Pennies: Can't Even Buy Your Mom - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Halx · 10-22-2007, 05:49 PM

Pennies: Can't Even Buy Your Mom
by Andrew Gonsalves www.tfproject.org www.andrewgonsalves.com

The cost-to-entertainment ratio of literally throwing your money at pigeons and the elderly is more economical than chartering a Thai hooker.

I'll bet my entire bucket of change that you have a penny collection, too. (Winner pays shipping.) You may store it in a glass jar, an oversized novelty coke bottle, or a nondescript plastic bin. You're probably saving the pennies up for a "rainy day" or you're challenging yourself to see if you can fill the container up. Whether its heads or tails, it all adds up to the same deduction: These are fractions of nearly every cash dollar that you've earned that will not see circulation or investment for a long time - maybe not before they become ENTIRELY worthless. Even if you did win my bet, you wouldn't take it; metal coins aren't worth their weight in anything and the moment you try to spend them is when they cross the line from currency to burden.

We are taught that the health of the economy includes a measurement of the amount of money in circulation. By paying in cash, the change for the dollar you just fractionally spent has only a small chance of benefitting you on any further purchases. You even get funny looks and impatient sighs if you do try to make the most out of your wealth. Like mullets, pennies just don't fit our lifestyle anymore. Even banks will refuse your coins, forcing you to exchange them at an automated machine for a voucher and a loss of 10%. There are so few good guys in the world of money that will acknowledge currency for what it is because it is a simple matter of labor and often materials that barely justify the worth of the tender.

Of course pennies didn't start out useless, but its important to remember that in the beginning they were also enforced by the gold standard and were even made out of valuable metal. It used to be that if you put 2 Jews in a room with a penny, you'd get copper wire, but now you only get zinc. The Federal Reserve and inflation has made pennies useless in the way it was more economical in 1994 to use Yugoslavian Dinars to wipe your ass than to buy toilet paper with them. As I sit here with a stack of change from today's purchases of lunch and a snack, I wonder when lawmakers are ever going to get around to doing away with the penny like they keep hinting about. Then I wonder if the dampened economy is all part of the master plan.

Conspiracy theories aside, I applaud the (tragically few) businesses who now round all purchases to the nearest nickel and I ADORE the ones who deal in only quarters. When I run my own business, I plan to do the same. It is a courtesy that people will notice and appreciate over time. Making purchases with pennies is like surfing ESPN.com on 2400 baud. The existence of change in such small denominations takes whole percentages of each dollar we spend in cash out of circulation and favors only those with the patience to penny pinch. I see New York bums picking pennies out of their change cups. It even insults the wishing well spirits if you throw in anything less than a dime.

To wrap this up, I feel that pennies should be banished. I knew it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to make such a claim, so I wrote this entire article to entertain the choir that I'm preaching to. I hope you enjoyed it. And remember, change doesn't come from the cash register, it comes from within!

Random thought about change: Gimmick penny banks are actually a good investment. If you circulate enough people through your residence, their curiosity for the function of your bank will entice them to deposit coins for your cause at will until you've paid it off. Unless you're my aunt and pay $800 for an annoying musical one.

One more thought: If you live or work by a Commerce Bank, they have no-charge change machines that are open for your use. Yay! Down with Coinstar!

DIGG!

Shauk · 10-22-2007, 06:13 PM

my last trip to coinstar earned me over 100$

what can I say? I'm bad at keeping change in my pockets.

Cynthetiq · 10-22-2007, 06:21 PM

I roll them. Banks give you the wrappers, you roll them write your account number on them and they give you the money.

though I still hate carrying that heavy bag of pennies. It's annoying.

I have yet to use Commerce Bank. They are even open until 7pm and on Sundays!!!!

