# Do you pick up dropped coins? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903 "2013-01-21T14:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/21 "2013-01-21T15:59:16Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Generally not, although I’ll occasionally pick up quarters. My thought is that an extra handful of change isn’t going to make any difference to me, but to some passing toddler, it might be an amazing windfall. Well, maybe more-so in the past, when there was still a thing such as penny candy. But I think the point stands, the money will make someone else happier than it will me. That’s basically my opinion. There might be someone out there who gets a lot of joy from picking up a dime or a nickel, but that’s not me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/22 "2013-01-21T16:03:17Z")
I’ll pick up pennies if they’re heads up. Nickles dimes and quarters I’ll grab and say to myself, “That’s _xx_ cents off of my next purchase!” ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/23 "2013-01-21T16:04:37Z")
Usually I pick up nickels or better, but not pennies. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/24 "2013-01-21T16:05:49Z")
I’ll occasionally let a cent lie if I drop it, but I definitely pick up all money I find that others have dropped. Cash for the effort of bending over for two seconds- I guess I consider those who won’t pick up coins a bit tetched in the head. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/25 "2013-01-21T16:14:37Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > A couple of years back, I kept a year-long log of my found money - details here: > [www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project\_ebenezer/](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project_ebenezer/) I doff my hat to you, sir! I’ve yet to find a £2 coin too, oddly, although I have found a few £20 notes over the years (not recently though, sadly). Did you get many foreign coins? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/26 "2013-01-21T16:20:07Z")
We live behind a supermarket and both have to “half circle” it to get to and from the bus. In the average year we’ll find between $20 and $50 in change and sometimes as much as $200 in loose bills. Wallets we return intact and as complete as we find them – usually in a hand-off to the cop the store keeps by the door. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/27 "2013-01-21T16:21:52Z")
I will pick up any coin I see. But I don’t see many. Everyone seems to be paying with cards now, and dropped change is rare. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/28 "2013-01-21T17:38:25Z")
Pennies, sometimes. Quarters, nickles, and dimes- definitely! Found about $2 in change at work on the ground and in the vending machines just working this weekend. I use to look in the cracks and crevices of the U-Scans where I used to work for dropped change, and there was a lot! Found a hundred dollar bill the tiniest crevice! It’s hopes for getting another big break like that which keeps my eyes peeled. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/29 "2013-01-21T17:45:21Z")
I’ll pick up quarters. Anything less I leave for someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/30 "2013-01-21T18:23:22Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I don’t really drive, so I walk most places I go, and always watch the ground for obstacles (puddles, dog poo, loose paving stones, etc) so I spot a lot of dropped coins on the pavement. I think sometimes people are with are slightly embarrassed when I swerve to pick up a penny, but I’ve seen open envy when I collect a £1 coin (three of them this month, for the record) 😉 > > So - if you see loose change lying on the ground, do you stop to pick it up? If not, why not? > > ETA - Aaah, I messed up, there was meant to be a poll to go with this. Oh well, answers by text instead please! Frequently, unless it’s in something icky I don’t want to touch or it’s in a spot I don’t think is terribly safe (such as in a traffic lane in a parking lot). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/31 "2013-01-21T19:25:33Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I doff my hat to you, sir! I’ve yet to find a £2 coin too, oddly, although I have found a few £20 notes over the years (not recently though, sadly). Thank you - me too. I haven’t found paper money for ages - my eyes are now so conditioned to spotting money that they do it without me consciously looking - it’s like I feel a ‘tug’ and find myself looking at a dropped coin. I found 26p today. > [@](#): > > Did you get many foreign coins? Yes - mostly Euro cents, but also an assortment of other interesting bits - some Jersey coins, an assortment of Chinese, Polish and Japanese coins, plus (oddly) a post-decimal half penny, and a pre-decimal threepenny bit. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/32 "2013-01-21T19:42:31Z")
I pick up coins too. I picked up soda bottles for the deposit when I was a kid too. I like free money. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/33 "2013-01-21T19:45:58Z")
If it’s not obviously yucky (such as the “coin in dog crap” example), then sure. Free money. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/34 "2013-01-21T19:47:10Z")
I drop money so others can have the joy of picking it up. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/35 "2013-01-21T20:11:16Z")
I pick up quarters. I would pick up dimes if they weren’t so damn small and pathetic. Nickels and pennies are worthless. I’ve only seen about 10 dollar coins in my entire life, let alone found one on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/36 "2013-01-21T20:11:58Z")
Heck yes, I pick up dropped coins! I’ll take all the “financial aid” I can find! ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/37 "2013-01-21T23:14:28Z")
I always pick up coins. I did that for all of 2012, and had a little over $28 at the end! Though the $20 bill I found near the end of the year bumped that up considerably. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/38 "2013-01-21T23:23:53Z")
Yes I do. I often see them while riding my bicycle. I’ll got trough all the trouble to stop; turn around; and try to find the coin again. I’ve even gone on rides or walks with the intent of finding coins. The roads with drive-thru windows are often profitable. The best way to see the coins is while heading towards the sun. The light shines off of them. Of course it also shines off of washers, bottle tops, etc. The best I even done was $40.01 back in the early 80s. Riding on the side of a small highway out in the country I saw a $20 bill on the road! Looked around and saw another $20 bill!!! I thought that maybe a Brinks truck drove by with the door open so I looked all over the place. There was a strong crosswind so I even looking in a corn field on the side of the road. Managed to find the 1¢ just off the road. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/39 "2013-01-21T23:35:00Z")
Always, unless its yucky. One of my only remaining superstitions is a lucky penny. Instead of throwing it into my purse, I’ll put it in my pocket because it’s lucky and should stay close by throughout the day. 🙂 On the flip side of that, if I drop a penny, I leave it there, since that penny is for someone else’s luck. If I drop anything else, I pick it up, but not pennies - I figure it nature’s way of balancing out the lucky pennies for all! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/40 "2013-01-21T23:40:38Z")
I pick up any and all coins I see, and usually will tell anyone around me “I just bumped my rate up”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903.md?page=3)