PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES
DeAnn (Wolkow) Kruempel
Every Cent Counts
He slowly pulled back the trigger mechanism and placed the penny in the designated slot.
“Watch this!” he commanded. With great fanfare, my brother pressed the silver button.
Just like that, the spring released and a blurred shape flew into the opening before it. A clunk and rattle sounded from inside the sphere.
Delmer had the coolest bank ever! It was metal, greenish-blue in color. A streamlined rocket ship aimed at a large round shape, textured with crater-like designs—the moon. A rectangular slot served as the moon’s mouth, catching the coins. On the front of the heavy base was a gold sticker with the words “Aim to save” at Seattle First National Bank.
“Can I try it?” I really wanted to shoot a coin into that moon.
“Sure. Go find some money.” My big brother was accommodating that way. I started up the stairs, thinking I would grab a few coins from my bank. Suddenly I stopped. Wait a minute. If I put my money in Delmer’s bank, it would no longer be my money.
About face! I glared at my sneaky brother. He grinned. I asked Mom for pennies. I was only six, but I wasn’t stupid!
Recalling his childhood coin saver, my brother comments, “Brings new meaning to ‘shooting the moon!’”
My siblings and I remember having some sort of bank in which to drop coins until there was enough to deposit in the bank in De Smet. Dorothy had a red plastic piggy bank with an opening at the bottom for removing coins. Deloris’ was a yellow “barrel” that also had a round cover at the bottom. I either got Deloris’ bank as a hand-me-down or the family owned two yellow barrels. I think they said “Happy Days” on the front.
Mom gave me a small can bank when I turned ten. It was white and boasted the name of an oil company. There was a narrow slot on the top, but no opening for dumping. That was just wrong; you would have to ruin your bank to get the money out! That can remained empty on my dresser for a long time. But one day, the temptation was just too great. I dropped a penny in the slot. Then I spent a half hour shaking it until a tiny edge of copper poked out and I grabbed it!
Dad would take a handful of change from the glass dish up in the cupboard, hand it to me before a ball game and say, “You can spend this on pop or candy that will rot your teeth out, or you can bring it home and save up for something better.”
“Every cent counts,” Mom told us. We must have taken it to heart, because the majority of coins in our banks were pennies.
More than 300 billion pennies have been minted throughout American history. In November of 2025, the US Mint produced its final penny. Officially, they are referred to as “one-cent pieces.”
The first was made in 1793. It featured Lady Liberty and was made of mostly copper. In 1859 a new design was minted, the Indian Head penny. The Lincoln Wheat penny, Lincoln Memorial reverse and the Union Shield have followed, making a total of eleven different designs. The latest consisted of only 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc.
Although production has ended, pennies will likely remain in circulation for a long time.
Eventually, though, they will disappear from purses, banks and cash registers.
How will change change in the future? Will kids’ coins continue to clunk into creative containers? Will parents encourage their youngsters to save by saying, “every nickel counts?”
A penny for your thoughts!
The author’s column appears in a growing number of Midwest newspapers. Kruempel compiles and publishes the column stories every year. She has also published a historical fiction series, “Promises to Keep.” Her ten books are available on Amazon. Signed copies may be purchased at the Harrison County Welcome Center. Contact Kruempel at deannkruempelauthor@gmail.com.
