Wenzdaz Wandering Thoughts

The Great Penny Adjustment of 2025 has begun! Here’s my two cents about it.

The last penny in the United States was minted, ending a 238-year run.

The last pennies minted sold for a mint.

Last US cents sold at auction for a sum of $16.76 million were worth a pretty penny

Yes, there’s a national penny shortage now because pennies are no more. Well, there are no new ones. Hoarding pennies is a contributing factor. People hope their pennies will be worth more someday…

Here in Ashlandia, businesses are adjusting. My current favorite coffee hang, RoCo, has announced that due to the penny shortage, change will be rounded off to the nearest multiple of five. They’re always giving me six cents in change. I’ve always told them, “Keep the penny,” or dropped it into the ever present penny bowl.

Will the penny bowl remain? Doubtful. I mean, why would they?

Now BiMart has a notice up: “Due to the nationwide penny shortage, please pay in correct change.”

They owed me 88 cents after my purchase. I told them to keep the pennies. The cashier replied, “Thanks. I only have two pennies left.” Then she took a nickel off the top of the register. “Someone found this and gave it to me. You take it.” I laughed and accepted, thanking her. That was the gracious thing to do. I’ll pass it on to someone else.

Penny for your thoughts?

The Lavish Hotel Dream

I found myself at an expensive luxury hotel in my dream last night. My wife was with me at this place. Polished gold covered many surfaces, and if it wasn’t gold, it was sparkling glass, shiny marble, or deep, dark wood. Located in the middle of a very busy metropolitan city, the tall skyscraper was hugely busy and full.

I don’t know why I was there, but my wife and I made a complaint about something going on. No idea what that complaint was, but shortly after making it, the hotel staff were suddenly hugely obsequious and apologetic to me. Then they said, “We didn’t realize it was you.” Laughing, I joked, “I didn’t realize it was me, either.”

Just like that, they were treating me like I was royalty. I’d show up and they would tell other customers to make way for me, a cringe thing for me, who prefers not having preferential status or being the center of attention. Almost as wild, the other customers seemed to recognize me and were also differential, which, oddly, made me suspicious. I drifted into questioning why this was happening, sneaking into territory that they were playing a big joke on me or setting me up for something.

Going to a ballroom section, I was accosted by some staff as I entered. I thought they were going to tell me to leave. “Here, try this food,” they said, offering me things on toothpicks. The first turned out to be some kind of special and exotic cherry. Eating it, I was blown out by its juicy sweetness. I told others, “That’s great, you need to taste this.”

The staff said, “Oh, but this is very expensive. It’s free for you but others need to pay for it.”

Pulling a huge wad of cash out of my pocket, I replied, “I’ll pay for it for them.”

“No, no,” the staff answered. “You can’t pay for anything. Put your cash away.”

I responded, “Why can’t I pay for anything?” Meanwhile, the stash of money in my hand shocked me. It was all US currency. I thought, where’d I get all this money? I figured it must be change and it’s probably ones and fives or something. But going through it, I discovered twenties, hundreds, fifties.

Another staffer was beside me. “If you liked the cherry, perhaps you’d like to try the dried apricots.”

“Oh, I love apricots,” I answered. “Yes, I definitely want to try them.” He gave me two and I ate them with gusto, simply staggered by their flavor. “So good,” I told the staff. “Thank you.”

Just then, a manager arrived. “I want to speak to you,” she said. I was like, oh, no, what’s wrong now? She said, “Your stay here is free, so I wanted to tell you that you’ll see a refund on your credit card statement.” She then handed me three shiny pennies. “These are also for you, with our compliments.”

As I took the pennies, I wondered, why are they giving me pennies when I have so much cash, and the dream ended.

Another Dream About Pennies

I dreamed about pennies again. They seem to be a recurring dream theme for me. In this particular one, I was knee deep in shiny new pennies. They were moving like the ocean. Swells of pennies rose and fell. Penny waves lapped against me and broke on my thighs.