But I loathe coinstar, well I like the technology. They are attached to a network and they know based on history how fast it will fill up and when to send someone to remove the change. But I don't see any reason to give up 10% for "convenience."

ngdawg · 10-22-2007, 06:41 PM

I have two metal buckets we dump change into and a cup by the laundry for change that's found in the washer or dryer. Mostly there's pennies in the buckets because the kids take the silver for lunch. I have a coin machine so I just run that when money is really needed and found that, while pennies are a bitch, since there's more of those than anything else, they add up faster. I just take a few rolls at a time along with the rest of the coinage rather than carry 10 pounds of 50c rolls-the rest goes in a box until it's needed-if I have, say, $47 in change, I grab $3 in pennies.
As for banishing the little things. I'd prefer my outgo not be rounded to the nearest 5, plus how would sales tax be calculated?
There was a time several years ago that some banks were making 'offers', like, bring in $10 worth of pennies, receive $11 cash-probably to get the copper back before using the alloy.
We have a baggy filled with 'wheat pennies', so those are real copper; I have no idea if they're worth more than 1c each though.

Plan9 · 10-22-2007, 07:21 PM

ngdawg,

Your change wrangling antics make my heart glad.

analog · 10-22-2007, 08:02 PM

I agree... pennies are pointless anymore. I also enjoy those shops who've switched over to rounding prices to the nickel. Pennies just get in the way.

I hate change of any kind being in my pocket... so every time I get home, the first thing I do is dump any change in my pocket into this deep tray on my desk. This is, of course, if I hadn't already dumped it into the tray in my car.

The last time I cashed it in, it was barely half-full (and I have no idea how long it took to accumulate it all). I went out and added the (rather large) tray in my car and between the two, I got $112. Couldn't have been more than a 12 - 18 months.

With the coinstar kiosks, you can get it in a couple of different gift cards and you lose no value for commission, every cent is yours... so I put it into an Amazon.com card, since I wanted to use the money to buy an iPod nano anyway.

Push-Pull · 10-22-2007, 08:06 PM

I can say for certain that change is NOT useless. And if you don't believe me, just wait until the next time you're broke and your next paycheck isn't for a week and a half.

I like using the change from my otherwise unused ashtray at the drive through. The longer it takes for me to get to the window, the more pennies they get. I actually got rid of 150+ pennies at a Jack in the Box one time. Good thing my food was ready, because they were pissed!

I do wrap them up and cash them in once every couple years. Usually get $80~$100, and we go out for "free" with it. Never had a problem with the bank taking them when wrapped.

inBOIL · 10-22-2007, 10:01 PM

Right now I have $37 in wrapped coins sitting on my dresser waitiing to go to the bank. I once (for a few months) tried spending my coins during normal transactions, and found that I made fewer ATM trips. But it was too much hassle to remember to carry coins everywhere and count out exact change every time I made a purchace, so now I enjoy the "free" money I get when I cash in my coins.

Cynthetiq · 10-22-2007, 10:11 PM

there are those that scoff at the idea of keeping change, or that change doesn't matter. they won't pick up change from the street. this thread proves that change, makes a difference.

snowy · 10-22-2007, 10:27 PM

I have a large jar on my desk filled with the change and dollar bills I pick up from around my house. It's my grown-up piggy bank. If I could ever get my boyfriend to stop taking quarters from it for coffee and actually fill it to the top (it's perpetually 3/4ths full, it seems), my plan is to take it to the bank and use the free coin sorter to cash it all in...then start over again.

waltert · 10-22-2007, 10:44 PM

when I cashed in my coins last week, I had roughly 2,000 pennies...yeah...thats right, $20.

I'm not ashamed to pick up a penny!

LazyBoy · 10-22-2007, 10:57 PM

I roll my own change, if I'm soo cheap taht I save change, I'm too cheap to sacrifice any % to get it rolled

-Will

JohnBua · 10-23-2007, 02:03 AM

Do you have to pay anything to use the machines at Commerce Bank?

ShaniFaye · 10-23-2007, 04:45 AM

Since I enrolled in the keep the change program at my bank I very rarely have change anymore, and I dont miss it, I have no use for it. The money is put directly into my savings account and matched by the bank up to 250 bucks a year.

I dont miss rolling my coins anymore

ngdawg · 10-23-2007, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cynthetiq

there are those that scoff at the idea of keeping change, or that change doesn't matter. they won't pick up change from the street. this thread proves that change, makes a difference.

D'oh!

/me picks up change from the street, even the drive-up windows at fast food places.

