# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/41 "2015-11-25T02:15:31Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > 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. “Hey! Do you have change for a five? No?” ---
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/42 "2015-11-25T02:34:21Z")
I pick up pennies on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/43 "2015-11-25T02:35:15Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Lately, at work, people have been leaving them all over the place in the break room. I’ve seen people drop them, and they don’t even bother to pick them up. > > I don’t quite get this attitude. Why would you throw perfectly good money on the floor? Sure, each penny isn’t worth much on its own, but they add up quickly enough. > > I pick them up whenever I find them, and they go into a coin jar at home. When they start to accumulate, I count them, put them into rolls, and take them into the bank with all my other change. I find it’s a great way to make an extra deposit into my savings account. no. pennies are an irritant. fuck those things. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/44 "2015-11-25T02:43:45Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > 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? I hope you’re just being funny. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/45 "2015-11-25T02:50:46Z")
I throw away all pennies, nickels, and dimes that make it into my house. Now granted, very few actually make it there as the few I do get as change end up in a tip jar. If I kept them all, it probably be less than $5/year. I don’t have a bank to deposit them, and there’s no coinstar or similar machines anywhere close. Quarters I eventually give/exchange to a friend for laundry/parking. ---
**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, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/46 "2015-11-25T07:30:29Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I hope you’re just being funny. No. I mean, I meant it to be amusing, but it’s true. As far as I can see, there’s no reason not to pick up coins. Unless you’re disabled, the ‘effort’ is microscopic. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/47 "2015-11-25T08:12:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > 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. But that’s not your salary… It’s a supplement to what you’re already making - in effect a raise. Why would you turn down a raise? ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/48 "2015-11-25T08:13:12Z")
I pick up pennies when I have enough energy to do it quickly enough so that it works out to an above-minimum wage job. Otherwise, no. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/49 "2015-11-25T08:38:38Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > No. I mean, I meant it to be amusing, but it’s true. As far as I can see, there’s no reason not to pick up coins. Unless you’re disabled, the ‘effort’ is microscopic. There’s no reason to pick up a coin if you know you won’t use it. In that case, it’s _clutter_, not money. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/50 "2015-11-25T08:42:20Z")
I haven’t picked up any coinage since being mocked mercilessly by the little fuckers who’d glued a pound coin solidly to the pavement. ---
**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 25, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/51 "2015-11-25T11:36:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > But that’s not your salary… It’s a supplement to what you’re already making - in effect a raise. Why would you turn down a raise? The same reason I pay a couple bucks more for blueberries that have been picked, rather than going the “pick your own” route that the farm market offers. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/52 "2015-11-25T13:28:44Z")
I had a friend who ran a coin-op car wash. He always found lots of coins when he emptied the vacuum systems. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/53 "2015-11-25T14:26:59Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > No. I mean, I meant it to be amusing, but it’s true. As far as I can see, there’s no reason not to pick up coins. Unless you’re disabled, the ‘effort’ is microscopic. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > But that’s not your salary… It’s a supplement to what you’re already making - in effect a raise. Why would you turn down a raise? I make more money than I can spend already and I have better things to do with my time. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/54 "2015-11-25T15:58:42Z")
Except in homes or workplaces, I never pick up small change (anything below € 1). In fact, I don’t pick them up even if _I_ dropped them. I figure I can leave them for someone who presumably will need this small amount of money more than myself. This habit was born from a couple memories of me, when fairly young, actively looking for some lost small change because I was missing, say, 10 cents to buy something or other. ---
**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, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/55 "2015-11-25T16:02:19Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There’s no reason to pick up a coin if you know you won’t use it. In that case, it’s _clutter_, not money. But I do use them. I spend coins all the time, and that keeps more of the paper money in my pocket. ---
**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, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/56 "2015-11-25T16:03:41Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I make more money than I can spend already… Oh, now that just shows a lack of imagination. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/57 "2015-11-25T16:35:04Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Oh, now that just shows a lack of imagination. I imagine retiring while I’m still relatively young and spending the rest of my life seeing as much live music as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/58 "2015-11-25T17:37:22Z")
I used to as a kid for good luck, but stopped when I got called a jew. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/59 "2015-11-25T20:10:15Z")
Sometimes I do. A couple years ago I started training for a half marathon and was finding them while running so it became a joke that I kept finding all this change. It got to a point where I couldn’t afford to not run. If I find loose change on the ground when I’m with one of my kids I’ll point it out to them and let them get it. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370/60 "2015-11-26T06:19:37Z")
I pick up any money on the ground. I’ll even look under the vending machines for dropped change. I’ve actually chiseled up a glued quarter, much to the surprise of the kids who glued it down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-pennies/738370.md?page=4)