# Why is my elevator dispensing quarters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198 "2012-10-19T04:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/1 "2012-10-19T04:14:10Z")
This is bizarre and I can’t figure it out. Every day this week when I come home from work at night, I have found 4-5 quarters stuffed in a small metal grate at the bottom of a wall in my apartment elevator. I use my key to pull them out through the bars, and then the next night they are back!! This happened Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then again just now! Why are they there? Why do they keep coming back? 😕😕 ---
**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:** [October 19, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/2 "2012-10-19T04:17:42Z")
Someone is putting them there. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/3 "2012-10-19T04:24:45Z")
Are you sure you’re not stuck in a vending machine? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/4 "2012-10-19T04:45:13Z")
Somewhere else on the Internet someone has posted a thread saying: [QUOTE=Somebody Else] This is bizarre and I can’t figure it out. Every day this week when I come home from work at night, I stuff 4-5 quarters into a small metal grate at the bottom of a wall in my apartment elevator to keep out the ants. I use my key to push them through the bars, and then the next night they are gone!! This happened Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then again just now! Why are they missing? Don’t they know about the ant problem? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/5 "2012-10-19T05:05:58Z")
I’ve heard of the Tooth Fairy (though when I was a wee lass, she only dispensed nickels and dimes to the Bodoni kids) but I’ve never, ever heard of an Elevator Fairy. This is going to keep me guessing at odd hours of the day and night, I just know it. I can imagine some drunk doing this once. I can imagine some kid doing it a couple of times, just for a prank. I can’t imagine someone doing it every day. I keep saying that cats is weird. Peoples is weird, too, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/6 "2012-10-19T08:11:38Z")
So you’ve gained about $5 so far? Don’t complain, it might stop! 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 19, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/7 "2012-10-19T08:17:32Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Somewhere else on the Internet someone has posted a thread saying: It could be someone in a parallel universe. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/8 "2012-10-19T09:21:23Z")
Someone has installed a hidden video camera, and is paying you your commission for being the star on their live-cam website called [bentoverbutts.com](http://bentoverbutts.com) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/9 "2012-10-19T09:37:36Z")
I never heard of coin-operated elevators before. Is this the trending thing? Your elevator seems to reject a lot of the quarters people put in, and dumps them into the coin return slot. (I’m having a hard time picturing what “a small metal grate at the bottom of a wall in my apartment elevator” looks like.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/10 "2012-10-19T09:40:06Z")
It’s a trap. The coins are bait. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/11 "2012-10-19T09:40:51Z")
Are there coin operated car washes or vending machines nearby? It could be [Starlings](http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/carwash.asp)stashing their ill-gotten loot. Being in an elevator packrats may be more likely. Either way, free quarters! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/12 "2012-10-19T09:44:35Z")
Are the coins…hollow? Fake? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/13 "2012-10-19T11:28:07Z")
Are the coins made of chocolate? ---
**Author:** ![bahimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bahimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahimes)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/14 "2012-10-19T12:24:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I never heard of coin-operated elevators before. Is this the trending thing?.. I lived in Italy prior to the Euro conversion. Many apartment elevators took a 10 Lira coin to operate. As the 10 Lira coin was nearly extinct, many of these apartment buildings would mount a small bowl of coins for use. One friend had a bit of fishing line attached to a coin so he could get to his apartment. I assume they still exist in some areas. Maybe you have new Italian immigrant neighbors and they couldn’t find anyplace to drop the coin(s)? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/15 "2012-10-19T15:20:29Z")
[The grate.](http://imageshack.us/a/img846/7523/ui2ik90133fcd12viewattt.jpg) (There are two of them on each wall. The coins only appear in this one.) [The quarters inside.](http://imageshack.us/a/img836/7523/ui2ik90133fcd12viewattt.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/16 "2012-10-19T15:23:17Z")
A very tiny man is being held prisoner in the back of your elevator and he’s hoping he can bribe you to free him. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/17 "2012-10-19T15:43:55Z")
It’s a meme. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/18 "2012-10-19T15:43:59Z")
Why are you peering into a tiny grate next to the floor to find money in it? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/19 "2012-10-19T15:48:30Z")
My kiddo (almost 3) loves carrying change, and will insert a coin into anything that looks like it wants a coin. Do you ever see small children on the elevator? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/20 "2012-10-19T16:00:16Z")
It’s a poor leprechaun’s pot o’ gold. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198.md?page=2)