"I was born in Denver, 1969. I'm about 32 years old now," says this penny.

I was in storage at the mint for 6 years then finally I was shipped off to a bank in Texas. I stayed there for 4 years and 7 months. I was being creamed at chess by a nickel, when a nice lady came to the bank. She wanted to withdraw 2 dollars in pennies in order to play tiddlywinks. Luckily I was one of those pennies! She put me and my fellow pennies in her purse and strolled out of the bank.

On her way back to wherever she was going, she stopped to get gas. She filled up her tank and then she opened up her purse to pay and some pennies and I fell out of her purse! The other pennies landed straight and didn't go anywhere but I rolled right under her car! She picked up all the other pennies, got in her car and drove off! I was alone for about 2 months until one car pulled up right in front of me, and little boy came out of the car and picked me up and put me in his pocket. Then he and his mother got in the car. The next time he got out of the car, we were outside a library. The little boy ran to a fountain nearby. Then he took me out of his pocket, and threw me into the fountain! I was there for 12 years and 3 months. So here I was 23 years old and I ruled the fountain pennies with a copper fist. I was making a peace treaty with the dime governor when all of a sudden, a hand trapped me and brought me out of the water! It was a very evil looking man with very shiny eyes and a tatoo of an eye on his ankle. Yes I was penninapped by Count Olaf! He put me in his wallet and went to the grocery store. "That'll be $2.01 for the instant broccoli chowder" said the checker at the store and I was on the counter before you could say ‘Gettysburg Address’.

Then I was picked up off of the counter, and put into a cash register. For one year I was in that cash register until one day . . . or night, I wasn't sure at that time . . . I heard, "Thal be fifeen dollrs an four cens for du space foo." I'd gotten used to the muffled voices from outside and I knew that the checker had said "That'll be fifteen dollars and four cents for the space food. Then as usual, a bright light shone from above and a hand with fellow coins and some dollars too. "1 cent is your change." and out I came! I was given to a man named Jeffrey Hoffman. He put me in his wallet and walked out of the store. I was glad to be in a soft place again. I heard the sound of a car start. It felt great to be on the move again instead of being strapped up in complete darkness.

It wasn't long before the revving sound stopped. He got out of the car and then took me out of the wallet. We were at a space center. The Kennedy Space Center! It was September 12, 1993 when I heard 5...4...3...2...1...BLASTOFF!!I was a lucky penny on that day, even if I wasn't picked up by anyone. Yes you are looking at a penny that has been on the moon! I was there for 3 years. It was very boring. There were no other
pennies. There were no other coins. I couldn't move because there was no wind, and there was no color. Just black and white. I mean every once in a while you could see the earth, but most of the time, it was just black and
white. I thought I'd be there forever when who should appear, it was Jeffrey Hoffman. He picked me up and said, "it's still here!" Later on March 9, 1996, I was back on earth, and safe in a wallet. I was with him for 5 years, but one day I was dropped onto the sidewalk when a person ran into him. I was immediately picked up by a little girl. She put me in her pocket and I stayed there for the rest of the day. I was fine until night came. The problem was
that she forgot to take me out of the pocket! I was thrown into a hole and before I knew it, I was being washed! Then dried and then I was picked up by the mother of the girl, and she put me in a little cup with some other pennies in it, and took the cup over to a table. The next day I was being looked at by 2 kids. One of them was the little girl that picked me up and left me in her pocket. The other one was a boy that looked about 11. I heard the mom say, "Joey, Tessa, I want you to pick a penny from this jar with your hand but don't look OK?" "All right" said Joey and Tessa. Then a hand reached down, coming closer and then it grabbed me. I was lifted out of the cup and then, I was staring at the boy. I was chosen to tell this tale. I am a penny, and that is my life.
J.G.