# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [May 27, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/121 "2013-05-27T23:19:08Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I got a £5 note at the weekend - best find in years 🙂 Nice one. I haven’t found any paper money for bloody ages - I found quite a lot during Project Ebenezer, but I think either people are being more careful not to lose it, or I have more competitors out there picking it up. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/122 "2013-05-29T06:46:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Nice one. I haven’t found any paper money for bloody ages - I found quite a lot during Project Ebenezer, but I think either people are being more careful not to lose it, or I have more competitors out there picking it up. It’s the first paper money I’ve found since 2007. I’m taking it as an official sign of the end of the recession 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/123 "2013-05-30T17:26:03Z")
I always pick up coins. Why turn away free money? No only do I pick them up, but I will take care to announce my action, should anyone I know be nearby. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/124 "2013-06-17T13:33:33Z")
25p in coins today - and a ten pound note! Yup, recession’s definitely over 😉 ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/125 "2013-06-17T13:39:18Z")
I picked up a twonie and a quarter last week; as I noted earlier in this thread, I don’t bend over for anything smaller. And as a bonus, I also found a US dime in the coin return of a parking meter (no bending required, and fortunately it wasn’t an AIDS-infected needle). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/126 "2013-06-17T13:47:36Z")
I went into the local CVS parking lot to pick up two pennies. Then I noticed that against the wall was a ten dollar bill which couldn’t be seen from the sidewalk. So, yeah, it pays to pick up pennies. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/127 "2013-06-18T09:46:04Z")
There’s a 2 pence taunting me on my daily walk just now - it’s within a fenced off traffic island (fence on all four sides, over waist height) just a little more than arms length away. I’m within a few feet of it each time I press the button for the crossing, so I can see it, but not reach it, aaargh 😉 And it’s too public a place to try the chewing-gum-onna-stick-trick, not that I’ve thought about it. Much. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/128 "2013-06-18T14:48:20Z")
I pick up every coin, given it’s not covered in dog poo or anything like that. When I worked at a cafe, it was amazing the amount of coinage people dropped. The managers let me keep whatever I swept up, and I made about an extra $5 in change every two-three weeks there. When I pass by any machine that spits out change or money? You can bet I’m seeing if anyone left anything behind. I remember hearing a rumor as a kid though that some nasty people put needles in some change returns, so I can’t help but peer inside the flap before sticking my fingers straight in. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/129 "2013-06-18T15:38:08Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > So - if you see loose change lying on the ground, do you stop to pick it up? If not, why not? Pennies? No. Other coins? Yes. Pennies just aren’t worth the effort. It’s not worth the time, the energy, or the interruption of my walking rhythm, to pick one up. Plus [edited] once you’ve got them, all they do is get in the way. [/edit] Imagine this: that every ten or twelve feet along your route to wherever you were going, there was a penny on the ground. You’d stop, bend over to pick up the penny, straighten up, start to resume your walk, stop, bend over…and each time you did this, it would take ~5 seconds. That’s 1/720 of an hour, so you’d be ‘working’ for $7.20/hour, i.e. minimum wage. If you’re a kid who can’t get a paying job of any sort, then the effort’s probably worth it. (Also, if you’re a kid, you’re closer to the ground, and picking up those coins is easier.) But if you’re an adult who is making a decent living, it’s not worth bothering to pick up those pennies, unless you really like pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/130 "2013-06-18T15:46:15Z")
I really like pennies. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/131 "2013-06-18T17:10:18Z")
I really like pennies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/132 "2013-06-18T17:24:16Z")
I stopped picking up coins when I tried to pick a pound coin. Damn thing wouldn’t budge. A couple of kids had glued it to the pavement and were having great fun watching people trying to get it off. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903/133 "2013-06-18T17:30:05Z")
I tried to pick up a shiny penny on Jamaica Street in Glasgow. It was glued to the pavement in front of an electronics store, with cameras strategically directed, and presumably instore TVs hooked up, for the same reason. It’s stopped me trying to pick up \*\*that \*\*one, but not others 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-dropped-coins/647903.md?page=6)