The planted penny

I've been so remiss in keeping up with the blog lately. I've actually run three races since my last post. But busy schedules and just thinking of doing something else has kept me from writing about them. I'll do that soon.
But I have to write about what I suspect is a planted penny.
A planted penny?
Well, my neighbor's children know about my "found money" collection. On New Year's Eve 2011, Benny and Maddie helped me count up all of my found money from my piggy bank. Remember, it was whole $4.42.

The "found money" piggy bank

Apparently, that made quite an impression on young Benny, who is 8. Not so much the total, although I think he was impressed with that -- but that I actually have fun finding the pennies and nickels and dimes along the way.
He's said something to his mother, Christine, about putting out pennies for me to find, because he knows I like finding them.
So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I went out to my mailbox to collect my mail and on the ground near my mailbox was a penny. Not a shiny new one, but a mud-colored one that I have probably been overlooking for a while.
I picked it up and immediately wondered, "Is this a planted penny from Benny?"
I suspect it is.
The next time I see him, I'll have to exclaim my delight at finding it to see if I get a reaction from him. Either way, he'll know I got a kick out of finding it, planted or not.