NY Magazine
Most pennies produced by the U.S. Mint are given out as change but never spent; this creates an incessant demand for new pennies to replace them, so that cash transactions that necessitate pennies (i.e., any concluding with a sum whose final digit is 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 or 9) can be settled. Because these replacement pennies will themselves not be spent, they will need to be replaced with new pennies that will also not be spent, and so will have to be replaced with new pennies that will not be spent, which will have to be replaced by new pennies (that will not be spent, and so will have to be replaced). In other words, we keep minting pennies because no one uses the pennies we mint.
A conservative estimate holds that there are 240 billion pennies lying around the United States — about 724 ($7.24) for every man, woman and child there residing, and enough to hand two pennies to every bewildered human born since the dawn of man. More
I kept mine in a giant Seagram’s bottle. – Dr. Tar
Back when I had a paper route, people tried to pay me with pennies, but anything over 25 pennies is not legal tender. I refused to take anything over 25 pennies and stopped delivering their papers until I was fully paid. They usually called the home office to complain but the office told them to pay-up without pennies or go without a paper.
Considering a penny is nothing more than a copper plated zinc slug there is practically no monetary value to the penny. However when finely ground and added to iron oxide they make an excellent thermite far cheaper than you could buy a commercially available one.
Considering a penny is nothing more than a copper plated zinc slug there is practically no monetary value to the penny. However when finely ground and added to iron oxide they make an excellent thermite far cheaper than you could buy a commercially available one.
Sorry for the bad post above
The government loses 2 cents on every penny it mints, yet they have to keep making more and more because nobody likes to use them to make transactions.
I’m sorry but due to inflation, the price of my thoughts now cost a nickel.
Keep a few handy in case you blow a glass fuse…
LIVE’s best album is Throwing Copper…
Nobody wants to stand behind “that person” counting out pennies at the register. Much less two.
I have around 37 pounds of pennies in a five gallon water bottle. when it hits the point I can’t lift the bottle then I’ll turn them in for paper. this is roughly two years worth of change, I do this about every two to three years. have for a long time. always enjoy the the tellers reaction when you have to heave two heavy shoe boxes full of rolled coins onto the counter. it’s like they’ve never seen money before.
I have made the habit of walking out of the house with $1.49 in change in my pocket. I moved 10 months ago and I found a couple of Mason jars of coins. I am down about half way on one of the jars.
I keep ’em til there’s enough to take to bank where the’ll count ’em and exchange for something of value.
Remember when banks would give you a toaster for opening an account with them?
Now if you bring in 37 pounds of pennies they’ll hand you a toaster!
Round every transaction up or down to the nearest Quarter. That eliminates dimes and nickels too.
The Great White North got rid of the penny maybe ten years ago. As I recall, the law specified how things got rounded. I think 1, 2, 6, and 7 rounded down and 4, 5, 8, and 9 rounded up. Non- cash transactions used the unrounded amount.
My old bank had a change counting machine available if you had an account. Now I use one at the grocery store which charges 10%. In the sixties my parents would save change as a vacation fund.
Many, many years ago when first married and moving to are own place after living with her Mother (Widowed and alone) for a couple of years we had to move a LARGE ceramic jug (fifteen gallons I believe). Was damn near full and was all pennies. Got it on two wheel dolly as it was impossible to move any other way.
Didn’t notice or I think it had to be a hair line crack in it. At the entrance to the house there was a very small step up on the threshold of no more than about an inch. Letting it over that wheeling the jug out the jug exploded. If memory serves it was over $350.00 and I don’t know what ever became of the pictures. You could with muscle put it on its side and empty it which is what we should have done…
Now have one of the old Hinkley & Schmitt heavy glass water jugs that they used to have on the water coolers. Quarters this time and haven’t let it get past five or six inches filled. Used to be my “Poker Fund” before the group stopped playing
I’ve thrown a LOT of pennies into the wishing well.
No fricking wonder none of my wishes came true.
I don’t get many pennies anymore. The tap bank cards seem to have take over my purchases. But I have a Gersner roll around bottom drawer full of them.
nobody reads pratchett, i guess…..it may cost three cents to mint a penny, but one penny can be worth 1 cent a million times, and more…so, if your house were on fire, and you could only take out one thing, what one thing would you take out?
@Bad_Brad ~ those Grestner roller cabinets cost a ‘pretty penny’ …
https://gerstnerusa.com/shop/r3007-roller-cabinet/
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Incredible craftsmanship. I have the entire stack.