This dish of black-eyed peas and rice is customary for New Year's Day in the American south, where black-eyed peas are considered auspicious based on their resemblance to coins.

Black-eyed peas with ham and cornbread is standard fare on New Years all across the southeast. Cheap, plentiful, and very good.

Additionally, black-eyed peas look nothing like coins. I have zero clue where that idea came from. I've heard of people cooking a penny along with their peas, but have never done so.