Noting a famine of pennies in one of our southern towns which I visited recently, I inquired the reason. "It's the kids and them new slot machines," said the shopkeeper whom I questioned; and, sure enough, outside several shops I discovered many newly-fixed wall slot machines, brilliant in fresh coats of scarlet, blue and yellow paint, and bearing in gilt lettering the tempting titles: "Peppermint beech nuts," "Toffee made in Limerick," "Flavoured chewing sweets" - besides the more ordinary varieties of chocolates and toffees.
These had evidently been busy luring coppers from the pockets of small boys.
The paucity of coppers reminds me of the big famine in pennies which nearly resulted when the Insurance Act first came into force, and fourpence weekly had to be deducted from the wages of millions of workers.
In order to set things right, the Mint turned out sixty-five million pennies in 1912. The Birmingham Mint in the same year coined £70,000 worth of coppers - just a little too large to go into penny-in-the-slot machines.
These coins are still in circulation, and may be distinguished from those made at the Royal Mint by a small letter "H".
This is the initial of the firm of Heaton, which originally owned the Birmingham Mint.
The Irish Times, May 23rd, 1932.