pennies from heaven, Umbrellas up-side down

Pennies from Heaven... I hope I can start by saying that, be it known that this is a accumulation of information I have collected to inspire you this summer sunday. I wanted to research quickly the origins of the penny, using the Internet WIKIPEDIA'S definitions, and references, and finding info and GOOGLE. If you think I wrote all of this--today, I will be happy to put my words in red, so that you know what I claim to know. The phrases we love to say and use, but often forget that are relevant back for hundreds of years. Funny how I keep going back to the 15'th century these days, reformation, and the challenges for "change" in government and religion, not unlike what we are dealing with today; but it remains to be seen as we approach some of my own dates that mark my life. Yes, as I near the September days, I remember the 9th day, and when everyone celebrates the number I will not, but hide in myself, to decide will this be the year I tell my story? I think not yet, for I cannot even talk about it, and the what ifs consume me. But, then I meet those who have such doubt and such concern for peace in their lives, I want nothing more than to console them and make them whole. A story, a gift that is from inside, words free as sunshine and useful if needed for reasons unknown to the listener as of yet. Why should we want to convince anyone of anything, when experience is the only real teacher. If you want to know, just ask, and you will. People are like pennies, we have worked very very hard to create civilization, we think we can create value in a coin. But it is we ourselves that devalues it, by over spending- and one penny that used to represent a value of huge commodity, is not even worth 1/100 of a dollar and doesn't exist in foreign countries. When did we loose our spare change, when did we devalue it? You tell me-- this is part 2. Every-time you see a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck. We used to believe that, now it is just superstition, and so goes the tradition of loving pennies. So goes the need to save them and look at the year they are made, and take a moment to think about how it got to where you found it, and how far it might have traveled to get there. Part :1 Research of the common phrases and origins, (and Brainstorming), waiting for you to comment-here is a few words to chew on, more come. Old English versions of the word penny are penig, pening, penning and pending; the word appears in German as pfennig and in Dutch as penning. These words are thought by some to have been derived from the Germanic word Pfand, meaning "pan" (refering to its shape), or the Dutch word pand and English word "pawn", words which mean "a pledge or token". An equivalent to the penny in ancient times was the Greek drachma. Later came the Roman denarius.[1] When Britain was under Roman rule, most of Britain used the coin-based monetary system that was used by the Roman Empire, but their system of coinage soon changed after the Romans left. As the invading Anglo-Saxons began to settle and establish their own kingdoms, some started to make gold coins based on the old Roman designs or designs copied from the coins used in the Frankish kingdoms. Their monetary system had several serious flaws: First, gold was so valuable, that even the smallest coins were very valuable, thus, these gold coins would only be used in large transactions. Further, gold was very rare, and this rarity prevented such coins from being common enough to use for even large transactions. Between the years 640 and 670 AD, there seems to have been a movement by the Anglo-Saxons to use less pure gold in coins. This made the coins appear paler, decreased their value, and may have increased the number that could be made, but it still didn't solve the problems of value and scarcity of coins made mostly of gold The United States one-cent coin is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. Its symbol is: ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From 1959 (the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth) to 2008, the reverse featured the Lincoln Memorial. 2009 will see several designs to honor Lincoln's 200th birthday, while the coin will be re-designed in 2010. The coin is 0.75 inches (19.05 mm) in diameter and 0.061 inches (1.55 mm) in thickness. The one-cent coin is often called a penny, but the U.S. Mint's official name for this coin is cent. 1793–1857 copper 1857–1864 88% copper, 12% nickel (also known as NS-12) 1864–1942 bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) 1943 zinc-coated steel (also known as steel penny) 1944–1946 brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) 1946–1962 bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) 1962–1982 brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) 1982– present 97.5% zinc core, 2.5% copper plating The isotope composition of early coins spanning the period of 1828 to 1843 cents reflects that of cooper from Cornwall ores from England while coins after 1850 that from the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan ores, a finding consistent with historical records.