# Penny Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437 "2003-07-05T20:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/21 "2003-07-06T11:11:54Z")
Pennies suck. I won’t even pick 'em up off the ground. I callously walk away. Usually I leave 'em in the Take A Penny jar; if there isn’t one, I either dump them in the bottom of my purse and cash them in when they weigh too much, or I throw them into a charity jar. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/22 "2003-07-06T14:37:08Z")
> [@](#): > > hell, it’s cheaper just to get the lobotomy. Do that, then. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/23 "2003-07-06T16:06:10Z")
There’s an issue of semantics here, **furt**. When you say “keep the change,” that implies a magnagimous gesture of generosity. You get the dirty look because what you’re essentially doing is tipping them two cents. If you say “I don’t want those pennies,” that’s perfectly reasonable, and I can’t think of any reason why the cashier would give you a dirty look. Just MY two cents. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/24 "2003-07-06T16:45:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furt \* > \*\*:mad: > The whole POINT is that I refuse to carry $#@& pennies around all day in order to take them home. They will not enter my house, nor my car, nor my pockets. I think of them as you would a dead rat: what would you say if I told you to just keep your dead rats, and at the end of the day go home and feed them to your pet, or keep them around until you have enough to make a fur coat? \*\* Oh, I get it now. You don’t want to exchange them for actual money. You don’t want to give them to people who might need them. You apparently don’t want to throw them out, although that would certainly be socially acceptable. You just want to whine about their existence. Is that more like it? 🙂 If I can help further, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/25 "2003-07-06T17:05:09Z")
Jesus, you folks are being hard on the guy, aren’t you? Since when are lame rants disallowed? Here in New York, we have lots of small, independently-owned delis, greengrocers, bakeries, etc. My neighborhood shopkeepers kinda recognize me (although we’re not on a first-name social basis). If I buy $1.48 worth of macaroons, say, I’ll say “Keep the pennies…I may be short next time.” If the next time I go in I buy $2.02 worth of coriander, I look 'em straight in the eyes and tell them “You owe me the two cents from LAST time.” This doesn’t work at big supermarkets, though, where the checkout people are probably billed for whatever pennies they are shorted during the day. If I have to go to one of these behemoths, I resign myself to coming home with at least four pennies in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/26 "2003-07-06T17:19:18Z")
I know quite a few people who can’t be arsed with pennies (and tupence here in the UK). I’ve seen no end of people just chuck them on the ground or refuse to take their change. I am a _green-backer_ myself. Change and I don’t get on, so I carry paper money (except for bus fare and a trolly quid). Saying this, however, I will pick up loose change I see on the ground. If all the Big Issue sellers would do this, they’d make enough to buy a meal that day… honest. However, all my change gets put aside. There are jars and jars of pennies and tupence around. One of these days I’ll cart it all down to the bank and exchange it. Never underestimate the value, though. When at university many a tank of gas was paid for in pennies. In fact, my divorce was paid for in pennies as well… about $400 worth… They can be quite useful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chestnutmare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@chestnutmare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chestnutmare)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/27 "2003-07-06T17:23:09Z")
Telling a cashier to keep the change does NOT equal a raise for the cashier. Anytime a register is over, be it by $.02 or by $20, the excess goes in the store deposit for the night. If I found out that a cashier in my employ was keeping excess money, s/he would be fired faster than s/he could count the change. As for the keep a penny leave a penny tubs, those were actually forbidden by the company that I worked for as a loss prevention measure. There are several employee theft scams that involve that inocuous little container, so more and more stores are getting rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/28 "2003-07-06T18:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > Oh, I get it now. You don’t want to exchange them for actual money. You don’t want to give them to people who might need them. You apparently don’t want to throw them out, although that would certainly be socially acceptable. You just want to whine about their existence. No, what they want is not to have to deal with them, or more specifically, their eradication from existence. At least, if they’re like me. We don’t have drive-thru restaurants here, so I can’t sympathize with that particular point, but other than that, I completely agree with the OP. I’m going to try **Johnny Bravo** ’s “I don’t want those pennies” next time. If I were a merchant, I would just forget about pennies. Not accept them, and not give them out. Go ahead and round as if they’re not available. I wonder why there aren’t more merchants like me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/29 "2003-07-06T19:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*No, what they want is not to have to deal with them, or more specifically, their eradication from existence. At least, if they’re like me. We don’t have drive-thru restaurants here, so I can’t sympathize with that particular point, but other than that, I completely agree with the OP. I’m going to try **Johnny Bravo** ’s “I don’t want those pennies” next time. > > If I were a merchant, I would just forget about pennies. Not accept them, and not give them out. Go ahead and round as if they’re not available. I wonder why there aren’t more merchants like me. 