# Do you pick up pennies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082 "2001-06-17T00:38:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ba8739/32.png) [@No\_Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Bones)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/1 "2001-06-17T00:38:37Z")
Do you pick up pennies? ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/2 "2001-06-17T00:41:14Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/3 "2001-06-17T00:48:57Z")
Of course I do, most of my savings are thanks to them. ---
**Author:** ![callie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@callie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/callie)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/4 "2001-06-17T01:07:10Z")
Find a penny Pick it up And all day long You’ll have good luck Um - no - I don’t pick up pennies but any other coin I will. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/5 "2001-06-17T01:23:04Z")
See a pin and pick it up and all day you’ll have … a pin! Suppose it takes 6 seconds to spot a cent, pick it up and put it in your pocket. That 6 seconds of your time could have been spent earning money. If you earn $30,000 per year, working 48 weeks for 35 hours per week, that means you earn: - $625 a week - about $18 an hour - about 30 cents a minute - about 3 cents in 6 seconds. Don’t stop - keep working! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/6 "2001-06-17T01:49:17Z")
Hell, I have a penny under the kitchen table that I dropped that I haven’t bothered to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/7 "2001-06-17T02:16:11Z")
Nope. I used to, but now I can afford to let 'em go. Hopefully they’ll go to someone that really needs them. ---
**Author:** ![Azazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Azazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azazel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/8 "2001-06-17T02:21:54Z")
I always pick them up. Think of it as recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/9 "2001-06-17T02:34:00Z")
Yep. My son saves them in his Penny Jar. When it’s full, we haul it to the bank and make them count them and deposit it in his savings account. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/10 "2001-06-17T03:07:54Z")
Yes. The “penny jar” is in the laundry room and has all sorts of “laundered money”. The kid routinely raids it for incidental expenses at school. “Mom, Mrs. Language Arts Teacher said we could have soda’s during class. May I have some money?” And “Mom, I need $7 for a new athletic tshirt, Pete accidentally ripped mine off me while we were playing basketball.” My response, “I don’t have any money in my wallet, if you want to raid the penny jar, go for it!” 😃 Abby ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/11 "2001-06-17T06:52:15Z")
I don’t pick up pennies because of the ick factor. If a penny is in a reasonably clean place, it probably belongs to someone. If it’s not, the one cent you gain is not worth dealing with the filth. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/12 "2001-06-17T07:08:43Z")
I’m notorious for stopping anytime, anywhere to pick up pennies and other change. Been doing it all my life. I almost got run over when I was a kid because I had to stop in the middle of crossing the street to pick up a penny. My dad was holding my hand, and yanked me out of the way of the car —and my shiny copper prize. I never did get that particular penny, but you can bet I’ve gotten every one since. Incidentally, the best place I know of to find pennies is outside of convenience stores and in pretty much any parking lot. Yes, indeedy, I love finding pennies and scooping them up. Just found another one tonight, in fact! (Ah, it takes so little to make me happy… the ultimate Cheap Date!) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/13 "2001-06-17T12:41:52Z")
Sure, if I see it. Can’t say I look at the street/sidewalk with that much scrutiny, typically. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/14 "2001-06-17T14:24:59Z")
Only if it is “heads up”. If a penny is “tails up”, I leave it alone. Heads up, good luck, tails up, bad luck. Silly superstition, but so far in my life, it seems to have worked. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/15 "2001-06-17T14:46:42Z")
good morning friends, i always pick up any change i find. by adding that to the change in my pocket at the end of the day and putting that change aside i purchased this computer. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/16 "2001-06-17T14:54:42Z")
I know that in one of his books that Mr. Feldman talked about this very subject & gave an exact accounting of how much per hour you would make if you picked them up…I see someone here has given a similar accounting… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/17 "2001-06-17T15:48:06Z")
This is neurotic, but I pick up the ones that are heads up and flip the ones that are tails up over to give the next person good luck. If I drop a penny, I’ll usually either leave it (heads) or flip it over (tails.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/18 "2001-06-17T19:11:48Z")
I do. I have a 3-liter glass bottle that holds all of my change, of all denominations. It usually takes me a couple of years to fill it up, but when I cash out, it’s typically over $200. Kind of a nice bonus every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kevin\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevin_H)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/19 "2001-06-17T20:05:35Z")
I usually don’t pick up anything less than a quarter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082/20 "2001-06-17T20:14:11Z")
Nope, never. In fact, I throw pennies, nickels, and dimes on the ground. They are so not worth my time or effort. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/69082.md?page=2)