The day I was born is one of my favorite memories. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel everything. I remember the feeling of getting cut into a smaller size, and then being thrown into a large pile of metal pieces that were the same size as me. After that, I recall it becoming extremely hot. At one point I thought I was going to melt! Just when I thought I couldn't take it any more, I felt myself sliding down a tube and then splashing into cold refreshing water. I felt so clean after coming out and getting dried off.
Once dry, I could feel myself moving again. I heard a banging noise that seemed to get louder and louder. Finally, the sound grew so loud that I knew I must be right next to the source. I felt something crash into me with a large amount of force. I fell into yet another pile of pieces that were like me. Now, I could see! Being able to see was fantastic. The first thing that caught my attention was the immediate surroundings. I was in some kind of wooden crate that had the “1939 pennies” stamped on the inside. There were thousands of small pieces of round, shiny metal all around me. We all looked exactly the same. It was then I knew that I was a United States penny, made in the year 1939. I remember wondering what a penny was supposed to do and hoped it didn't mean I was going to lay around in a crate forever.
I laid in that crate for awhile longer. So many thoughts were going through my head. Where was I going? What was going to happen next? Only time could tell.
Suddenly, I felt myself moving again. I couldn't see outside of the box I was in, so I didn't know where I was going. I had no idea the amount of adventures and surprising days that were yet to come.
Philadelphia Mint 1939.
Historical notes from Wikipedia:
The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national mint a main priority after the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
The Coinage Act of 1792 was entered into law on April 2. It proclaimed the creation of the United States Mint. Philadelphia at that time was the nation's capital; therefore the first mint facility was built there. The Mint Act also instituted a decimal system based on a dollar unit; specified weights, metallic composition and fineness; and required each United States coin feature "an impression emblematic of liberty".
