Find a Penny Pick It Up Poem, Meaning, Rhyme, & Good Luck

Find a penny, pick it up. All-day long, you’ll have good luck. Have you ever heard that rhyme or sang it while you picked up pennies? Here are a few other versions of the lucky penny poem: 

  • See a penny, pick it up; all day long you’ll have good luck.
  • Find a penny, pick it up all the day, you’ll have good luck. Find a penny leave it there all the day you’ll have despair.
  • Find a penny, pick it up all day long you’ll have good luck. Put the penny in your shoe, and good luck will come to you.
  • Find a penny, pick it up all day long, you’ll have good luck. Give it to a faithful friend; then, your luck will never end.
  • Find a penny, pick it up all day long, you’ll have good luck. Find a penny; let it lie, you’ll need a penny before you die.

See a Penny Pick It Up

Tonight, during my evening walk, I was staring down at the ground when I saw something bright and shiny up ahead. I couldn’t quite tell what it was from a distance, but as I got closer, I noticed it was a penny.

What side of a penny is good luck? According to the law of penny pickups, finding a penny heads up is good luck. So, a heads-up penny brings good luck if you find one.

I was thrilled to see Mr. Lincoln shining up from the street. I picked up that lucky penny and went on my way. I felt one cent richer and a little luckier for having found the penny in the first place.

“I found a penny today,” I sang to myself. Then I sang my favorite find a penny rhyme, “See a penny, pick it up. All-day long, you’ll have good luck.”

The Meaning of a Heads Up Penny

Is there a spiritual meaning behind finding a heads-up penny? A friend of mine believes money contains invisible energy passed between the previous owner and the next person who finds it. Older coins are more powerful because many different people have held them. If you see an old penny on the ground, you gain more luck and energy.

She also believes in the connection between pennies and the spiritual world. Finding a heads up penny is lucky. It connects us to friends and family that are no longer with us. Spiritually, finding pennies means someone may be looking after us and keeping us on the right path.  This may be a guardian angel or spirit guides.

As you pick up that penny, remember that someone else dropped it. Feel that connection. Believe you are on the right path and headed in the right direction.

Finding a heads up penny can also signify new beginnings, a fresh start, or a new chapter in your life. Finding pennies might mean you will change careers, meet a new partner, or feel inspired by a new interest or passion.

Pennies bring a connection to the spiritual world. When you pick up a penny feel that connection too.

What Does It Mean When You Find a Penny Tails Up?

A superstitious friend once told me to flip all tails up pennies over. She picks up pennies that are face up, but she also flips over those face down.

“The next person who finds it will get lucky,” she told me. “I believe in karma,” she said, “so if they get lucky, I will too.”

When she finds a penny heads up on the ground, she passes it along to someone else. “I put it in a charity jar or leave it in the spare change bin at the store,” she told me. “I think I’ll get extra lucky if I pass it on to someone else.”

Find a Penny Pick It Up Then Give It Away

“Find a penny, pick it up all day long, you’ll have good luck. Pass that penny to a friend; your penny luck will never end,” she sang.

If you find a tails up penny, put it back down heads up. You’ll bring good luck to yourself and the next person who finds it. Finding a penny tails up can mean that you need help with your karma. Give your luck a boost by flipping that penny over.

Or better yet, do like my friend and pass that penny on to someone else that could use it. As soon as you hand over the penny, the bad luck of a tails-up penny disappears.

Finding a Penny Tails Up

I found another penny a little closer to home on my afternoon walk. This one was tails up. Superstition says a tails-up penny can bring bad luck, but I reasoned that the last penny would cancel out the newfound penny. So, I picked it up despite my misgivings and decided to pass it on.

Find a Penny Meaning

Is it good luck to find a penny heads up? Yes, but why is it good luck to find a penny? What is the origin of this penny superstition?

In ancient times, many people believed heavy metals contained protective qualities that could ward off evil spirits. They thought precious metals might be gifts from the gods. Therefore, keeping metal in your possession would keep you safe.