[1] In 1943, at the peak of World War II, cents of zinc-coated steel were made for a short time due to war demands for copper. A few copper cents from 1943 were produced from the 1942 planchets remaining in the bins. Similarly, some 1944 steel cents have been confirmed. From 1944 through 1946, salvaged ammunition shells made their way into the minting process, and it was not uncommon to see coins featuring streaks of brass or having a considerably darker finish than other issues. 1974 aluminum cent from the Smithsonian During the early 1970s, the price of copper rose to a point where the cent almost contained more than one cent's worth of copper. This led the Mint to test alternate metals, including aluminum and bronze-clad steel. Aluminum was chosen, and over 1.5 million of these cents were struck and ready for public release before ultimately being rejected. The proposed aluminum cents were rejected due to two factors. Vending machine owners complained the coins would cause mechanical problems. Pediatricians and pediatric radiologists pointed out the radiodensity of the metal inside the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts was close to that of soft tissue and therefore would be difficult to detect in a roentgenogram.[2] About a dozen aluminum cents are believed to still be in the hands of collectors, although they are now considered illegal, subject to seizure by the Secret Service.[citation needed] One aluminum cent was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. The cent's composition was changed in 1982 because the value of the copper in the coin started to rise above one cent.[3] Some 1982 cents use the 97.5% zinc composition, while others used the 95% copper composition. The price of copper later returned to profitable levels.[citation needed] Many people can hear the difference between the bronze and copper cents and the newer, zinc cents: simply flip the coin, giving it a good, solid strike. The predominantly copper pennies produce a ringing sound in the 12 kHz range. The zinc coins make a noise that is different.[4] In addition, a full 50-penny roll of pre-1982/3 pennies will weigh 5.4 oz. compared to a post 1982/83 roll which will weigh 4.4 oz. Mintage figures for the Lincoln cent can be found here. Facts from GOOGLED PHRASES: It's in this book that we find the earliest known citation of the line, "A penny for your thoughts." While it's unlikely that Heywood coined the phrase himself (excuse the pun), there's no documentation to tell us how much further back it might go. For all we know, it originated twenty thousand years ago with the caveman equivalent of "bright shiny rock for your thoughts." Even if we take the 1546 publication date of Heywood's tome as the date of origination, it's hard to answer your second question--inflation is based on the difference in cost for like services over time, and quite frankly, there aren't a lot of like services between now and 1546. It's easier to set a price based on the 1906 re-printing of Heywood's proverbs. A 1906 penny would be worth about 18 cents today. We can do better than that, though. In 1521, Heywood received a 10 mark annuity as the king's servant. There are 240 pennies to a mark, so that was a yearly salary of 2,400 pennies. According to Town And Country Resources in the San Francisco Bay Area, the average butler makes between $50,000 and $100,000. Let's assume that being a "king's servant" was the equivalent of being a top butler today (hey, it was the king, after all). That means equating 2400 pennies to $100,000, or approximately $42.67 per penny. Conversely, were one to take a penny and stick it in a bank in 1546 at a measly 2% interest, in 2001 your account would hold $81.86. At a more robust 5% interest? Over $43 million. So next time someone offers a penny for your thoughts, keep in mind that it ain't necessarily chump change. — John Corrado : : "BAD PENNY -- The phrase usually is heard in this country (U.S.) as 'A bad penny always turns up,' meaning that a no-good person can be counted upon to come back again and again. The expression was originally English and the unit of currency referred to was the shilling. Sir Walter Scott, in one of his early nineteenth-century novels, whereto: 'Bring back Darsie? Little doubt of that. The bad shilling is sure enough to come back again.'" From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). : Here's a discussion of "bending" a penny, from www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk. The penny being discussed is one of Aethelred's silver ones: : No-one knows the exact value of an Anglo-Saxon penny, although an earlier tenth-century law code says that you could buy a good racehorse for 120 pennies, a cow for 20 pennies and a sheep for 5 pennies. A silver penny in AD 1000 might buy the same as about £10-£20 today. : The small gouges on the reverse of the coin are known as "peck" marks and were made with a knife to test the purity