Leto · 10-23-2007, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onesnowyowl

I have a large jar on my desk filled with the change and dollar bills I pick up from around my house. It's my grown-up piggy bank. If I could ever get my boyfriend to stop taking quarters from it for coffee and actually fill it to the top (it's perpetually 3/4ths full, it seems), my plan is to take it to the bank and use the free coin sorter to cash it all in...then start over again.

empty the jar to about a third full (hide the coins in stash somewhere) so that the jar again approaches the magical equilibrium of 3/4 full. Then dump the held back amount in. Presto! a full jar!

sometimes change can be interesting. I can find some rare or should I say, old coins that I want to keep for interest sake. I recently got a 12 sided nickel from 1946 (it has King George on it!)

I also have a nickel from 1945 with the "V" for victory on it, along with the 50th anniversary version from 2005.

Plus I get the occasional centennial coin (1967) with all the "groovy" designs that were popular back then.
Change can be fun too!

Redlemon · 10-23-2007, 05:59 AM

I use my change immediately. I make sure to keep the amount of change I have less than $1. Before the person at the register has finished ringing up the bill, I have the change sorted in my hand so that I don't have to fumble for it.

For my 5 year old son's bank, we have used the Coinstar -> Amazon gift certificate method. Of course, we give him the cash immediately out of our pockets, and the Amazon certificate goes into my account.

OzOz · 10-23-2007, 01:52 PM

Here in Oz, we did away with our one cent and two cent (copper) coins around twenty years ago, when the value of the metal in the coins became greater than the face value of the coins. Now the denominations we have in coin are five cents, ten cents, twenty cents, fifty cents, one and two dollars. Mind you, it still builds up...

hunnychile · 10-23-2007, 02:13 PM

All my change might as well go to tfp!

It's not as much as I wish I could send right this minute, (maybe 25 bucks!!)but it's going to a great site and worth every penny!!

...And let's face it...it's a helluva lot more fun than my mom!

Plan9 · 10-23-2007, 05:09 PM

(hordes ALL the Sacajawea dollar coins)

Man, I've got like fifty of 'em and I play with 'em like Scrooge McDuck.

Grasshopper Green · 10-23-2007, 05:38 PM

Hubby and I have paid for 2 Disneyland vacations with the change we saved over a year. With the advent of the debit card...our change saving ability has drastically decreased since neither of us carries cash much anymore. I still pick change up off the ground and toss it into a vase though. When the vase is full...which may be a long time...I'll redeem it at Coinstar.

JohnBua · 10-23-2007, 05:38 PM

I brought my cup of change to Commerce Bank. It was over 30 bucks. I was supprised. I guessed only 12. It was nice as I had to meet friends before class at a diner and I got to enjoy a meal instead of watching them eat like I did last week.

Sion · 10-25-2007, 03:41 PM

a solid copper penny is (or was a couple of months ago) worth 5 cents as scrap copper. naturally, it's illegal to destroy government property (which all cash is) but it goes on all the time.

alicat · 10-29-2007, 07:05 PM

Hubby and I are amuter numismatic's. My Dad started me on collecting coins when I was a kid though it only lasted for a handful of years. My interest was renewed (and hubbie's awakened) a few years ago, sometime after the state quarters were issued. His co-worker had been collecting them and had a duplicate set he gave us.

Our washer had just died and since we had a laundrymat on the corner I was pretty frequently getting $10 in quarters, which led to scouring for state quarter's we needed, and the snowball began to roll. We now buy (infrequently) what coins we can afford (and get them as gift's).

Being that we use our debit cards 99% of the time, we don't collect much change. We started to fill a water bottle almost 3 yrs. ago and it still is only about 1/4 inch deep. As much as I love the nostalga and history of our coinage, I see it dying a very quiet death given the ease of having a "credit" card that is linked directly to our checking account's and debited instantly as if we had taken out and recieved that physical cash out of our accounts.

I don't really have an opinion on pennies, I guess because I see the demise of all paper and metal money happening in the near future. My BIL however is practically launching a campain to do away with all coin's smaller than a quarter.

