Jem and Scout’s treasure of 2 pennies is quite significant in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The pennies are wrapped in “a tiny shiny package” and are clearly meant to be found. Scout describes the box as the type that would hold wedding rings—something of great value. Jem identifies the pennies as having monetary value since they are Indian-head pennies from 1900 and 1906. He understands that the coins may also be sentimentally precious to someone as “they’ve been slicked up…[and] saved.” Jem tells Scout that Indian-head pennies are magical and bring luck to a person; he wonders why someone would leave them in the tree. He decides to hold the pennies until school begins again and then to ask if anyone lost them. Scout notices him staring intently at the Radley house as he considers who might have placed the pennies in the tree. Ultimately, the knot-hole becomes a type of mailbox for the children and Arthur until Nathan seals it.

The pennies are symbolic in several ways. First, they represent Arthur “Boo” Radley’s humanity: something that the town’s rumors have destroyed any sign of. People have added to the rumors over the years so that Arthur is now seen as a “malevolent phantom.” By placing the pennies in the tree, Arthur attempts to reach out in friendship to the children, which reveals that he is not the monster of rumor but instead a decent human being. Thus, the pennies can symbolize both a gesture of friendship and the chipping away of a destructive rumor. Next, the pennies may represent the innocence of Arthur and the children. In many ways, Arthur is just as innocent and pure as any child, as his family has prevented him from growing up. He leaves the coins, his valuable possessions, in the knot-hole in the hope of reaching out to the children with whom he identifies.