The Irish penny may be a spent force on these shores, but for one Irish-American family it's proving a small object of desire.
The Mahoney family from Syracuse, New York, are purchasing one million penny coins from the charity group Pennies from Heaven at a cost of £10,000 or €12,700.
The family, who are involved in politics, are attaching the coins to their correspondence as lucky Irish pennies.
According to the Pennies from Heaven campaign manager, Ms Joanne Duffy, the family have used the Irish pennies for years in political campaigns and believe they have brought them good fortune.
Ms Duffy said: "It seems the Mahoney family want to continue to have a supply of the coins and are stocking up." The family have organised for the pennies to be collected from the charity's count centre in Dublin and are shipping them to New York at their own expense.
Ms Duffy said she was taken aback by the size of the request.
"I thought it might have been for a few thousand, but a million was a few more than I expected," she said.
Irish pennies in the US seem to be associated with the luck of the Irish, and there had been a number of requests from Irish-Americans who wished to purchase coins.
Ms Duffy said it proved how strong the Irish-American connection was.
Pennies from Heaven has also received a separate order for one million pennies. This time it is from an Irishman, but there is no information as to who he is.
