So what do you do with pennies?
 

The idea for this thread occurred to me as i was counting pennies to go buy cigarettes, heh. (I've got over 7 dollars worth of pennies, woot!)

all of my change goes in a jar, when the jar becomes heavy we take it away to the coinstar machine and pay them a bit to count it for me.

I read this as something a little bit different at first. As far as pennies go, I try to keep them in one place but they mostly end up all over my room.

As far as the other thing, I have many more uses for it.

I happen to store my change in my old film canisters with a slip of paper saying how much is in what. Then when I deposit it, I know they're not ripping me off. Heh..

they go in my penny bank and I trade them for actual money when I am really in need of money

I give pennies away. it's extra weight and it goes to better use brightening up someone else's day than making exact change for whatever purchase I make.

I enjoy throwing them into walls sometimes, but generally they go into a large jar in my room. maybe one day i will melt the down and make a statue

i put it in my hello kitty piggy bank ^_^

Yeah, the Coinstar machine at the local Safeway. They take a cut, but it beats counting and rolling them all yourself, even if you've got coin sorters. Last year I turned in about 10 year's accumulation and got 50 bucks back. I'm accumulating them again, but I'm not letting it go that long this time.

Pennies just really annoy me for some odd reason, so I just throw them away. :crazy: I know I know, it's wasteful, I'm trying to quit. :p

i try to spend them as much as possible, but i get lazy & wind up tossing them into a big jar full of coins cuz my wallet is small & doesn't hold much change.

I spend them! I have a cup in my car with all the change I get, and I usually use them when I get gas. I'll skip over the dimes and pay with like 29 pennies or however many stockpile up.

To those of you using coinstar: Commerce Banks have "Penny Arcade" which does not charge to convert.
I've done everything from throw them into the garbage to take handfuls to the local 7-11 for the penny tray. I'm surprised no one's mentioned asspennies yet.

put 'em in one container.
count 'em and roll 'em occasionally.
take 'em to the bank with the rest of the change.

Put them on top of public urinals. Try to guess who takes them.

Give them to my girls. When they save up $5.00 worth, they bank 'em. Between that, tooth fairy money, and grandparents money, they're banking a tidy little sum already! :)

I cut them.

Seriously.

I use them to demonstrate the strength of the kitchen shears I show people. Or I use them to use said shears to keep my hands busy cause I like my hands doing things :)

Otherwise I save them and eventually use them. They're great for Illinois tolls since they take pennies.

SecretMethod, dang!
..................
"I cut them.

Seriously."
..................

heh heh

I throw them in a jar with other assorted change and when it's time to go to Vegas I take the jars to the cashiers cage and they give me the green stuff for them. Much better than the grocery stores, yes the casino gets their cut (sometimes) but it's more fun than just giving away 10% or whatever.

they (as well as all other coins) get put in the pencil box in the bottom drawer of my desk.
every now and then, they come in handy for bus fares and such.

that box of coins has saved me on a number of occasions.

SM70... wow, they must be incredible shears ... are American pennies thin ?

I've got two bags of coins. One is pennies. The other is silver or dollars. The bags weigh about the same. I've been keeping them for about 5 years now.

Has anyone tried taking the bags to the bank and see if they do this sort of thing? Perhaps (a lot?) cheaper than those Coinstar machines?

My pennies go wherever. I really don't have a place to put them, so they end up just about everywhere. I probably have 30 bucks in pennies scattered across my house.

I spend them if I need exact change.. but usually I just through them in a container along with the rest of my change...

yup :)

not really, but they are filled with zinc inside the copper plating. The kitchen shears can cut through fully copper pennies too (before 1982) it's just harder.

Just so that this post has some relevence to the thread, a short history of the US penny:

1859-1909 Indian Cent:
http://www.pennies.org/history/images/1907lrg.jpg
1909 Lincoln Cent:
http://www.pennies.org/history/images/1910lrg.jpg
1943 Steel Cent:
http://www.pennies.org/history/images/1943lrg.jpg
1959 Memorial Cent:
http://www.pennies.org/history/images/1959dlrg.jpg
1982: The rising price of copper finally took its toll on the Lincoln cent in 1982. The composition in 1982 was changed to an alloy of 99.2 percent zinc and 0.8 percent copper, plated by pure copper - making the total composition 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper.

my bank does this.

keep some in my car for the drive thru trips, the rest goes in a plastic 3ft corona bottle til i wanna turn em in, + nickles dimes and quarters

I got one of those indian cents as change once from the year 1895, is it worth anyything besides 1 cent?

in highschool during lunch one guy game me like 5 dollars in pennies, I accepted :)... Then the next week he asked for them back.. hahah no! I'm not gonna lug them BACK... and the only way i'd give him 5 bucks back were if they were in the form of pennies:)

I have a coupla places I throw pennies.. silver change goes in another spot. They're filling up, So I think I should take my pennies to the bank and deposit them :)

I'll make the Bank Lady nice and happy with3 or 4 pounds of pennies.

I collect them. I have two steel pennies as shown above, many wheatbacks, and a few indian heads
all depends on the condition of the coin; I have a 1897 penny purchased from a coin shop that was worth five dollars 10 years ago.

I generally let the current change build up for a long spell then take care of it.

My friend Cindy's father set aside a big glass jug when she was born and put all his change in it. This month she's going on a trip to Europe with a $1000 budget from the jug.

