Remember That Penny?

Have you missed me? Yes, I am still alive. The spirits have not dragged me into the grave, nor has the evil cop who dogs me thrown me in jail. I thought a recent article in the press might interest some of my faithful readers. There are a number of articles that began appearing a couple of days ago, each headlined by some version of: “Boy Finds Rare Coin Worth 1.7 Million Dollars in Lunch Money.” For those of you who might, or might not, remember, I blogged about a jar full of coins on my desk that my father collected more than sixty years ago. These are the 1943 pennies we called “Lead Pennies” when we were kids. This is the entry titled Pause II and it falls between entry Thirteen and Fourteen. Scroll down and you can find it and read about the coins. In that entry I offered to send anyone who sent me their address one of these coins, for free! I have never tested any of these coins to see if there was one of the rare ones in the batch, so everyone who received one from me had the same chance of finding the big winner. Four or five of you took me up on the offer, but no one has reported a winner. (I did not test them before I sent them out.) I have not tested them since.

So those of you who were too busy, or whatever your reason was, to ask for one, it could have been you who was 1.7 million dollars richer. The coin in the news goes on auction tomorrow, so we’ll see what the end price is then.

In other 69 drink news, the blog is still being read by those of you who were so far behind you’re only now catching up. And in international news, I seem to be trending in India and yesterday someone in Croatia checked it out. Soon I may find I am the Mr. Sparkle of the blogosphere. (That’s a Simpson’s reference that only a few will get.)

In the world of the Wooden Nickel, (real name of the Lead Penny) I’m told that my plaque as one of the survivors of the Sixty-Nine Drinks challenge will be up on the wall one of these fine days. So those of you who keep asking if it’s up yet, we’ll all just have to keep drinking and wait until they get around to it. While I still drink my beloved George Dickel at home, I find it a great relief to order one of the fine craft beers sold at the Nickel when I can fight my way through the crowds and find a seat at the bar.

I promised in my last blog entry that I was going to continue writing the story of my house and the spirits who live here, only as a novel rather than as a blog. I’ve made it through the holidays and through some health issues that have plagued me, and I am now about to embark on that next journey. Wish me luck.

Best to all of you.

Allen