What do you do with all of the pennies we have been talking about this week?

Just feed a coin into the dino's mouth and watch it zig-zag into its belly. Each Coinasaurus Big Belly Dinosaur Bank is hand-made in the US. To open bank's Dino belly, simply unscrew the center bolt.

Tip: You might want to include a roll of pennies with this gift, just so the parents don't have to scrounge up the change for their little one to "feed the dino."

Here's a little bit of US history - in 1943 war time, steel pennies were minted due to expectations of a copper shortage. This Steel Cents Collection of 5 pennies (minted in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver) was never placed into circulation.

The current US penny is zinc with a copper plating. Did you know that in the 1970's they considered making them out of aluminum? A very small quantity were minted but never circulated. These aluminum pennies are now considered illegal and are subject to seizure by the Secret Service. Wow!

My mother used to say that I could "Squeeze a nickel so hard I could make the Indian ride the buffalo." If you aren't familiar with this phrase, then maybe you haven't ever seen a buffalo nickel. Well, here is a bag with a Buffalo Nickel Collection. 23 genuine Buffalo nickels with assorted mint dates from 1913-1938.

They have a Native American profile on the front and the American bison on the reverse.

btw - The phrase means you are frugal, or if you prefer, "tight with money." Get it? Good!

With all of the political goings-on lately, I thought it would be a good idea to get back to basics. Since most students are apparently not taught a little thing we used to call "civics" any more, I figured this would be a good place to start.

This Declaration Of Independence Coin Set has three bicentennial coins presented alongside a beautifully crafted facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, all beautifully framed.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I going to go pursue some of that happiness while I can!