Thursday, July 26, 2012

Find a Penny, Pick it Up...


I haven't been writing as often lately because I've been so busy taking pictures.
When I started my photography business, I never dreamed I would be getting so many calls.
I'm not complaining.
But for the rest of the summer until school begins, I just have to let certain things slide.
Like housework, yard work, and this blog.

The other day, as I was doing a photo session for Allison in a nearby old town, we ventured into the site of a building that had been taken down.  As we were walking across the rubble toward the brick wall pictured above, I saw what looked like an old dime.  I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't really see it very well.  I put it in my pocket.

Yesterday I remembered it was there and showed it to Kerry and Annie.
Kerry looked at it and said it looks like a penny from the year 1891!



We thought for sure it was worth something!
Kerry immediately googled it and found it was worth 200x its original value.
$2.00

Our excitement quickly faded.

Then I started thinking about how old it was, and
wondered what was going on in the world when this penny was shiny and new.

This is what I discovered:

- Benjamin Harrison was president
- Wyoming became a state
-  James Naismith, a YMCA instructor in Springfield, MA created the game of basketball.
   The first basketball game was played by 18 students at Springfield College.
-  Carnegie Hall opened its doors
-  Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera
-  Thomas Edison patented "transmission of signals electrically" (Radio)
-  Stanford University opened
-  The first gasoline powered car debuts in Springfield, MA
-  The Wrigley Company was founded
-  The first electric oven was made
-  W.L. Judson invented the zipper
-  The first submarine was invented in Holland

 Pretty cool to consider what life was like for the people that carried this penny around in 1891.

What will I do with it?

I think I'll save it for my grandkids.
Maybe one of them will love history.

Or maybe by then it will be worth more - like $3.00?




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