Barney & Clyde by Gene Weingarten; Dan Weingarten & David Clark for October 21, 2023

I keep some old coins in my purse at all times.

I have a jar somewhere with change in it and an old 3 liter brandy bottle almost full of pennies.

It’s the US – we’re all penniless; the lowest-denomination coin is the cent; has been since they stopped minting half-cent coins in 1857 (I had one when I was a kid). The penny is a British coin.

And the fact that the misnomer is quite common and has been since the first cent was minted does not make it any less wrong.

Clyde enjoyed that.

I rarely spend coins, bills, or checks. I always do carry them out of habit. But I have one coin that is always in my pocket. In 1957 or ‘58 I paid 2 paper dollars for 2 1921 silver dollars. I have one in a can with other ’treasures’. The second, so worn & thin you can no longer tell heads from tails has been in my pocket daily. Penniless, maybe, but never broke.

I had expected Barney to reply, “What kind of question is that?” Not all money is cash.

As much as I use plastic at the gas station, grocery store, convenience store, etc, I never go out without some cash in my wallet.