# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/61 "2013-01-23T14:40:06Z")
I I see coins on the ground I will ignore them. If I drop a coin I will pick it up, but this is done as a desire not to litter ---
**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 25, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/62 "2013-01-25T14:14:30Z")
> [@campp](#): > > It’s a sub-sub-sub hobby of mine. I pick them up when I walk, and I keep track of the total just for grins. Some months I find 2 cents. Other months I’ll find $3.50 worth. > > Sunday I found a dollar bill. I used to cruise by a public basketball hoop, and would often coins there! > > I usually average about $25 per year. Not bad! I need to start keeping track… > [@Cicero](#): > > All the time. I’m cheap enough. > > A few years back my Dad- then in his late 80’s was on a bus when a woman getting on the bus attempted to pay her fare with coins. A $1 coin was dropped and rolled off the stairs and under the bus- no time to look for it (this was not in the city I might add). So Dad waited and got off at the next stop and walked back to the previous stop to pick up the coin. > > It was still there. Except it was a rather dirty ten cent piece, not a $1 coin. _grin_ How annoyed was he? > [@Khadaji](#): > > You bet. I doubt it originated with me anyway. Thank you! > [@Procrustus](#): > > I drop money so others can have the joy of picking it up. I should follow you around… > [@stui\_magpie](#): > > When I run out of room I’ll take them to the bank and cash them in. My bank are going to love me when I turn up with a jar of rusty copper coins! 🙂 23p yesterday, 6p so far today! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/63 "2013-01-25T19:45:24Z")
I will pick up dimes or quarters. A penny if it looks old or unusual. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/64 "2013-01-26T17:24:49Z")
I used to. When I was very little my mother told me if I didn’t I would have one years worth of bad luck:eek: (No doubt she would have seen to it personally.) Now I just do not want to get my hands dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/65 "2013-01-26T17:58:13Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I scan the floor in casinos. Otherwise, I don’t consciously look for dropped coins, but will pick up a quarter or even a nickel if I see it. Assuming it takes 10 seconds to pick up one coin and place it in your pocket, you could pick up 6 coins a minute which translates to 360 coins an hour. Retrieving pennies, .01x 360, yields $3.60 per hour, nickels $18 per hour, etc. Picking up pennies pays below the minimum wage, even if you’re quick and pick up a penny every 5 seconds. I use a similar calculus, but I think you’re putting the pick-up time far too high. Maybe you move really slowly or something. If I approach and see a coin near the path I’m walking anyway, I think it actually takes just two _additional_ seconds to divert slightly, bend, pick, and pocket. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/66 "2013-01-27T01:06:37Z")
I usually pick up any money I see, head’s up or down doesn’t matter. The only time I don’t is when I think a kid might appreciate a penny, otherwise this entire question boggled my mind. Not taking free money? Egads! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/67 "2013-01-27T01:19:28Z")
You bet I do. I’ve raised my gross income by at least $1.00 or more a year. And the best part is that it’s all tax-free!! ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/68 "2013-01-27T07:47:50Z")
I will pick up all money, coins and paper. I used to keep track of it, but haven’t in years. Ni don’t remember a year where I didn’t find paper money at least once, and I don’t remember a year finding less than $20. It’s not a hobby, though. I pick it up if I’m out and happen to see it. I am not looking for it actively. It’s more of a “catching my eye” sort of thing. I remember a kid in grade school who would throw away her pennies. It didn’t matter how many she had, she would just reach into her little purse and throw them! Didn’t like pennies! That always struck me as so strange. But, if she got $.09 worth of entertainment out of throwing the pennies on the ground, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/69 "2013-01-27T07:56:13Z")
The higher the denomination, the more likely I am to pick it up. Even more likely if it’s my own money I’ve dropped. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/70 "2013-01-27T14:37:44Z")
I pick up quarters or higher, but I do also pick up dimes for a different reason. At some point after my maternal grandfather died, my mom became a bit superstitious about dimes because she found them everywhere (apparently). She passed this on to my sisters and I and now we watch for dimes. I have found dimes at certain times that were important - the most recently memorable one was finding a dime on the pay parking booth at the fertility clinic as we were going in for our first IVF. I find dimes everywhere (at least one a week). I know that logically it’s confirmation bias and my grandfather is not watching over me, but it does still give me a sense of peace for a bit. As well, it’s a way to keep him memory alive. I think of him regularly in part because of the dimes. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/71 "2013-02-22T14:36:06Z")
Bumping my own thread to boast about Monday’s haul from a one hour stroll with the kid - two shiny 10ps, four brand new 5ps, five 2 pences and 10 one pence coins in assorted shades of copper and rust. Not bad ;)| ---
**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:** [February 22, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/72 "2013-02-22T19:03:59Z")
40p today (2 x 20p) Yesterday: £1 and a penny. Finding a pound coin is very satisfying ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/73 "2013-02-22T20:27:39Z")
“to some passing toddler, it might be an amazing windfall.” To some passing toddler it might be an agaonizing death from choking so just pick up the penny and stop thinking you’re a swell guy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/74 "2013-02-22T20:54:48Z")
Euggh! You people pick up money _off the ground_? It’s all icky and gross! I saw a $10 bill on the floor in the supermarket the other day and just let it be.\* I mean, people walked on that floor in their filthy shoes and all. \*Actually, I scored that baby in nothing flat. And I’ll go for any dropped coinage over the one cent denomination. I’d retrieve them too, but the potential for throwing out my back is not worth a penny. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/75 "2013-02-22T21:14:31Z")
Only gold coins. I’m picky. ---
**Author:** ![Timetrvlr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Timetrvlr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timetrvlr)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/76 "2013-02-22T21:25:55Z")
Sure, I watch where I walk and often pick up coins and sometimes a loose bill. Bills are usually found outside the liquor store in the parking lot. I always check ATM machines as I walk by. Sometimes find $20 bills that someone has left behind. Can’t imagine why anyone is so negligent and absent-minded as to take only part of their cash. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/77 "2013-02-22T22:53:50Z")
Yes, any coin. Also, loose screws, nuts, bolts, keys, tools, toys, etc. I have a big box full of cute stuff I’ve picked up alongside the road. I once found a five dollar bill in the gutter…but it had been polluted in filth (feces) and so I chose not to pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/78 "2013-02-22T23:05:48Z")
[By the way, here is a pic](http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/lenslarque/monumnet.jpg) (if I have linked to Photobucket correctly) of something I saw out on the road once. The typographical error is cast right into the cold iron. Now that’s gotta be embarrassing! ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/79 "2013-02-23T02:42:26Z")
I always pick up coins, even cents. Unless they’re in something really gross like dog poop. I will pick them up from mud, though. Every little bit helps in this economy. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/80 "2013-02-23T05:04:29Z")
I gather all coins that I see on the ground and can easily pick up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903.md?page=5)