When the penny finally fades from our pockets, it will not be missed for its worth but remembered for its symbol. It was the humblest witness of trade, the smallest voice in the great chorus of commerce. Its copper face, worn smooth by countless hands, spoke of patience, of the slow rhythm of exchange. When it disappears, it will remind us that even the smallest measures of value, like moments, are easy to overlook until they vanish—and that in our haste to progress, we sometimes lose the echoes of modest things that once held meaning.
