Weekend Write-In Story Collection

A Penny for Your Thoughts

In 500 words, tell a story that begins with a clash of metal. Written for the Weekend Write-In prompt, "Metal", 27-29 November 2015.

We peek in at seven-year-old David sitting in his grandfather's lap.

Grandpa's Lap

"By two pieces of metal being slammed together with this in the middle."

David turned the piece in his hands to examine it. "So how's the King get on there?"

"They make the design in the pieces of metal they slam together. They're called dies."

He looked up from his grandfather's lap. "So they die each time they're smashed together? Like the soldiers in the war?"

His grandfather chuckled. "No Dear... Different kind of die."

"Wouldn't the slamming mash them too, not just this?" He looked at the medal again.

"No, Sweetheart, dies are made from harder metal with the mettle not to muddle when this medal was in the middle."

"You're babbling again, Frank." She looked up from her knitting. "What are you going on about this time?"

David looked across at his grandmother as he listened to his grandfather speak. "Have you seen the writing prompt this weekend? He's further into the rut."

"Don't confuse the lad with Jon's fixation." She went back to her knitting.

"Yes Dear... No Dear... Whatever... Where were we, Sweetheart?"

"Not mashing the dead things."

"Dies, not dead. It's the same way coins are made. Look at the other piece I gave you."

David examined the cartwheel. "A lot heavier. What's this one?"

"An old penny. That's George the Third on there, the Queen's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather."

"Why were they so big back then?"

"The value of the coins were still the value of the metal in them. That penny was made from a pennyworth of copper."

"How do they know the value of the copper?"

"Good question, Lad. It goes back to Mesopotamia..."

"Messy what?"

"Mesopotamia... A place five thousand years ago. The people had to trade, they had no money."

"They were poor?"

"No Dear, just no way to measure wealth except cattle, grain and so on. They had to trade until someone made a system comparing the value of barley to values of metals."

"Why metals?

"They were scarce, needed for making things... Tools, containers."

"So then they traded tools and containers?"

"Yes, and also lumps of metal."

David examined the large coin. "When did they start making pennies?"

"Coins started in China three thousand years ago, but pennies started in Britain with the Anglo-Saxons in the seventh century."

"Frank, you're talking over his head again." She glared up at him from her knitting.

"No, Grandma." David shook his head. "I know about the Anglo-Saxons. The teacher said they invented that F word we're not supposed to say."

She huffed and went back to her knitting.

"So back to the penny, Grandpa."

"Yes, Sweetheart... The first pennies were silver, two hundred and forty of them to the pound.

"Why the strange number?"

"They established a pound of silver as a pound of value. That's where the British system began. They divided it into twenty pieces, calling each one a shilling.

"Like you said that fellow was doing at your coin auction?"

"No Sweetheart, different kind." He laughed. "I'll explain that one later."