of the silver. The Anglo-Saxons would have had no need to do this, as the bust of Æthelred on the coin was a royal guarantee of its value: this coin could be exchanged for a penny worth of goods. The Vikings, however, only saw the coin for its silver content and *pecked* or *bent* it to find out how soft, and therefore how pure it was. : So a "bent penny" might be one with softer metal (lead?) within, coated with silver and not nearly as valuable as a pure silver one -- such a penny would make a raiding Viking *most* disgruntled. : On the other hand, bending pennies is often regarded as creating luck. Here's an account (from Sheffield, home of SHU, which hosts this site): On the night of 8th October 1960 the good people of Sheffield turned out in force in the pouring rain to say goodbye to the city's last trams (until supertram came along 30 years later!). On that night many thousands of them put old pennies on the line for the trams to run over and distort to make a unique momento of the occasion. This activity can be seen in many of the photographs taken on that famous night. : If the father bent a penny for his daughter's welfare when he prayed to Mary, perhaps what he did was bend one and then keep it or bury it somewhere -- a form of sacrifice, since the penny would then be useless to him as cash. I believe the 'sacrifice' interpretation is correct in this case. A tree outside one Irish cemetary is encrusted with coins - mostly pennies - that have been hammered to half their diameter into the bark and the protruding part then bent flat against the bark. A prayer is offered for the deceased, and the 'sacrificed' penny is proof of the sincerity of the prayer. The prayer would not be heard if the coin was a 'bad penny PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH - "Overcareful about trivial things and undercareful about important ones. The literal image is of the person who fusses over small amounts of money to such an extent that he misses opportunities to save or make large amounts. But the figurative image goes way back; in 'The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes' (1607) Edward Topsell wrote: 'If by covetousnesse or negligence, one withdraw from them their ordinary foode, he shall be penny wise, and pound foolish.'" From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985). PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS - "What's on your mind? (Usually said to someone who is looking pensive.) The saying is from a time when the British penny was worth a significant sum. In 1522, Sir Thomas More wrote (in 'Four Last Things'): 'It often happeth, that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that.other folk sodainly say to them a peny for your thought.'" From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985). From the OED: "e. pennies from heaven: money acquired without effort or risk; unexpected benefits, esp. financial ones. Also (in sing.): a windfall, a godsend (rare). [1st two citations:] [1928 A. BURSTEIN Ghetto Messenger 91 The gentleman, being cognizant of 'pennies falling from heaven' and other tricks.., appeared to take it seriously.] 1936 J. BURKE (title of song) Pennies from heaven." SS Contrary to the OED's grim view of pennies falling down from the sky, I found several places online which contribute this saying to a positive action done by caring angels. Some even take this expression literally and say that angels did pay them, and more than a visit (see a link below). Also, a poem citing the custom (an excerpt) by Charles Marshburn: "I found a penny today Just laying on the ground. But it's not just a penny, this little coin I've found. Found pennies come from heaven, that's what my Grandpa told me, He said angels toss them down Oh, how I love that story!" (http://www.poofcat.com/inspir36.html). We had a daughter "Miki" who passed at age 10 as the result of being hit by a car. Not too long after that we started finding pennies in most unusual places. One day I had moved all the furniture from the We had a daughter "Miki" who passed at age 10 as the result of being hit by a car. Not too long after that we started finding pennies in most unusual places. One day I had moved all the furniture from the dining area and scrubbed the floor thoroughly to wax it. When it dried and I went to apply the wax, right in the middle was a penny. On bathroom sinks that had been scrubbed, a penny would appear, even on a freshly made bed. I purchased a pink plastic heart bank and with a gold pen I marked it "Pennies From Heaven." It is getting almost full even though we recently moved, the pennies still appear! Just The 3rd of October my husband passed away due to injuries he sustained because two boys were drag racing, one lost control and hit him head on at approximately 100 mph. Maybe I will need to get another bank, and hopefully have to write on it in gold "Nickles from Heaven." Sharon French Got a penny story--please let me know! LOVE--UMBRELLA's UPSIDE DOWN LIZ Thank You From Panda Publishing http://artislifeupgraded.blogspot.com/