randy Miller’s legendary Penny Wall in Mountain Home!
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN || Penny's Pops
Issued and produced in a private mint in 1787, the penny was reportedly designed by good ole Ben Franklin. Larger than the penny we know today, early pennies were also copper through and through.
According to the History Channel, Franklin’s original penny known as the Fugio cent was nothing like today’s. One side featured “Mind Your Business” above a sundial, while the opposite featured “We Are One”���a nod to the original 13 colonies.
Having coined the phrase, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” tourists who visit Franklin’s final resting place frequently leave pennies on his gravestone.
Photo by || Deseret News
THE BRITS || Six Pence None the Richer
It was approximately 790 A.D. when the penny made its English debut under the rule of Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king’s rule. Fashioned from silver back then, today’s English penny known as a “pence,” is made of copper-plated steel.
Photo by || The Royal Mint
ABRAHAM LINCOLN || Honest Abe’s Copper-Cast Mugshot
It was 1909 when Teddy Roosevelt issued the Lincoln cent in honor of Honest Abe’s 100th birth year anniversary. Abe’s image featured on a coin was the first of its kind. Later in 1959, the U.S. Mint added the Lincoln Memorial to the cast.
WWII || Desperate Times & Rationing Measures
Due to the copper demanded by the war effort’s weapons production, the U.S. Mint cast the 1943 penny in zinc-coated steel. Unfortunately, the coin’s new outfit was rust-prone and quickly deteriorated, but most contend it was for a noble cause.
RANDY MILLER || The Penny Wall of Mountain Home
According to Roadside America, Miller spent two years creating his famed penny mural. Completed in 2012, the 300 square foot mural has more than 400 pounds of [mostly] pennies artfully glued to it. Featured below the piece is the Wishing Wall—an area of the mural where patrons can add pennies of their own.
Video by || Randy Miller via YouTube
Penny Wall Mountain Home Idaho, 2012
The Idaho Profession That We All Agree Could Use A Massive Raise
Gallery Credit: Chris Cardenas
2022 Spring & Summer Idaho Estate Sales
Gallery Credit: Ryan
We Actually Found 5 Houses in Boise For Under $100K
Gallery Credit: Chris Cardenas
8 Fantastically Fresh & Locally-Sourced Boise Produce Stands
Gallery Credit: Ryan Valenzuela
More From Mix 106
