luck penny

See also: luck-penny and luckpenny

English

Alternative forms

• luck-penny, luckpenny

Noun

luck penny (plural luck pennies)

1. (archaic) A small sum of money given back for luck when paying.

   Synonym: God's penny

   • c. 1827, Thomas Carlyle (translator), originally byJean Paul Friedrich Richter, The Campaner thal, and other writings, Life of Quintus Fixlein:

     I mean, had he not luckily exposed his legacy to jeopardy, having offered it as bounty-money and luckpenny to the patron

2. A coin carried or given for luck.
   • 1812, Maria Edgeworth, The Absentee, Chapter X:

     'A kind harvest to you, John Dolan,' cried the postillion, 'and success to ye, Winny, with the quality. There's a luck-penny for the child to begin with,' added he, throwing the child a penny.

See also

• luck money
• strike me lucky

Further reading

• In British and American culture, finding a penny is traditionally considered lucky. A proverbial expression of this is "Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck"; see Penny (Wikipedia).

References

• “penny”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.