In Tom and Jerry, Episode 34 - Kitty Foiled (1948), Tom thinks he got shot and starts dying, but just before he finishes dying, Tom starts flipping a coin, you can see this in the video below:
Is there any significance behind this? Is this an inspiration from a past movie?
There is an earlier movie that may well have inspired that scene: 1932's Scarface
George Raft was famous for flipping a coin in Scarface:
Raft's big break came when cast as the second lead, alongside Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, in Scarface (1932), directed by Howard Hawks. He plays second-in-command Guino Rinaldo, who falls in love with Camonte's sister and is murdered by him. Raft's performance was notable for his character frequently flipping a coin (a nickel) during scenes, which became an iconic trope in gangster films. (Many people later claimed credit for this idea, including Raft and Hawks.) The film was shot in September 1931, but not released by United Artists until the following year. It was a landmark hit, and Raft garnered a lot of attention; audience adulation made a star of him.
Hawks included hand gestures, a common motif in his films. In Scarface, George Raft was instructed to repetitively flip a coin, which he does throughout the film.
Here's a video showing him do that:
