"A penny for your thoughts" - that comment you make to someone whose ideas you`d like to hear -has been around a long time. the expression was in use as long ago as 1546,when it appeared in a book of proverbs published in England by playwright John Heywood.
Another common English sayind about a penny is :"A penny saved is a penny earned". Benjamin Franklin,American writer and statesman,published this proverb in the "Poor Richard`s Almanach" during the 1700s. Today people still use this saying to argue the benefits of being thrifty.
Yet another old saying is:"See a penny,pick it up, and all day long you`ll have good luck!" Some people think they will only have good luck if the penny is facing "heads up"(that is,the side of the coin with a head on it is showing). And some people quote asecond part of the rhyme that says:' See a penny,let it lay, and you`ll have bad luck all day". So a superstitious person might pick up a penny not for good luck but to avoid any bad.