10-22-2007, 05:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	Pennies: Can't Even Buy Your Mom Pennies: Can't Even Buy Your Mom by Andrew Gonsalves www.tfproject.org www.andrewgonsalves.com The cost-to-entertainment ratio of literally throwing your money at pigeons and the elderly is more economical than chartering a Thai hooker. I'll bet my entire bucket of change that you have a penny collection, too. (Winner pays shipping.) You may store it in a glass jar, an oversized novelty coke bottle, or a nondescript plastic bin. You're probably saving the pennies up for a "rainy day" or you're challenging yourself to see if you can fill the container up. Whether its heads or tails, it all adds up to the same deduction: These are fractions of nearly every cash dollar that you've earned that will not see circulation or investment for a long time - maybe not before they become ENTIRELY worthless. Even if you did win my bet, you wouldn't take it; metal coins aren't worth their weight in anything and the moment you try to spend them is when they cross the line from currency to burden. We are taught that the health of the economy includes a measurement of the amount of money in circulation. By paying in cash, the change for the dollar you just fractionally spent has only a small chance of benefitting you on any further purchases. You even get funny looks and impatient sighs if you do try to make the most out of your wealth. Like mullets, pennies just don't fit our lifestyle anymore. Even banks will refuse your coins, forcing you to exchange them at an automated machine for a voucher and a loss of 10%. There are so few good guys in the world of money that will acknowledge currency for what it is because it is a simple matter of labor and often materials that barely justify the worth of the tender. Of course pennies didn't start out useless, but its important to remember that in the beginning they were also enforced by the gold standard and were even made out of valuable metal. It used to be that if you put 2 Jews in a room with a penny, you'd get copper wire, but now you only get zinc. The Federal Reserve and inflation has made pennies useless in the way it was more economical in 1994 to use Yugoslavian Dinars to wipe your ass than to buy toilet paper with them. As I sit here with a stack of change from today's purchases of lunch and a snack, I wonder when lawmakers are ever going to get around to doing away with the penny like they keep hinting about. Then I wonder if the dampened economy is all part of the master plan. Conspiracy theories aside, I applaud the (tragically few) businesses who now round all purchases to the nearest nickel and I ADORE the ones who deal in only quarters. When I run my own business, I plan to do the same. It is a courtesy that people will notice and appreciate over time. Making purchases with pennies is like surfing ESPN.com on 2400 baud. The existence of change in such small denominations takes whole percentages of each dollar we spend in cash out of circulation and favors only those with the patience to penny pinch. I see New York bums picking pennies out of their change cups. It even insults the wishing well spirits if you throw in anything less than a dime. To wrap this up, I feel that pennies should be banished. I knew it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to make such a claim, so I wrote this entire article to entertain the choir that I'm preaching to. I hope you enjoyed it. And remember, change doesn't come from the cash register, it comes from within! Random thought about change: Gimmick penny banks are actually a good investment. If you circulate enough people through your residence, their curiosity for the function of your bank will entice them to deposit coins for your cause at will until you've paid it off. Unless you're my aunt and pay $800 for an annoying musical one. One more thought: If you live or work by a Commerce Bank, they have no-charge change machines that are open for your use. Yay! Down with Coinstar! DIGG! __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals] Last edited by Halx; 10-22-2007 at 05:59 PM..

10-22-2007, 06:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	I roll them. Banks give you the wrappers, you roll them write your account number on them and they give you the money. though I still hate carrying that heavy bag of pennies. It's annoying. I have yet to use Commerce Bank. They are even open until 7pm and on Sundays!!!! But I loathe coinstar, well I like the technology. They are attached to a network and they know based on history how fast it will fill up and when to send someone to remove the change. But I don't see any reason to give up 10% for "convenience." __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-22-2007, 07:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	ngdawg, Your change wrangling antics make my heart glad. __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake."