🙂 \*\* Well, there _were_, but they went out of business… Besides, this was the question posed by the OP: > [@](#): > > Thus my question: What is the socially acceptable mode for disposing of worthless currency which is only minted because a significant number of American voters are bed-wetting nostalgiacs who remember that back in 1809 the crappy little things were worth something? I am NOT going to take them home and save them, and I am tired of people looking at me like I’ve defamed the memory of Lincoln when I throw them away. The OP didn’t seem to be asking why they were around or if they could simply be eradicated. The OP specifically asked for a “socially acceptable mode of disposing … worthless currency.” Several ideas were put forth, with most getting a :mad: from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/30 "2003-07-06T20:20:47Z")
“Pennies are money too” Frank Romano ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/31 "2003-07-06T20:34:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Washte \* > Never underestimate the value, though. When at university many a tank of gas was paid for in pennies. In fact, my divorce was paid for in pennies as well… about $400 worth… You had about $500 in pennies? At an average of 2 pennies per purchase, that’s 25,000 purchases. One a day for 68 years. Am I reading you right? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/32 "2003-07-06T21:58:43Z")
> [@](#): > > What is the socially acceptable mode for disposing of worthless currency which is only minted because a significant number of American voters are bed-wetting nostalgiacs who remember that back in 1809 the crappy little things were worth something? Well see, tehre’s the problem. The premise is false. Pennies aren’t “worthless.” They are worth exactly one cent. And they will continue to be made as long as producing one penny costs less than one cent. It costs [about 8/10 of a cent](http://coins.about.com/library/weekly/aa073001a.htm) to produce a penny. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/33 "2003-07-06T22:46:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Well see, tehre’s the problem. The premise is false. Pennies aren’t “worthless.” They are worth exactly one cent. And they will continue to be made as long as producing one penny costs less than one cent. It costs [about 8/10 of a cent](http://coins.about.com/library/weekly/aa073001a.htm) to produce a penny. \*\* This is a debatable point. Technically you are right and a penny is worth exactly one cent. But money exists to be a _convenient_ medium of exchange. I admit it’s virtually impossible to quantify, but if money becomes too inconvenient to use because it carries too little value in relation to its size and weight, then its value becomes diminished in the eyes of some people. Though, as I say, I can’t quantify this exactly, I can certainly demonstrate it beyond refutation by the following simple thought experiment: If I were to go up to 20 people and offer than $100.00, say they can choose the denominations, how many do you think would ask to have it all in pennies? That’s right, none. Now let’s say I offer them either $100.00 in twenties, or $103.00 in pennies. I’d bet my life that most people would choose the $100.00 in paper money. The extra $3.00 that they lose by refusing the pennies wouldn’t be enough to justify the inconvenience or cost of handling them. So just because something is stamped with a particular denomination doesn’t mean that it is actually worth that much in real terms. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/34 "2003-07-06T23:57:51Z")
Yeah, but **Spectre** , if you give 20 people $100 and tell them they can only have it in pennies, how many will refuse? Convenience isn’t the number-one criterion for money; it’s a distant second to worth. ---
**Author:** ![jesleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@jesleigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesleigh)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/35 "2003-07-07T01:28:51Z")
I’m a broke college kid. If anyone has money of any form (pennies, cash, checks, credit cards), I will gladly talk it. I am like a little old grandma, I like to give correct change when possible, so I use the little suckers. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/36 "2003-07-07T02:20:29Z")
