Take back all the pennies first...the suits will suit themselves for a bit while longer...
Why is he called "The Penny King?"
The retired banker appeared to be homeless. He had placed all his assets into a blind trust offshore, and like a good pirate, buried his treasures. He had thereafter taken a vow of poverty.
But the homeless who wandered the streets of Portland by day, and slept under the bridges by night, began to recognize him as the benevolent idiosyncratic monkish King of Portland Pennies.
One day, while walking near the fountain at Paranoid park, across from the police station at 9th and Stark, and kitty corner to the Federal Reserve Bank Portland Branch, (it was called Paranoid Park because many of the customers of the street dealers would buy and sell their drugs under their noses, constantly looking behind their backs to see if they were coming) a street kid came up to him and asked him for some spare change.
"Do you have a penny?" he asked.
"You don't need a penny do you, you don't look like you do," replied the teen.
"Give me a penny and I will tell you why I am asking you for one," he replied.
The young man dug into his pockets and handed him a shiny 1995 penny.
"The next time I see you, I will buy all of your pennies for a nickel each!" he told the youth, and promptly disappeared behind the trees lining the park.
The next day, the youth spotted him sitting near the fountain and walked up to him with a handful of pennies. There were 20 in all, for which he promptly gave him four quarters.
"Why would you do this?” asked the beggared young lad.
"Because you believed in my words, and you took the time to save those pennies, gather them up, and if you ever want to learn how to invest your money and eventually get off the streets of Portland, you need to start by saving all your pennies", he said with a grin.
It did not take long, and two weeks later, at least two dozen people were exchanging their pennies with him for a nickel each. A cadre of moneychangers was being formed.
He chose a core group of young gals and guys and taught them how to collect pennies politely from people as they pounded the pavement.
"When you ask someone for all the spare coins in their pocket, they are offended and think you are lazy. But if instead you ask them for one penny, they are more inclined to look to see if they have one to give. In many instances they will ask you why you are asking for just one penny, and if it is for a good cause, they may give you more than a penny."
Soon, as the word spread through the streets of Portland, hundreds of teenagers, street kids all, were asking strangers for pennies. Instead of loitering around in front of stores and in the parks, he taught them that the more you ask, the more you will receive.
"Take half of all you freely receive and give it away like I am doing. Do as I do, not as I say", he would tell them. "Buy pennies from your fellow man for a nickel each, and you will increase your wealth by 500% for every penny you save, and you will gradually increase the purchasing power of all your fellow street walkers by the same amount. And sooner or later you will have enough money to get off the streets and quit sleeping under the cold bridges."
"How long have you been doing this?" asked one young 20-year-old girl who had been addicted to methampetamines since she was 16.
"I started saving all my pennies when I was twelve, 24 years ago", he told her. "I am leaving for Los Angeles in a few days, I'm going to hitch hike, why don't you come with me and I will teach you everything I know about money, people and life?
"I couldn't", said the drug addict.
Ok, then, save all your pennies, and if I ever see you again, I will buy all of them from you for a nickel each. If it doesn't happen in ten years, you will still make a 50% return a year on your savings, that will at least give you something to remember me by," he responded.
The day before he was to leave for Los Angeles, a young man about 30 years old with a backpack weighing him down spotted him in the Park.
"Hey! You are the Penny King!"
"What?" he asked.
"Yeh man, you're the dude that has been buying up all the pennies from everyone on the streets of Portland for the past few months for a nickel each."
"Oh, yeh, that, what about it?"
"Well, check this out man, I've got a whole knapsack here full of pennies. I've been looking for you for weeks!
"Whoa!" he said, "the bank is closed today, but meet me here tomorrow at 4 PM and I will give you a nickel for each of them!" and he walked away.
The next day, at precisely 4 PM, they met again and the trade took place. The happy camper got $40 for the roughly 800 pennies that changed hands that day.
They both agreed not to count them; it was easier to guess how many pennies were in the knapsack. The Portland penny shortage was well under way.
That night, he left for Hollywood to make a film on the big screen of life, aptly called "The Penny King"
Two weeks later, he was admitted to the West Hollywood homeless shelter near Santa Monica Boulevard and La Brea. It was here that Penny King Productions was borne. But that is the subject of another story, and a movie in the making on the big screen of life!
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