As ancient cultures advanced, coins became the currency of choice. Because coins are made from precious metals they are also lucky.

I Found a Penny Today Poem

While researching the history of pennies, I stumbled across this beautiful poem. (Copyright © 1998 C Mashburn)

I found a penny today,
Just laying on the ground.
But it’s not just a penny,
This little coin I’ve found.
Found pennies come from heaven.
That’s what my Grandpa told me.
He said “Angels toss them down.”
Oh, how I loved that story.
He said when an angel misses you,
They toss a penny down,
Sometimes just to cheer you up,
To make a smile out of a frown.
So don’t pass by that penny
When you’re feeling blue;
It may be a Penny from Heaven
That an Angel’s tossed to you.

Finding a Penny on the Ground

Wouldn’t it be lovely if pennies were gifts sent from guardian angels, as the find a penny pick it up poem suggests? Some people consider pennies to be a connection to the spiritual world. Therefore, finding a penny on the ground means the spirit world values you.

What if pennies aren’t randomly found on the ground but placed purposefully by loved ones who recently passed away? Finding a penny on the ground days after someone dies can signify a connection to a friend or family member who is no longer with you.

This belief is especially true if you find pennies in unusual places. Do you believe a guardian angel leaves pennies on the ground for you?

Dreaming of someone giving you money or picking money off the ground can symbolize the need for stability and connection. When we touch the ground we feel connected to the earth and to the spiritual world.

Is It Good Luck to Find a Penny Heads Up?

But what makes heads up pennies particularly lucky, and why is it good luck to pick them up? Some people believe the forces of good and evil are in constant battle. Symbols of that battle appear all around us. In the case of pennies, one side of the penny represents good luck. The other represents darkness and evil.

Picking a tails up penny can open the door to the negative underbelly of the world, and allow bad influences into your life. A heads up penny opens your world to positive thoughts and powers. A heads up penny represents good luck, while a tails up penny represents evil.

For this reason, my friend flips pennies over. She believes flipping a tails up penny keeps the evil forces on the underside. By reversing the penny, she allows the good side to shine. She also brings good luck to the next person who finds it.

Has the Luck Worn Off?

It may seem hard to believe, but at one point in time, you could measure a person’s wealth by the weight of the money they carried. Imagine counting, adding, and protecting those coins from those who might wish to harm you.

Not so long ago, finding coins would have made you feel rich. My five-year-old still feels this way. He loves to find coins on the ground at grocery stores. Whenever he finds one, he smiles and squeals with delight. Then he rushes home to add them to his piggy bank.

These days most people ignore spare change. In a world full of digital bank accounts, the need for cash is quickly disappearing. Perhaps this switch to digital banking has made the penny seem a little less lucky.

Good Luck Penny = Good Fortune

Money has always been a sign of good fortune and good luck. The more money you have, the more power you can yield. The more power you have, the more successful you can be.

We don’t always like this fact, but it does drive many of us to succeed. Good luck and good fortune are synonymous.

A penny saved is a penny earned. While picking up a penny only makes you one cent richer, that one penny can lead to many others.

Can picking up one penny make you rich? Definitely not. Can believing in good fortune make you feel fortunate? You bet. Luck comes to those who search and believe in it.

Pennies in Shoes & Purses

My grandmother never gifted a purse or wallet without a single penny inside. It’s an old superstition that her grandmother had passed down. A penny is placed inside the pocket to ensure future wealth.

Some brides also place pennies inside of their shoes. The saying goes: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a penny in your shoe.”

What shoe do you put a lucky penny in? Definitely the right one. Have you ever heard the superstition that an itchy right hand will bring you money.  When it comes to money the right side is lucky.

Lucky Penny Poem

If you find a penny, do you pick it up and sing that lucky penny saying? What do you do after you find them? Do you roll them into coin rolls, drop them into savings jars, or give them to others for good luck?

