The 1986 film "Stand by Me" is based on the Stephen King 1982 novel The Body and is about four young boys (around 12 years old) in 1959 Oregon who spend the Labor Day weekend hiking a long distance to view the body of a deceased boy. The boys have various adventures along the way. Early in the film the boys play cards for pennies and later on their journey flip four nickels to decide who goes to purchase food.

In 1985 writer Gordie Lachance reads a newspaper article about the death of his childhood friend Chris Chambers. He then tells the story of the adventure that he, Chris, and two other boys had in 1959 when he was 12 years old.

The boys are meeting at a treehouse and playing cards for pennies.
They are Vern Tessio, Chris Chambers, Gordie Lachance, and Teddy Duchamp. Chris and Vern have older brothers who are members of a gang of "juvenile delinquents" lead by Ace Merrill. Vern once buried a jar of pennies under his house and then forgot the location. He spends time digging for the pennies.

Vern tells the other boys that while he was underneath the house he overheard his older brother gang member Billy and another boy talking about finding the body of missing boy Ray Brower several miles away. The two gang members are afraid to report the body to the police. The four boys do a little research and find that the route to the body involves a 20 mile hike. They bring supplies from their homes and Chris shows up with his father's Army pistol.

They need food and pool their funds which amount to $2.37 in small change.

To get to the food store the boy has to cross a junkyard whose owner keeps a legendary dangerous dog. The boys flip nickels to decide who goes for the food.

The boys remove their hands.

The four nickels all show Jefferson Nickel reverses or "tails" which they call a "goocher" and which means extremely bad luck. Conversely four "heads" are a "moon" and mean good luck.

A United States Jefferson nickel or 5 cent coin of the period:

Copper-nickel, 21.2 mm, 5.0 gm, Denver Mint

The boys flip coins again and Gordie crosses the junkyard for the food. When he returns he is chased by the dog but is able to climb a fence and escape. The boys continue their hike and encounter a train on a railroad bridge and cross a swamp. They spend the night in the woods and the next day locate the body.

Vern points to the body.

The boys look at the body and then see two gang members who have driven to the place.

The gang members are Eyeball (who is Chris's older brother) and Ace.
They argue with the four boys, Ace pulls out a switchblade knife and threatens the boys, then Gordie pulls out Chris's pistol and fires a shot causing the gang members to leave. Back in 1985 the adult Gordie states that someone made an anonymous phone call to report the body.

Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance
River Phoenix as Chris Chambers
Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp
Jerry O'Connell as Vern Tessio
Kiefer Sutherland as Ace Merrill
Bradley Gregg as Richard "Eyeball" Chambers
Richard Dreyfuss as adult Gordie Lachance
Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans
Based on the 1982 novel The Body by Stephen King