# Do you pick up pennies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370 "2015-11-23T17:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/21 "2015-11-23T21:56:11Z")
I want the U.S. to drop the damn things so we don’t have to bother with them. Just round to .1 instead of .01. And, yeah, I put pennies into the penny-cup at convenience stores, so the next guy can pull one out if his purchase comes to 4.01. (As of late, 7-11 store clerks do this automatically, for purchases up to .03.) But…yep! I bend over and pick 'em up when I see 'em in the gutter. It may only be a damn penny, but it’s money. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/22 "2015-11-23T21:59:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > When gas prices were at their peak in 2008, I worked with a woman who also worked at a gas station, and she couldn’t get over the people who yelled at her for the cost of gas (as if she had anything to do with it) :mad: and then didn’t want their pennies. > > :rolleyes: 😕 :smack: As an aside to this, I worked in a gas station during Gulf War I when the price was changing practically every day and the bitching was pretty much nonstop. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/23 "2015-11-23T22:00:15Z")
I pick them up! So they don’t screw up the vacuum cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/24 "2015-11-24T02:54:52Z")
Whenever I’m not traveling, I take my dogs for a morning run. Before we get to the park, we cut through the parking lot of a popular local bar. Patrons often leave fairly significant amounts of change in the parking lot, particularly after weekend nights. I keep a zipper pouch on me and always stop to pick up whatever change I find. After I’ve accumulated a fair amount, I take it to the bank and deposit it in a savings account. Last January when my grandson was born, I converted that savings account into a 529 college account for him and was able to start him off with a balance of just over $2,000! So yes, I stop and pick up change. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/25 "2015-11-24T06:35:18Z")
Thanks to all of you who don’t pick up pennies, I now have hundreds of dollars worth of them. Of course I’ve been hoarding them for almost 60 years. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/26 "2015-11-24T14:27:08Z")
I walk every day, and I pick up all the money I see. I figure if nothing else, picking them up with my bad left hand gives it some needed therapy. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/27 "2015-11-24T14:30:50Z")
No way am I going to pick up a penny for its monetary value. Even without my employer having forked over about $70,000 for spinal surgeries, I don’t think it’s close to being worthwhile. Not even nickels or dimes. I pick up things I drop because I don’t mean to litter. And if there’s a little kid nearby I often try to point it out to them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/28 "2015-11-24T14:37:02Z")
If I were offered a job picking up pennies and my pay was keeping the pennies I picked up I’d turn down the job offer. So, no. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/29 "2015-11-24T15:21:43Z")
I pick them up, and save the ones I get in change. One gallon of U.S. one cent coins is worth about $42.00. When I save that many, I take them to the Coinstar thing and get an Amazon credit. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/30 "2015-11-24T15:23:21Z")
No I don’t pick up pennies. I don’t pick up nickels or dimes either. I’d pick up a quarter though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/31 "2015-11-24T15:47:12Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > No I don’t pick up pennies. I don’t pick up nickels or dimes either. I’d pick up a quarter though. Heh. My buddy Norman Nardini (the uncrowned prince of Pittsburgh rock and roll, aka the guinea with the skinny) wrote a song called **I Hate a Nickel (cause it ain’t a dime)**. [Here it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWa17D0H-Iw), with another Pittsburgh legend, Gary Belloma on vocals, Norman Nardini on guitar, Jimmy Adler on rhythm guitar, Harry Bottoms on bass, Whitey Clyde Cooper doing backing vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/32 "2015-11-24T16:01:04Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/33 "2015-11-24T16:20:56Z")
The dime is probably what I pick up least, but because it is so small that I rarely see it. I pick up all change that I can see because it is either A)trash that I get paid for recycling without having to drive to a collection place, or B)is actually worth it to pick up. Okay, I don’t pick up change that looks sticky, but that’s the only exception. ---
**Author:** ![May\_20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@May\_20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/May_20)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/34 "2015-11-24T18:30:52Z")
If I see coins on the ground (and they aren’t nasty-looking), I’ll pick them up, including pennies. I don’t actively look for coins on the ground, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/35 "2015-11-24T21:43:06Z")
I once found a five-dollar bill in the gutter…but someone had fouled it pretty badly. Used it as toilet paper. I thought, even so, about taking it to a bank and asking for a fresh replacement, but decided against it. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/36 "2015-11-24T23:59:09Z")
Yes. Heck I’ll even stop my bicycle and circle back to pick up a penny. I find a few dollars worth each year. My best was finding $40.01 on the side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/37 "2015-11-25T00:43:50Z")
We no longer have copper coins in Australia but I definitely bend to pick up the lowest denomination ‘silver’ coin (i.e. five cents). ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/38 "2015-11-25T00:53:20Z")
I always pick them up. Always have. All coins. But something about pennies. I have two completely adorable “Pennies from Heaven” stories, and I’m thoroughly non-spiritual. Except for the pennies from heaven stuff. But this thread isn’t about that, so I’ll spare you. ---
**Author:** ![justanothermike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@justanothermike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justanothermike)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/39 "2015-11-25T01:05:49Z")
Nope. At different cleaning jobs over my life I’ve sucked them up in a vacuum or sprayed them away with a pressure washer, but I don’t bother with them. If I was going to pick them up based on the hourly wage mentioned above I’d take that hour and find something that pays better, even just taking that hour and using it to look for ways to save money on something that I currently pay for. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/40 "2015-11-25T01:16:17Z")
The relevant question is not your total earnings, it’s your earnings relative to time expenditure. I estimate my own penny-picking pay at $12-$18/hour, tax-free, two to three seconds per. Given that I am otherwise either not earning anything in those seconds, or earning my regular pay already, that sounds pretty good. It’s not a _job_, it’s a _raise_. Also, do you want to be the kind of person who thinks bending over swiftly to pick up a small object is an exertion, a bother? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370.md?page=3)