Find a penny, pick it up.

That's exactly what Kyle Czarkowski did when he saw a coin poking out of the dirt while digging up a sidewalk at the former Watres Armory in Scranton.He sprinkled some water on it and rubbed away the grime to reveal an 1899 Indian Head penny.He imagines that a worker building the armory 116 years ago dropped the coin and it got covered by a slate slab of walkway.The slate later got covered by concrete, and even later by asphalt. There, underneath it all, the penny remained undisturbed until a few weeks ago, when Czarkowski's work crew from Cerminaro Construction of Jermyn excavated the old walkways to make way for new ones."We were digging, and there was three layers of old sidewalks," Czarkowski said."We were starting to fill it back with topsoil, and that's when I saw the penny. It wasn't too shiny. When I picked it up, I put water on it and wiped it off and saw 1899. I've never seen one that old."Czarkowski, 22, of Scranton, called his brother, Jacob Whiteduck, 13, of Fleetville - who happens to collect coins - to tell him of the find. "He was more excited than me," Czarkowski said. Later, "When I showed it to him, his eyes lit up."Jacob couldn't believe his brother found the penny by luck, and without a metal detector."I was amazed," Jacob said.The United States minted Indian Head pennies from 1859 through 1909.An 1899 penny, considered an average-circulation coin, typically is not worth much money, said Michael Lettieri of Avoca, president of the Wyoming Valley Coin Club and board member of the Scranton Coin Club."It's probably only worth a few dollars, unfortunately," Lettieri said. "Maybe when it was dropped it was in really nice shape, but being in the ground over 100 years, they don't hold up too well. Silver holds up better. It's a memento."Built in 1900-01, the 60,240-square-foot former armory at 900 Adams Ave. resembles a castle fortress. The state replaced it with the Scranton Armed Forces Reserve Center on Olyphant Avenue, which opened in 2011.The state completed an auction sale of the armory in January 2015 to developer Don Mammano. He rents the building to an artist. In late July, heavy rain turned Myrtle Street into a river that wreaked havoc on curbs and walkways, Mammano said."It was a disaster. I had to maintain the sidewalks and fix it," Mammano said.During that work, Czarkowski found the penny."It had to be from somebody building it (the armory). It was underneath the sidewalk," he said.Mammano agreed, saying, "It's a really cool story."Czarkowski plans to keep the penny - or he might give it to Jacob."I'll let him hold onto it, but he can't get rid of it," Czarkowski said. "He'll have it eventually. Maybe tomorrow."