Victory Penny

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!!

I thought it would be fitting to share with you today my 1945 encased penny I received from my coin friend/mentor last week :)

As we were leaving our coffee meetup as we do every month, he reached into his pocket and said, “Here – give this to your kid.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s a penny dummy!” he retorted ;)

“Yeah, yeah…” I sighed back…

“It’s an encased penny celebrating two big dates in our world’s history. V-E Day on May 8th, 1945 – The “Victory in Europe” – and V-J Day on Sept. 2nd 1945 – The “Victory over Japan” – which officially ended World War II. I keep one in my pockets every where I go and give ’em to vets I come across to thank them for their service. I’ve given out about 5 so far this year.”

“Very cool! That’s so nice of you. And the back? Is that a play on words?”

“These were probably made by a veterinary clinic back in the day helping to promote their services as well as giving thanks back. Companies use to make all sorts of things to give away back then, and wheat pennies were famous for this.”

“Well thanks man. That’s awfully nice of you. I shall hold onto it and gladly give it to my boy once  he’s old enough not to want to swallow it :)”

And that’s the story of what I call the Victory Penny! Pretty cool, huh? And what are the odds he gave it to me only a week before Memorial Day? I only put two and two together this morning, so of course had to jump back online to share it with you before we get into the day’s festivities :) It’s a beautiful country we live in, and great day to be thankful and keep things in perspective, that’s for sure.

So a hearty thanks to all who served and protected our country over the years! You’ve given us more freedom than we could ever hope for, and we’ll forever keep you in our hearts.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

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PS: Here’s a blurry shot of two other encased pennies I inherited late last year from my grandfather-in-law. I’ll have to take a better pic of them later (I cropped these out from an old iPhone pic), but it gives you an idea of the shapes and designs of some other pennies that were encased over time. There’s a whole group of collectors who collect just these alone (and include nickels, quarters, and even half dollars too) so if it’s something you’re interested in you should totally research more. The nice thing is that they’re all pretty cheap on the wallet too! :)