I had a pushbroom. I was expected to push the pennies to one side. I laughed at this, saying, “This is crazy. These pennies are like water. How am I supposed to sweep them?” I kept muttering to myself about that and didn’t make much effort at sweeping them. Thinking about how new they appeared and also wanting to feel them — because they moved like water — I scooped up a handful of pennies. I looked at the date on one and saw, 2022. I began looking at as many as I could, searching for other dates. All I found was 2022.

Holding the pushbroom out to one side, I looked across the sea of pennies under a clear, dark blue sky. Far away to one side was a stretch of rising land. The sun just about them, drifting toward setting. I laughed and thought, “This is so cool.”

Good Things

He admired his pile of shiny copper pennies. All were minted this year, removed from circulation when they found his hand.

Counting his shiny pennies, he made neat little stacks of ten, and then admired the stacks.

Such pennies, so shiny and new, had to mean good luck. He had sixty-four of them. One for each year of his life.

He grinned. Good things were coming his way.

The Piles of Pennies Dream

Here we go. I remember three dreams from last night, but will only cover part of one dream. Consider this the highlight reel.

I had nothing except the clothes that I wore and had returned to one of the places where I lived as a child. A poor place supported by a dying industry, it wasn’t a hopeful place. Neither child nor mature man, I was a young man in my dream. I knew most of the people in the dream through the business I owned back then, but I knew some from high school.

It was sunny but muddy, and I was scrambling to cope with losing everything. As I began thinking that through, I realized that I did have some small objects. Collecting them, I started carrying them around in my hands. They were mostly watches, keys, and coins.

I knew I couldn’t continue carrying them around in my hands so I acquired a pouch. After I put everything into the pouch, it was full and heavy. Now it needed to be turned into cash that I could use.

The dream went off into a few tangents of me exploring ways that I could make money from knowledge that I had. Nothing panned out, but while going about that, I kept looking for coins on the ground, or on the buildings’ floors as I came and went. Finding dimes, pennies, and quarters, I’d surreptitiously add to my collection.

Then I realized that there were literally piles of pennies outside in the mud. They’d been swept up, or shoveled up into even piles. Everyone was walking around them, dismissive. I thought, they’re walking around a fortune, and they don’t know it. I wanted to acquire some of those pennies and turn them in, but I worried that once I did, others would catch on to what I was doing and start a scramble.

Meanwhile, I cashed in some of my pouch’s contents, including an old wrist-watch. It wasn’t anything special, but the man who bought it said, “I’ve always admired that watch.”

I then sold other things to a shop run by an acquaintance. Having money relieved some anxiety I was feeling. I felt like I could buy food and clothing. After seeing piles of shiny pennies that looked new, I went back and asked him if he converted pennies to dollars. Laughing, he said, “They’re money, aren’t they?” I confirmed that meant, yes. I then converted pennies into dollars from my pouch. Checking on the piles of shiny pennies that remained outside, I began thinking about how to acquire more.

The dream ended.

One area of me was appalled by the greed that I saw in me in the dream, hoarding the pennies for myself. While thinking that, I also recognized, I’m not hoarding them. They’re all there for anyone to take but the others are ignoring them.

Perusing old dream posts and entries in my notebook, I see that I’ve dreamed of mud, pennies, and watches before. Looking up dream meanings for mud, pennies, and watches, I cherry-picked some with positive meanings.

Seeing or stepping on a mud pile means good luck— take advantage of the chances that are coming your way. See Excrement, Manure. Toiling in the mud: success and wealth through hard work.

To see pennies in your dream symbolizes luck, especially if they are shiny. Do not underestimate your talents and abilities. Dreams of pennies occasionally represent a fear of being poor.

To see a watch in your dream signifies luck and prosperity.

h/t to e/dreaminterpretation.org

I don’t know what or if (if any) my subconscious mind or restless neurons were trying to tell me, but I elected to apply some cognitive appraisal and decide, it’s all good.

 

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