Wheat Back Pennies

     For as long as I can remember my brothers and I collected coins. My Dad's Mom got us started at a young age with Lincoln Head Set Penny Collections and later with Jefferson Nickels and "Mercury" Head Dimes.

      I still have all my collections though I confess to not being very diligent these days in keeping them up to date, with one exception: the Lincoln Wheat Cent or Wheatie as we used to call them. They turn up every once and a while in my change and each night as I empty my pockets I check for Wheaties. It's a habit I suppose and the kind of gentle reminder of simpler days which I appreciate. Probably this thrifty habit is in my Scottish DNA and just can't be helped. To tell the truth I am actually glad for it because it keeps me conscious of how hard it is to earn money, let alone save it. I don't consider it cheapness but only an awareness of the consequences of not having a tidy sum in reserve. I pity people who call themselves "cheapskates" because they tend to feel guilty all too often regarding some of life's pleasures, especially those which are worth paying a premium for. A nice meal in a NYC restaurant with friends who appreciate fine dining comes to mind as an indulgence which I budget for and enjoy no end.

      We all have our own pecuniary habits. For me, all it takes is the site of a Wheatie to make me become conscious of the origins of how I first learned about money. Admittedly, my subsequent uses of money might not have always been as prudent as collecting coins in Whitman Publishing coin folders. Though I did manage to save the original books and their insights are part of my wakefulness and dictate my usual response to a penny laying on the sidewalk. Without a hesitation I grab it before some other thrifty guy like me to come along and beats me to it. One never knows where they might find a Wheatie to add to their collection.