There is no legal principle that support this, at least in most jurisdictions in this country and other common law countries. A finder of lost property is obligated to take reasonable steps to return it to its true owner.
How is your discussion about finding a penny on the ground not irrelevant to the thread?
Several posters have described pennies as almost worthless.
Looking back at my original post, I see that I did not make it clear that I was mostly concerned about perceptions of the U.S. dollar in foreign countries, especially poor countries with recent memories of hyperinflation. LSLGuy might be correct about people in the U.S. with these concerns being “wackos” but some people in third world countries that have been burned by inflation may have a different world view.
No adjusting of prices has to happen in most cases. Take for example a grocery store. The only adjustment needed will be to round the total for all the items to the nearest five cents.
Forget about the penny. What about the 0.9 cent coin? How am I going to buy gasoline anymore without being ripped off? It’s $3.59.9 right now for a gallon. I keep a tray or 0.009 coins in my car plus a few 0.099s for good measure. Losing that $0.001 each time adds up.
math is not my strong suit
There are three kinds of people in the world: those who understand math, and those who don’t.
I prefer “there are 2 kinds of people in this world: those that can infer the situation from incomplete information”
Niiiiice.
Not really a penny hater but I will say you were a fool to pick it up if it wasn’t lying heads up, which would give you good luck. If it was face down you don’t want to take it. At least turn it over so the next person can pick it up and get the good luck. I mean seriously, where would we get good luck without pennies? There’s no luck in a nickel.
No luck in a nickel? I’m picking this one up pardner.
The most valuable nickel is the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel, which is estimated to be worth over $3 million. Only five of these coins are known to exist, and they were never officially released.
Not bad for a nickel. Better than a 1943 Lincoln Copperhead penny that tops out around $1million. Only 40 of those were ever made, only 13 ever found. So there was some chance I had one of those in my hands at some point, even now. And very little chance I’d even know that I had it, certainly less chance that I’d pick one up from the floor. If I saw a $20 bill on the ground I’d rather see someone else pick it up than slowly bend over while groaning and do it myself. And that’s why I’d like to see the penny discontinued.
How about a new $0.00999… coin. It’s worth as much as penny but you’ll spend a lot of time explaining why.
I LOVE this!
What America needs is a seven cent nickel. If that works out, next year we can have an eight cent nickel. Think what that would mean. You could go to a newsstand, buy a three cent newspaper, and get the same nickel back again. One nickel carefully used would last a family a lifetime.
To add to the discussion about what might be an appropriate metal for a substitute penny - how about spent uranium?
https://larryniven.net/?q=yet-another-modest-proposal-the-roentgen-standard
I’m sure that people who think that eliminating a low-value coin is equivalent to hyperinflation aren’t going to be at all freaked out by a coin made of uranium.
Which alternate universe/century are you living in where newspapers cost only 3 cents? Can I move there?
You can if you have a time machine and want to live in the Great Depression.
A business opportunity. I will take the pennies my in-laws rolled to the zoo, and sell pennies to frustrated parents for a nickel. Perhaps I can get a dime on Sundays, or for particularly obnoxious children.