What will you do the next time you see one? On your next stroll will you put them in your pocket, leave them on the ground, or flip them over for someone else to find? 

What’s your favorite pick a penny up good luck rhyme?

14 thoughts on “Find a Penny Pick It Up Poem, Meaning, Rhyme, & Good Luck”

  1. I just came on the internet for the same reason. There seem to be a few synchronycities happening in my life. Today I was just working around my apartment. And as I walked back to this one area. There was this penny in the MIDDLE of the floor. I hadn't seen it. Hadn't been aware that I had moved it. Did not SEE it until I walked into my main room. There it was in the middle of the floor. Bright and very very shiny… shockingly so … it was so new looking I thought it MUST be a 2009 penny. But it was 2006 (another small mystery… and SIGN) it was Heads up. … need I say more?

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  2. I've always found my penny occurances to be opposite of the common saying "heads up good look". For the longest time when I picked up heads-up pennies, I'd end up with bad luck. When I picked up tails up pennies, it seemed I had good luck. What I ended up realizing was that (for me anyways), the pennies were acting more as "warning signs" than good luck indicators. Heads-up pennies literally meant I need to keep my head up and be cautious about things in my life, because I was probably doing something foolish, risky, ignorant or otherwise not very good for myself or others. I would re-evaluate things going on in my life, and if nothing seemed out of the ordinary I would just try to pay attention around me going forward. It helped, because I would then spot bad stuff coming down the pipe at me and avoid it. This could be the "bad luck" I was associating with the pennies before, when actually the penny was just the messenger telling me to "Watch out!" Tails-up pennies seem to indicate to me that I'm doing something right. I've made a change in my life that is positive, and the tails up penny signals it.

    Of course, with all that said, there's 2 caveats…

    1) I was born on Halloween, so luck seems to play opposite for me sometimes.

    2) I got into a car accident today, and after wards when I was walking around outside to work off the adrenaline I found 3 pennies next to each other, all heads-up. Maybe it was a belated warning. Maybe it was just a huge reminder to reinforce the accident … stay sharp and stay focused on the moment instead of working on plans for the future. Because at any moment, if you're not paying attention, something can happen NOW to totally toss your future plans out the window, making thinking about the future pointless. However, another caveat, I normally ride a two-wheeled motor scooter. If I had been riding that when I got in the accident, I'd probably be dead or in the hospital. The heads-up pennies could be telling me I should feel really damn lucky to be alive, and that nothing worse happened than just a couple of cars that got crunched. Hard to tell.

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  3. If you find a penny, thats good luck. but that means someone lost a penny, thats bad luck, Should you pick up somebody’s lost fortune?
    When I see a penny, I pick it up. Because that is what I was taught. “find a penny, save a penny”

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  4. Today, as I was sitting on a bench outside the supermarket and waiting for the senior town bus to take me home this is what happened.
    Before leaving the supermarket, I purchased a $5 scratch-off lottery ticket from the vending machine. While sitting on the bench I decided to see if I won anything. I knew I didn’t have any coins in my pocket and thought of things that I could use when I looked down and saw a penny on the ground. It was face up and less than a foot from where I was sitting.
    Naturally the thought that came to my mind was the old adage “find a penny pick it up….”. I laughed to myself and was pleased that the coin was face up. So why not give it a try and see if it would bring me luck.
    The first line that I scratched was a winner, not only was it was a winner, but it showed that I won more on that one line than any other winning lottery ticket of mine in the last fifty years.

    Reply
    • Dear Frank,
      Thank you for leaving this comment. My dad died in May of last year and reading your words reminded me of him. Why? Well, first he believed deeply in good luck and thought he was one of the luckiest guys in the world. Second, he was always finding money on the ground. Third, he loved playing those lottery scratch off tickets and got such a hoot out of winning.

      Your story sounds like the kind of tale he would’ve shared when he was alive. Thank you so much for leaving this comment. I miss my dad immensely and can’t tell you how much it meant to me to read your words. I’m glad you won today!

      Reply

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