10-22-2007, 08:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
analog Banned	I agree... pennies are pointless anymore. I also enjoy those shops who've switched over to rounding prices to the nickel. Pennies just get in the way. I hate change of any kind being in my pocket... so every time I get home, the first thing I do is dump any change in my pocket into this deep tray on my desk. This is, of course, if I hadn't already dumped it into the tray in my car. The last time I cashed it in, it was barely half-full (and I have no idea how long it took to accumulate it all). I went out and added the (rather large) tray in my car and between the two, I got $112. Couldn't have been more than a 12 - 18 months. With the coinstar kiosks, you can get it in a couple of different gift cards and you lose no value for commission, every cent is yours... so I put it into an Amazon.com card, since I wanted to use the money to buy an iPod nano anyway. Last edited by analog; 10-22-2007 at 08:10 PM..

10-22-2007, 08:06 PM	#7 (permalink)
Push-Pull I'll ask when I'm ready.... Location: Firmly in the middle....	I can say for certain that change is NOT useless. And if you don't believe me, just wait until the next time you're broke and your next paycheck isn't for a week and a half. I like using the change from my otherwise unused ashtray at the drive through. The longer it takes for me to get to the window, the more pennies they get. I actually got rid of 150+ pennies at a Jack in the Box one time. Good thing my food was ready, because they were pissed! I do wrap them up and cash them in once every couple years. Usually get $80~$100, and we go out for "free" with it. Never had a problem with the bank taking them when wrapped. __________________ "No laws, no matter how rigidly enforced, can protect a person from their own stupidity." -Me- "Some people are like Slinkies..... They are not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." -Unknown- DAMMIT! -Jack Bauer-

10-22-2007, 06:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	my last trip to coinstar earned me over 100$ what can I say? I'm bad at keeping change in my pockets.

10-22-2007, 06:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	I have two metal buckets we dump change into and a cup by the laundry for change that's found in the washer or dryer. Mostly there's pennies in the buckets because the kids take the silver for lunch. I have a coin machine so I just run that when money is really needed and found that, while pennies are a bitch, since there's more of those than anything else, they add up faster. I just take a few rolls at a time along with the rest of the coinage rather than carry 10 pounds of 50c rolls-the rest goes in a box until it's needed-if I have, say, $47 in change, I grab $3 in pennies. As for banishing the little things. I'd prefer my outgo not be rounded to the nearest 5, plus how would sales tax be calculated? There was a time several years ago that some banks were making 'offers', like, bring in $10 worth of pennies, receive $11 cash-probably to get the copper back before using the alloy. We have a baggy filled with 'wheat pennies', so those are real copper; I have no idea if they're worth more than 1c each though.

10-22-2007, 10:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
inBOIL I have eaten the slaw	Right now I have $37 in wrapped coins sitting on my dresser waitiing to go to the bank. I once (for a few months) tried spending my coins during normal transactions, and found that I made fewer ATM trips. But it was too much hassle to remember to carry coins everywhere and count out exact change every time I made a purchace, so now I enjoy the "free" money I get when I cash in my coins.

10-22-2007, 10:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	there are those that scoff at the idea of keeping change, or that change doesn't matter. they won't pick up change from the street. this thread proves that change, makes a difference. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-22-2007, 10:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I have a large jar on my desk filled with the change and dollar bills I pick up from around my house. It's my grown-up piggy bank. If I could ever get my boyfriend to stop taking quarters from it for coffee and actually fill it to the top (it's perpetually 3/4ths full, it seems), my plan is to take it to the bank and use the free coin sorter to cash it all in...then start over again. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

10-22-2007, 10:44 PM	#11 (permalink)
waltert Insane	when I cashed in my coins last week, I had roughly 2,000 pennies...yeah...thats right, $20. I'm not ashamed to pick up a penny!

10-22-2007, 10:57 PM	#12 (permalink)
LazyBoy Insane Location: Memphis Area	I roll my own change, if I'm soo cheap taht I save change, I'm too cheap to sacrifice any % to get it rolled -Will __________________ Life is nothing, everything.....and something in between...

10-23-2007, 02:03 AM	#13 (permalink)
JohnBua Banned	Do you have to pay anything to use the machines at Commerce Bank?