Yes, **Otto,** it is quite a lame rant. It’s a good thing I didn’t put this in the pit, as I think I might have been flamed by this point (then again, I’ve never been flamed, and I’d rather like it). I am utterly in earnest in loathing _nearly_ worthless coinage, but I’d thought the tongue in my cheek was visible … (No, I haven’t seriously comparison shopped for lobotomies) **Johnny Bravo** ’s idea is helpful. I have tried just saying “No thanks, I don’t want the change.” But, swear to God, I get looks for this, same as I do when I just throw them on the ground; like I’m being uppity or something. I will continue to try different lines. I very much like **Ukelele Ike** ’s suggestion. I will try this with my quik-e-mart guys on the corner (actually called that, too). I’ve been looking for a way to be friendly to them … they’re all Pakistani, and they sort of look nervous whenever customers try to make collegial small talk. **chestnutmare** , I’m glad I never had you for a boss. 😉 **Achernar** , some businesses have tried that, and I’ve seen some, but I hear they all get tired of the angry “What’s the big idea?!” they get from people shorted a couple coppers. Finally, **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** is exactly correct, though the metaphor could be better. Say instead of $100, it was $2 in pennies offered, with no rolls or bag or anything, just dumping it in your hand – I would just tell the person to shove off, and I don’t think it’s odd. It’s not worth it to fool with the things. Or to put it another way, what would you say if your boss offered you a $.25 an hour raise ($10 a week!), but that it was contingient on you being paid not by paycheck but in cash, every six minutes all day. How many would take it? ---
**Author:** ![StanDup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@StanDup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StanDup)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/37 "2003-07-07T02:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blibbleblabble \* > \*\*I used to collect all the pennies I could in high school and take them to amusement parks. I had a season pass and we went so often we’d get tired of the rides and had to come up with other things to do. Anyway, I hate pennies too, so we would collect as many as possible and dump them in a pile somewhere around the park in a busy area. Then we’d sit back and watch. People would go crazy over them! Especially if you got a couple of middle aged ladies competing trying to pick up as many as possible, it was hilarious. > > So there’s something fun to do with pennies. Oh, and I DON’T reccomend stuffing your pockets with pennies and then riding a ride that goes upside down. Amusement park security didn’t think that it was very funny. \*\* I should try that sometime! Reminds me of that trick where you glue a penny to the floor or when you get a bundle of money and tie it on a string and leave it on a sidewalk… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/38 "2003-07-07T03:11:25Z")
Be thankul its not a cent, as in the Euro cent, its worth less then a US penny and is completely and utterly worthless… And as much as you hate them… I dont think you should let it get to you the way it does, I mean ok you dont like them in your home fine I could understand that if they were going to be allover the place, but if you just put an old bottle or tin or money box in your hallway, and deposit all your pennies in there, you dont have to worry, and then you could offer them to charity or something. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/39 "2003-07-07T09:35:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furt \* > \*\*Finally, **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** is exactly correct, though the metaphor could be better. Say instead of $100, it was $2 in pennies offered, with no rolls or bag or anything, just dumping it in your hand – I would just tell the person to shove off, and I don’t think it’s odd. It’s not worth it to fool with the things. > > Or to put it another way, what would you say if your boss offered you a $.25 an hour raise ($10 a week!), but that it was contingient on you being paid not by paycheck but in cash, every six minutes all day. How many would take it? \*\* Now you’re introducing variables that don’t need to be introduced. How about $10 a week, but it’s in pennies AND it’s at the bottom of this vat of molten lava AND you have to dive in to get it every six minutes? Good heavens. If my boss offered me an extra quarter an hour to be paid with the rest of my paycheck but only in pennies, of course I’d take it. It’s an extra $10. So yes, you are odd to be refusing an extra $10 for doing nothing. I’m sorry you feel so important that pennies are beneath you, but the fact of the matter is that businesses continue to take them. In fact, off the top of my head, the only place I can think of right now that doesn’t take them is the toll booth collector. If you’re so dead set against their existence, why don’t you throw them out? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437/40 "2003-07-07T12:27:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Yeah, but **Spectre** , if you give 20 people $100 and tell them they can only have it in pennies, how many will refuse? Convenience isn’t the number-one criterion for money; it’s a distant second to worth. \*\* Well, if I offer the money in pennies only, no one will refuse it, but that’s not really the point. The point I was making is not that pennies are worthless, but that given the choice, virtually everyone would choose the paper money. By definition this means that the paper money is seen as more desirable and hence worth more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-etiquette/186437.md?page=3)