Penny Hunt

Penny Hunt

Noel Laflin

5-16-16

Friday nights were frequently penny hunt nights,

And dad relied upon young eyes to help in the search

Of elusive Wheat Back Lincolns with evasive mint dates.

That’s when my sister and I were suddenly in demand.

My father would clear the kitchen table and dump

A newly acquired batch of pennies dead center.

The bright blue coin folder was fetched from the hall closet,

An old magnifying glass was liberated from a kitchen drawer,

And a bright reading lamp was moved to the table

As Susi and I would begin to flip the coins to a heads up position.

Then the hunt would begin in earnest.

“I’m still in need of a 1914 D,” my father would say,

Time and again -  “and a 1922, no mint mark while you’re at it,”

He’d remind us - session after session - hunt after hunt.

Alas, those two, along with a scattering of other highly prized dates

Were never found.
I’ve got a faded blue penny folder to prove the point,
Along with the same old magnifying glass which,
Now resides in my kitchen drawer.

But the hunt continues on these many decades later,

As we  still glance at change, especially pennies,

Before it goes into the Betty Boop piggy bank.

And, as David’s eyes are younger than mine – 

He knows the drill.