I found this penny yesterday outside of my local HEB grocery store. It looked as if it had been around a lot longer than 2010 — kinda beat-up and corroded. “Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.”

Many of us grew up hearing that rhyme, a little scrap of folklore that turned the smallest coin into a charm against misfortune. The penny has always carried more weight in symbolism than it does in currency. From thrift (“a penny saved is a penny earned”) to chance (“a penny for your thoughts”), it’s a humble token that reminds us how small things can hold unexpected meaning.

And yet, after more than a century in circulation, the U.S. Mint will stop producing pennies next year. It feels strange to think that a coin so common, so unremarkable in daily life, is about to slip quietly into history. Wahhhh!

For me, though, pennies will never be ordinary. Whenever I spot one on the sidewalk or tucked in the dust in a corner of a door frame, I immediately think of my mother, now gone, and I take it as a sign — a quiet hello, a reminder that love lingers in the smallest of tokens. These unexpected pennies can become talismans of connection, proof that influence doesn’t end with absence.

Perhaps that’s the magic of the penny: it teaches us as artists to notice. To see the shimmer in what most people step over. To remember that sometimes, the universe drops a coin at our feet just to remind us we are not alone.

That same spirit inspired me to create a new card for the Enso Oracle: The Penny. Like the coin itself, the card is about noticing the small signs that appear along your path.

In the studio, it might be the scrap of paper you almost threw away but suddenly see as the perfect starting point, or the chance remark from a friend that opens a new direction.

The Penny also asks you to think of someone who has influenced your creative journey — a mentor, a mother, or a friend — and to carry their encouragement into your work. And when the card is reversed, it calls you to face the other side of the coin: to forgive the person whose doubt or discouragement has lingered too long, and to release that weight so it no longer limits your practice.

Drawing The Penny card is an invitation to pause, to honor what has been given, and to look for small treasures hiding in plain sight that might spark the next stage of your creative journey.

The Penny

Keywords: sign • remembrance • unseen influence • gratitude • forgiveness

Oracle Message:
The Penny appears as a small but shining reminder that nothing is insignificant. Just as a coin on the ground can feel like a message from someone we love, this card invites you to notice the quiet signs and synchronicities that connect you to others. It is a call to pause and acknowledge the unseen influence of those who have shaped your journey, for better or for worse. Upright, The Penny asks you to remember and honor those who have encouraged you, to carry their love into your work.

Reversed, it points to the other side of the coin — the voices that discouraged or doubted you. Their shadow may still linger, but now is the time to release them, to forgive, and to step forward unburdened.

Reflection Questions:

• Who in your life has left you “pennies of encouragement,” small but lasting gifts of influence?
• What overlooked signs in your studio practice might carry deeper meaning?
• Is there a discouraging voice from the past that you can finally let go?

Affirmation:
I honor the voices that have loved me, and I release the ones that held me back.

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So the next time you see a penny on the ground, pause before you step past it. Pick it up, notice its weight, and let it remind you of the small but powerful connections that guide your path — in the studio and beyond. And save it, because eventually there will be no more of these lovely little copper coins.

If you find one today, know that I am thinking about you and thanking you for reading this!!