# Penny in the pocket of a gift? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829 "2006-01-07T01:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/1 "2006-01-07T01:11:21Z")
Is there some significance to finding a penny? It has to do with a loved one dying doesn’t it? My Wife just got a gift from my Mom with a penny in the pocket. It may be from someone else trying the jacket on in the store, or it could be a return. It is like my Mom to do that. Thinking it’s kinda cute. But the only penny finding stuff I can recall relates to death of a loved one. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/2 "2006-01-07T01:48:24Z")
Ehhh. It wasn’t a bright shinny penny. Which my Mom would never do. So it wasn’t deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![sharkattack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@sharkattack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharkattack)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/3 "2006-01-07T01:50:33Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Is there some significance to finding a penny? > My Wife just got a gift from my Mom with a penny in the pocket. > It is like my Mom to do that. Thinking it’s kinda cute. Well, my grandfather used to tell me the ultimate insult at a restuarant for poor service is to leave a penny under a glass as the tip. I sure hope you mother wasn’t trying to tell your wife something. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/4 "2006-01-07T02:08:06Z")
My mom always told me it was bad luck to give an empty wallet as a gift. You should always put some money (even just a penny) in it. Otherwise, the recipient would always be broke. 😉 I don’t know about your jacket, though. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/5 "2006-01-07T02:26:41Z")
The only thing I know relating pennies to death is the Charon myth, in which coins were placed over the eyes of the dead to pay the ferryman to crss the River Styx. Never heard of a penny in the pocket relating to the death of a relative. ---
**Author:** ![neisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4bbf92/32.png) [@neisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neisha)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/6 "2006-01-07T02:54:37Z")
you’ll know who to go a lookin’ for. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/7 "2006-01-07T04:18:30Z")
My family always puts a shiny penny in the gift of a purse or wallet as a harbinger of good fortune. Not that it’s worked particularly well. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-in-the-pocket-of-a-gift/338829/8 "2006-01-07T06:15:10Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > My mom always told me it was bad luck to give an empty wallet as a gift. You should always put some money (even just a penny) in it. Otherwise, the recipient would always be broke. 😉 > > I don’t know about your jacket, though. My mother told me the same thing.