What would I pick up off the street?

Apparently a lot of folks would like to get rid of coppers. No, not them, the other kind. The kind that clutters up your wallet. Which, in principle, seems fine. I don't think those little 1p and 2p coins really add up to much of a difference in anyone's life. I seem to remember Pick 'n Pay in SA made the bold move of wiping the spare change off all till totals - rounding down to the nearest 5p I think - for customer convenience. Lovely idea and all. But what would I pick up off the street?

Yes, you read that right, I'm saddened to think my heart would no longer be gladdened by the bright glint of a lucky penny. It's a habit I picked up from a friend - you know who you are - who's a keen-eyed and fervent believer in stray pennies as a sign of luck. I've adopted that, to the point that I've started to feel a bit cheated by fate if I don't have a small gathering of coinage clinking in my pocket at any one time, or if the streets are stubbornly empty for, say, a week. Occasionally there's a little silver - once I even found a whole pound - but, unsurprisingly, for the most part it's just pennies. Get rid of the pennies, get rid of my luck.

Or I could just get a life.