The 8p Monument

A little pile of coins sat on a junction box.

An unassuming junction box with a just as unassuming collection of coins.

Strays. That’s what they were. Stray coins.

Not the ones you want to pull out of your pocket when you need them.

The one’s that make you go “Oh, hang on, let me get some more cash”.

The one’s that, if you have the option, you hand back to the cashier.

The one’s that, really, you can’t do anything with.

Not on their own. Not these three.

A 5p. A 2p. And a 1p.

Just sat there, in a neat little pile, on this junction box.

They had to have been positioned, like a tiered cake for ants.

The large, rusty 2p at the bottom. 

The 1p, typically unassuming, barraged in the middle. 

And the 5p, glistening, as a 5p often does, right at the top. 

On a junction box? I mean… why a junction box?

Did someone want to thank the junction box for its service?

I’m all for thanking a junction box for its service, but, surely we can all agree, a junction box deserves more than 8p.

The 8p monument sat there for some time. Some wandering soul, thanking this junction box, taking the time to create this little piece of art.

Now, 8p is 8p. Pennies make pounds. We’ve all heard that.

Pennies make pounds.

Do I… SWIPE them!? Pick them up!?

Pennies make pounds.

I’d rather them be safe, preserved, and looked after. Happily jiggling in my pocket. 

Otherwise they’d just be… well…left out in the cold. Left to the ravages of time. 

Nobody wants that. The ravages of time aren’t nice. Especially to rusty old 2p’s.

Pennies. Make. Pounds.

So I headed on over. A weary traveller reaching a mini Machu Pichu. 

And there. Right in front of me. 8 whole pence. How lovely. How nice. How (kind-of) shiny. But…

This was THE 8p monument. The ONE and ONLY 8p monument. Sat on THE junction box.

If I took it away, would the junction box feel cheated?

Would the artist, that wandering soul who created this icon, feel scorned?

Would they just become strays again, jiggling in my pocket?

Would I ever need to spend them? If I’m feeling the pull of a nice bag of Skips?

Would they end up being spent on something they wouldn’t want to be spent on? Not every pile of coins likes Skips.

Would they end up mixed up with so many other scraggy little pennies, that these very special pennies would become… just pennies?

I couldn’t bare the thought.

So I left them. I walked on by. On the junction box. Left to the ravages of time.

A little bit of history. Preserved forever.

Or, at least… Until the next person walks by…

The next person isn’t going to have any moral quandaries about a whole 8 pence.

The next person won’t be so daft.

The next person will take them.

The time of the monument… will come to a close.

And I can’t blame them for that.

After all… Pennies make pounds. 

Ryan Croughan is one of the unfortunate souls who keeps the Minor Spillage ship sailing. Sailing? Probably better to say paddling. As well as producing, he finds time to present and provide voiceovers. He also says he doesn't like the sound of his own voice. Bit odd really.