Pennies for Thought

It was priceless, for a penny.

The 1876 preface to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer states that the story events took place “thirty or forty years ago.” “So,” I asked my third period students, “When did the story happen?”

“The Civil War!”

“Worl…Wait a minute…World War I, or II or something?”

“1876!”

“Now hold on here,” I had to jump back in. The intellectual auras of their faces looked as dull as their answers suggested. I had to respond quickly to the persistent deficiency of seventh grade motivation.

Just then I remembered the sixteen pennies in my pocket, the remains of this morning’s homeroom electoral college activity. I removed my keys and said, “The sound you are about to hear is not my keys.” I stuck my hand into the pocket and shook the change around. “If you can tell me the answer, I will give you a piece of real money from my pocket.”

(I had to mention that the money was real because I routinely offer hundreds of thousands of dollars to whoever can answer my questions. That usually gets the hands raised pretty quickly, even though students are quick to assure each other that “he never paid me, and he’s not going to pay you.”)

“If the book was published in 1876, and the events happened thirty or forty years before that, when did the story events happen?”

A boy in the back raised his hand and hit the nail on the head: “1836.”

“To?” I asked.

“1836 to 1846,” he said.

“Exactly right,” I said, digging out a penny from my linted stash. I looked at it closely; it was from 1976.

“This,” I told the boy ceremoniously, “is a penny from exactly one hundred years after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published. Congratulations!” I may be making it up, but I think I remember hearing circulate a collective gasp of awe.

The act was really too good to try only once, so in the next period I again offered a piece of real money from my pocket in exchange for the correct dates. One girl in particular appeared eager, and she knew the correct answer.

“Congratulations,” I told her, producing another penny. This one was much shinier; it was from 1995. “When were you born?” I asked her.

“1995,” she said.

“Well, congratulations again,” I said. “This penny is from the year you were born.” I handed her the penny.

She seemed excited, but another student said, “It’s still just a penny.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I’m taking this home and putting it on my door.”

Just priceless, I tell you.