Mark Grueskin wanted a way to give his 2 cents: Stop worrying about the Democratic National Convention and enjoy the show.
To do it, he’s circulating 465 pennies and nickels minted 100 years ago, when Denver held its first convention.
“There’s so much panic,” he said. “Hopefully, this helps them get in the mood of it all.”
Grueskin, an attorney at Isaacson Rosenbaum PC, gave 8 cents to each of his co-workers on Thursday.
There’s a catch: They must spend it at a building that was around in 1908. Or they can use it on items that someone would have purchased 100 years ago.
Grueskin said that by doing this, they’re going back in history.
“Imagine that you just got off the train in Denver” for the 1908 convention, he said to his co-workers. “Imagine what you would need.”
Spend it on coffee, he said, but not on a Starbucks double latte with whipped cream and sprinkles. Spend it on shoelaces, he said, but not flip-flops.
You get the picture.
Grueskin wants his co-workers to spend the money by the end of July, just in time for the convention. Who knows, he said, one coin might end up in the hands of a delegate.
Lynn Tumey, a legal assistant at the firm, spent one of her pennies to help pay for her meal at Marlowe’s on Thursday.
Though Marlowe’s opened in 1982, the Kittredge Building was built in the late 1800s.
Tumey and two co-workers then had another question: What did they eat in 1908?
The majority settled with buffalo burgers. And later on, two of them ordered shots of Jack Daniels.
“You have to stretch the brain a lot to think about what they would’ve done in 1908,” Tumey said. “You have to think about what we have now and what they had then.”
Tumey said she plans to spend the rest of her money at the Molly Brown House Museum or at the Tattered Cover Book Store.
Susan Tablack, a legal assistant at the firm, said she was going to spend some of her money at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, which opened in 1908. She wants to buy a plastic stegosaurus, the state fossil.
Karen Steinhauser, a former Denver prosecutor, ate at the Ship Tavern in the Brown Palace. She used her money to help pay for the meal and tip.
“It’s just fun,” she said. “It’s in the spirit of the convention. It’s exciting doing this in the city that’s hosting the convention.”
Tumey said the coins have an underlying message: change.
“You want people to think change,” she said. “There are a lot of people right now that think this country has been headed in the wrong direction for a while, and Barack Obama and John McCain talk about change.”
Staff writer Chuck Plunkett contributed to this report.
Christopher Sanchez: 303-954-1698 or csanchez@denverpost.com