10-23-2007, 04:45 AM	#14 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Since I enrolled in the keep the change program at my bank I very rarely have change anymore, and I dont miss it, I have no use for it. The money is put directly into my savings account and matched by the bank up to 250 bucks a year. I dont miss rolling my coins anymore __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

10-23-2007, 05:59 AM	#17 (permalink)
Redlemon Devoted Donor Location: New England	I use my change immediately. I make sure to keep the amount of change I have less than $1. Before the person at the register has finished ringing up the bill, I have the change sorted in my hand so that I don't have to fumble for it. For my 5 year old son's bank, we have used the Coinstar -> Amazon gift certificate method. Of course, we give him the cash immediately out of our pockets, and the Amazon certificate goes into my account. __________________ I can't read your signature. Sorry.

10-23-2007, 01:52 PM	#18 (permalink)
OzOz Psycho Location: Right here, right now.	Here in Oz, we did away with our one cent and two cent (copper) coins around twenty years ago, when the value of the metal in the coins became greater than the face value of the coins. Now the denominations we have in coin are five cents, ten cents, twenty cents, fifty cents, one and two dollars. Mind you, it still builds up... __________________ Maybe you should put some shorts on or something, if you wanna keep fighting evil today.

10-23-2007, 02:13 PM	#19 (permalink)
hunnychile Alien Anthropologist Location: Between Boredom and Nirvana	All my change might as well go to tfp! It's not as much as I wish I could send right this minute, (maybe 25 bucks!!)but it's going to a great site and worth every penny!! ...And let's face it...it's a helluva lot more fun than my mom! __________________ "I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

10-23-2007, 05:09 PM	#20 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	(hordes ALL the Sacajawea dollar coins) Man, I've got like fifty of 'em and I play with 'em like Scrooge McDuck. __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake."

10-23-2007, 05:38 PM	#21 (permalink)
Grasshopper Green ...is a comical chap Location: Where morons reign supreme	Hubby and I have paid for 2 Disneyland vacations with the change we saved over a year. With the advent of the debit card...our change saving ability has drastically decreased since neither of us carries cash much anymore. I still pick change up off the ground and toss it into a vase though. When the vase is full...which may be a long time...I'll redeem it at Coinstar. __________________ "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" Formerly Medusa

10-23-2007, 05:38 PM	#22 (permalink)
JohnBua Banned	I brought my cup of change to Commerce Bank. It was over 30 bucks. I was supprised. I guessed only 12. It was nice as I had to meet friends before class at a diner and I got to enjoy a meal instead of watching them eat like I did last week.

10-25-2007, 03:41 PM	#23 (permalink)
Sion Dumb all over...a little ugly on the side Location: In the room where the giant fire puffer works, and the torture never stops.	a solid copper penny is (or was a couple of months ago) worth 5 cents as scrap copper. naturally, it's illegal to destroy government property (which all cash is) but it goes on all the time. __________________ He's the best, of course, of all the worst. Some wrong been done, he done it first. -fz I jus' want ta thank you...falettinme...be mice elf...agin...

10-29-2007, 07:05 PM	#24 (permalink)
alicat Baffled Location: West Michigan	Hubby and I are amuter numismatic's. My Dad started me on collecting coins when I was a kid though it only lasted for a handful of years. My interest was renewed (and hubbie's awakened) a few years ago, sometime after the state quarters were issued. His co-worker had been collecting them and had a duplicate set he gave us. Our washer had just died and since we had a laundrymat on the corner I was pretty frequently getting $10 in quarters, which led to scouring for state quarter's we needed, and the snowball began to roll. We now buy (infrequently) what coins we can afford (and get them as gift's). Being that we use our debit cards 99% of the time, we don't collect much change. We started to fill a water bottle almost 3 yrs. ago and it still is only about 1/4 inch deep. As much as I love the nostalga and history of our coinage, I see it dying a very quiet death given the ease of having a "credit" card that is linked directly to our checking account's and debited instantly as if we had taken out and recieved that physical cash out of our accounts. I don't really have an opinion on pennies, I guess because I see the demise of all paper and metal money happening in the near future. My BIL however is practically launching a campain to do away with all coin's smaller than a quarter. __________________ 'Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun, The frumious Bandersnatch!'--Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll "You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late."--Ralph Waldo Emerson