Indian Head pennies said to contain ‘real strong magic' and 'good luck'

I was piddling around in the yard on Sunday afternoon and saw a small bird fly into the knothole of an old oak tree out by the road. The bird disappeared inside the dark hole for a few seconds, then flew right back out on his way to important business elsewhere. I watched the tree for another minute or so more, but the bird never returned.

As I went on about my business, I got to thinking about the somewhat famous knothole in Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Many readers will remember that this fictional knothole was in one of the two live oak trees on the edge of the Radley lot, not far from the home of Atticus Finch and his two children, Jem and Scout. As young Scout walks home alone on her last day of the first grade, she finds two pieces of Wrigley’s Double-Mint gum in the knothole, which was “just above (her) eye level.”

As the novel progresses, Scout and her slightly-older brother, Jem, find a number of other “gifts” in the knothole. Presumably left by reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, these items included a pocket watch, two figures carved from soap, a spelling medal and a ball of twine. The children also go on to find a small box containing coins, which I’ve always found particularly interesting.

This small box was “patchworked with bits of tinfoil collected from chewing-gum wrappers. It was the kind of box wedding rings came in, purple velvet with a minute catch. Inside were two scrubbed and polished pennies, one on top of the other.”

The coins were described as Indian Head pennies, one of them dated 1900 and the other dated 1906. These distinctive pennies were minted between the years 1859 and 1909, when it was replaced by the Abraham Lincoln penny. Even though Jem and Scout find the pennies in the late spring or early summer of 1934, Jem describes the pennies as being “real old.”

The children initially discuss what to do with the pennies and then launch into a discussion of the supernatural aspects of Indian Head pennies. Jem, who is about 10 years old, tells his younger sister that Indian Head pennies “come from the Indians. They’re real strong magic, they make you have good luck. Not like fried chicken when you’re not lookin’ for it, but things like long life ‘n good health, ‘n passin’ six-week tests… these are real valuable to somebody.”

Apparently, at one time, people commonly carried Indian Head pennies as lucky charms. Today, you can find Indian Head pennies in pawn shops, antique stores and coin shops. Many of these will have holes punched in them, and this harkens back to the days when they were worn on necklaces or bracelets as good luck charms.

Many readers today will probably be more familiar with the superstition about pennies found on the ground. Many people won’t pick up a penny if it’s face down, but they’ll pick it up if they see Honest Abe. I’ve even heard tell of folks who will bend down and turn over a tails-up penny, so that the next person who comes along will find it heads-up.

In the end, let me hear from you if have any additional information about superstitions surrounding Indian Head pennies. It would also be interesting to know who has the oldest Indian Head penny in Monroe County today. Who knows, maybe someone has some “real old” Indian Head pennies that date all the way back to 1900 and 1909.