People will walk past a castoff penny left on the sidewalk, deciding it’s not worth the trouble to bend over and pick it up. We toss pennies into fountains and wells, hoping to buy a wish on the cheap. We offer a penny for someone’s thoughts, even if we don’t think they’re worth a cent.

Pennies have been subject to ridicule and almost loathing. We collect them, leave them and flatten them on the railroad tracks. There’s no such thing as a quarter bowl in the checkout lane. It’s “need a penny, take a penny; got a penny, leave a penny” – pure penny communism.

But after seeing the Sun Journal article Tuesday about a rare find in Auburn, we won’t be so quick to scoff at the one-cent piece.

A woman walked into Republic Jewelry & Collectibles in July with a collection of coins. It didn’t take long for Dan Cunliffe Sr. to recognize something special, a 1793 one-cent piece that could be worth more than $1 million. Called the “strawberry leaf” for its trefoil sprig, the penny is the size of a half dollar. There are only four or five of the coins known to still exist.

It’s unlikely that there’s another million dollar penny lying around the Twin Cities, waiting to be discovered. But we’ll be checking the nightstand and change jars just in case.