I have an tall tube that used to have some 4foot long beef sticks in it that I keep my coins in. There aren't many coins in it because I keep robbing it whenever we're out of change at work.

Loose change goes in my car's little ash tray. When it gets filled, it goes into the big jar in my house. When that gets filled, it gets taken to the bank and deposited into my account. It's like an extra paycheck. :-D

I put them in this jug.....

http://ashtonxxx.smugmug.com/photos/699756-M-1.jpg

Good holy god.

What will you do when it's full?

Last year I rolled all of mine and exchanged them at the bank for a tidy $355.
I lugged them into the bank in a duffel bag. (verrrry heavy)
I was kinda worried I would alarm them, but they took it in stride. ;)

I have an old 20 gallon milk can that's about3/4 full of pennies. I have long since ceased being able to move the thing.

i keep em all!!!! pick em up!!!! they're money too.

Like Ashton -- I throw all of my loose change in a 5 gallon water bottle. When vacation time comes around every year -- I empty the change and use it as "bonus spending money" for vacation.

I throw them in the change jug..... then about every year the wife counts and rolls them... she loves to do it... I would coin star them...But she likes it and dosent want to give up the 9 cents on the dollar.

secret: cutco scissors? :p

And those coinstar machines are convenient but last i checked they took like 14% and really, it is kinda fun to count and roll a mountain of change with someone. My grandpa has this giant "red ape" bank that has to be well over a hundred and fifty pounds when it's full. Every few years it gets full and he counts it with me. the last haul was $600 :) it's always fun!

I put my pennies in an Absolut bottle. It doesn't add up to much, but it's interesting to see it add up.

My bank has a machine that doesn't charge a fee... But occassionally I roll em up myself. Gives me something to do!

bingo

left over pennies & nickels go into a large upturned water jug.
dimes & quarters are more useful and go back into play.

the collection exchange is useful for a night out every 6 months or so.

I just use them. I like giving exact change. I hate dealing with change lying around. Drive hubby nuts when I count out the right amount.

Hubby on the other hand is currently using an empty diaper wipe box that was handy at the time when he outgrew the cup on his dresser.

I've been saving pennies (only pennies) in an old glass 5 gallon water bottle jug for the past 25 years or so. It's almost filled. Too heavy to lift, and I doubt glass bottom could support the weight. Too many to count and it would take too long to empty the jar anyway (unless I broke it). So it just sits there, collecting pennies and dust.

A long time ago, I used to take gallon jugs of coins to the bank and have them count them for me - at that time, they took a 3% cut - still well worth avoiding the hassle of counting and rolling them by hand.

It used to average out at around $400 per jar. Of course, this wasn't just pennies - it was mostly quarters (bartending tips)

I have a change pocket in my wallet, so I have a significant incentive to use change as quickly as possible.

Does anyone actually spend them - mine are in a 1/2 gallon Crown bag - When it gets full - about every three months, they go in the grandson's savings account.

i throw all my change, (canadian change) into apeanut butter jar, which takes about 3 months to fill. i usually end up with around $80 worth of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and a lot more worth of twoonies and loonies (that is if i can avoid taking them when i need small change. :)

Ive got one of those huge plastic coke bottle things. I throw all my pennies in there.

i hate change, i often just throw pennies onto the ground

So you're the guy.

Thanks! :D

I put all my loose change in a 5 gallon water jug. when it gets full i count it out and roll the change up and take it to the bank. I do this about twice a year. Usually end up with about $200-300 each time it gets full.

coinstar is a bit of a rip off dont you all think? isnt it like 9 cents on the dollar?

coinstar is good if you need cash fast and the banks are closed. I once got $140 from a taco bell cup i had filled.

I really really really love change, I buy it from my friends and I refuse to spend it when I go shopping (by the end of a shopping trip I come out with at least $5), I also collect piggy banks of all shapes and sixes so my goal is to fill everyone of them up, and once I do Im going to vegas.

Although since I moved to college, I do lots of laundry so its mostly dimes nickles and pennies, that I manage to save the most of.

I also find it very relaxing to coint change. I like to dump it in a big pile and pick up handfulls and let them run through my fingers. Ive always done this as a little kid, it makes me feel rich!! I used to count my change a lot, it got so bad that for over a year I had to count my change every night before I went to bed, because it relaxed me.

TeeHee. . . I love change!!!!

They all go in my kid's piggy-bank of course! Then, each time it's full, I wrap them up and stick them in his bank account.
That way when he's 16 he'll be able to buy his own car instead of borrowing mine!
:lol:

Usually give them to our son.... he just loves putting money in his bank....

i throw them at pigeons

My change gets thrown into a huge 5 gallon plastic bucket that is hiding under a pile of clothing somewhere. The bucket usually has a life span of one month- then I go broke and cash it in. I actually had $60 in it once. That also includes silver change, too.

This and the rest of my change all go into a "rainy day" fund and just like Phred, I go to the coin machine and let them count all the change.

Exactly. :)

Pennies
 

Well, I take the pennies and I'll pay bus fare with them, dropping quite a few in the attempt.

Pennies....hmm, I mostly use them as weapons. I can break a window at 5 feet by flicking a penny. One of the only things I learned well when I was in college.

I just put all my pennies in a jar and when it looks like I have a lot, I roll them into .50 cent rolls. Then I take them to the bank and put them in a penny account that I have. I have about 74 bucks in there right now I think. Well, give or take 10 bucks.