If you typically make purchases at places with penny cups, taking and leaving pennies in them makes sense. But if they’re reaching to hand you change at a drive-through window, ISTM the most practical thing is to take it. Maintain a penny or general change cup in your car.
Me too. They got rid of the half-penny about the time of the Civil War. And that half-penny was surely worth more then than a dime is now, but they ditched it anyway.
And if you pick up a penny every five seconds for an hour, you’re making less than minimum wage. And in the course of doing so, you would have stooped and gotten down on your hands and knees a bunch of times, and you’d be carrying 720 little copper-nickel discs by the end of the hour - individually not much, but collectively pretty heavy. And then you’ve got to take them to the CoinStar machine to turn them into real money.
Even if I was making minimum wage, I’d rather just work an extra hour than spend the hour picking up pennies off the ground. But to each his own.
I’m sure this was offered in a helpful spirit, but think about this: you’re suggesting that people carry four pennies 100% of the time so they don’t have to deal with 1 to 4 pennies some small fraction of the time. While well-meaning, that’s not actually helping the situation of it being silly to deal with coins that are worth one one-hundred-twenty-fifth of a candy bar.
But she could hardly have asked if we thought it was just a figment of her imagination, could she?
My kids as teenagers 20 years ago when walking out of a place they never wanted to return to, such as a restaurant or video game place, had the custom of throwing a quarter at the door, not damaging it, but a sign of contempt!
If they ever are demonitized, I’ve got a jar of wheatbacks that I can sell for the copper.
As to the bills/receipt/coins stack, I thought that became the norm because it was more hygenic and it made it harder for pervs and jerks to cop a fondle while getting change. There’s no skin to skin contact.
You can sell them for the copper now.
Everyone else read that as demon-itized too, right?
I was very skeptical of this story. It could easily be an urban myth. If it happens at all its probably when not much change is involved. If the ticket is $9.82 then the person may feel the 18 cents isn’t worth filling their pocket. I’d be very surprised if someone had the same attitude about 67 cents in change. There’s a couple quarters there they’d want to keep.
Thank you for voting. It confirms what I originally thought. The input from former fast food workers was quite helpful. People that formerly worked drive-thrus are the best possible source.
There is a basket under the window for donations to the Ronald McDonald House in the drive-thru in my local Mickey D’s, and IIRC some other franchises as well. I throw my pennies in there, but keep my silver. I have never thrown away change of any sort, and I pick up pennies if I see them.
Regards,
Shodan
I’ve heard this argument before. My counter argument is - I’m walking a mile each way to nursery-school anyway. I allow longer than is required for this walk anyway, because, well, toddlers. I can easily pause for five seconds to scoop up any coin I see while waiting for her to catch me up/pull up her hood/put her gloves back on and return home between 1p and £2* richer per trip, or not.
Over the course of two walks per day, five days a week, lets say 38 weeks a year, that’s between £3.80 and £760** extra in my pocket for no extra time or effort.
And no, I don’t get down on my hands and knees for it.
*Yeah, I’ve found two-pound coins a couple of times 
**Not counting the £5 and £10 notes you notice on occasion when you’re actually looking at the ground.
What I have observed and been told some people do: pay for everything with paper notes, never coins. Discard or pocket all coin change. At the end of each day, they’ve left at least a dollar behind somewhere, maybe more; or, they have a pocket full of coins (typically including more than four pennies), which goes into a change jar. Repeat.
At least the latter strategy doesn’t lose money, but it costs some time handling the accumulated coins, eventually.
I reckon my penny-picking time at no more than two seconds ($18/hr., tax-free).
But the awareness and exercise value may be greater.
I wish you could do a poll within a poll. How many of you knew this was an aceplace57 thread just by the title? Without noticing the name of the OP?
ME!!! So that’s one.
I kid, I kid. 
Total urban legend. I worked at the drivethru back in high school and none of us ever dropped change. Also no I know has ever had their change dropped either.
I used to do that when I lived in a small city. There aren’t any homeless people around now. I mean, I’m sure there are, but it’s so rural you don’t see anyone.
I find this hard to believe. All the McD restaurants and many of the other fast-food places in my city specifically say that they do not allow walk-up customers in the drive-through for safety reasons.
Haha! You, my friend, have never visited Pontiac, Michigan. 
Speaking of the McD House donation slot - yesterday I bought a burger and decided to unload the extra change in the car’s cupholder. One of the quarters didn’t make it, so I looked down. There were six or seven other coins on the ground. Most were copper, but there were a few shiny ones.
I’m guessing that more coins hit the ground from bobbled donations than from getting change. When you get change, there are two arms reaching. When you donate, there’s only one.
Not even our bank, AND they don’t have a walkup ATM. So you can’t go to the drive thru, only inside.
I never get people who throw away their spare change or leave it on the counter. I collect every scrap of it. At home I have three coin counters. I have a giant sherry bottle that I have been using for 20 years to collect pennies. That’s neither here nor there. But I have one for nickels and dimes, and another to collect quarters. Full, I can get a couple of hundred bucks out of them, and do so right before we go on vacation. That’s real money you’re just throwing away!
Since your counter-argument is basically that due to your special circumstances, it takes zero time out of your day to pick a coin up off the ground, I think that works well for you without really challenging my argument.