LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Everybody knows the saying, "find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck."

Well, nowadays, you might want to hold on to that good fortune a little bit longer because the days of pennies might be no more.

"The last time the U.S. did away with the coin was in the 1800s, where we did away with the half cent," explained Steve Goode, who is the executive director of the Arkansas Retail Association.

A century later, another change is on the way, and this time, it's involving the penny.

"Production has stopped and we're fixing to be penniless," Goode said.

It sounds like something out of a movie — pennies on the brink of extinction.

"The president, early in his second term, decided that, you know, it costs about 3.4 cents, I think, to make a penny today,

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