Loose change on the ground. Do you pick it up?

[Rain Man]

On my walk home from work yesterday, I found 87 cents on the ground. I'm not sure why there was 87 cents on the ground, but it was three quarters and twelve pennies all lying together. I'm not going to pass up 87 cents.

However, I wasn't born yesterday. Before I picked it up, I looked around to be sure it wasn't a trap. There were no snares, no people hiding in the bushes, and the coins didn't look like they'd been superheated. So I scooped them up.

There's a little bit of context for picking up coinage on the ground. If I'm in a busy pedestrian area, I generally won't stop for anything under a quarter. But if I'm walking by myself and see a penny, heck yeah. You invest that penny in google, and you probably end up with a quarter by the time you retire.

What's the smallest amount of money that's worth stopping and bending down for? For poll purposes, you can assume that you're walking by yourself in a non-crowded area where you don't know anyone.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Frosty

When Canada dropped the penny, they kept everything the same for electronic payment and just round up or down to the nearest nickle for any cash payments. Super simple.

Instead, we are wasting money making new designs for our pennies.

I say we move to all bitcoin. Save money on printing currency, and easy to transfer anytime, any place. Banks would be pissed, though.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Frosty

When Canada dropped the penny, they kept everything the same for electronic payment and just round up or down to the nearest nickle for any cash payments. Super simple.

Instead, we are wasting money making new designs for our pennies.

If you kill the penny, guess what?

It will actually be WORTH something...

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Frosty

When Canada dropped the penny, they kept everything the same for electronic payment and just round up or down to the nearest nickle for any cash payments. Super simple.

Instead, we are wasting money making new designs for our pennies.

Designs for pennies really don't cost that much, but it costs more than a penny to make a penny. It's completely ridiculous that we still have them. We'd probably have done away with them years ago if not for the zinc lobby keeping pennies in play.

http://fortune.com/2012/04/11/dont-m...e-penny-lobby/

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Designs for pennies really don't cost that much, but it costs more than a penny to make a penny. It's completely ridiculous that we still have them. We'd probably have done away with them years ago if not for the zinc lobby keeping pennies in play.

http://fortune.com/2012/04/11/dont-m...e-penny-lobby/

At some point, maybe it will be worth it to gather millions of pennies, and melt them down for the metal for profit.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BWillie

At some point, maybe it will be worth it to gather millions of pennies, and melt them down for the metal for profit.

The point where we run out of cheap zinc? Wouldn't worry about it.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by BWillie

There is 144,000 seconds per 40 hours. So, $160,000 a year, that is $3076 a week, and earning $0.02 per second. Assuming it takes 5 seconds to notice, evaluate, and pick up a coin, it is only worth my time to pick it up if it is a dime or more.

But are you earning $0.02 in that particular second? Probably not, because you're walking somewhere. You're earning your money in clumps of time, not when you're sleeping or walking or eating a Hot Pocket. So the penny is actually added income on top of your regular income.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by BWillie

At some point, maybe it will be worth it to gather millions of pennies, and melt them down for the metal for profit.

Not possible...

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by BWillie

There is 144,000 seconds per 40 hours. So, $160,000 a year, that is $3076 a week, and earning $0.02 per second. Assuming it takes 5 seconds to notice, evaluate, and pick up a coin, it is only worth my time to pick it up if it is a dime or more.

Any and all pennies are extra - not a 40 hour work week...

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Not possible...

Of course it's possible. It's not legal, and it might not be worth it in the end (a lot of the costs are production I'm sure), but it's certainly possible.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Of course it's possible. It's not legal, and it might not be worth it in the end (a lot of the costs are production I'm sure), but it's certainly possible.

There isn't enough copper on the penny to bother with...

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Any and all pennies are extra - not a 40 hour work week...

Yeah, unless your employer docks your pay for wasting time picking up change, irrelevant. Unless you want to make a case for this being additional labor below market value, at which point you'd need evidence someone would be willing to pay you to do something during the time you pick up change.

But it's far more shortsighted beyond that, as it doesn't take into account time lost in the future scrounging for change or dealing with making excessive change because you're a penny or nickel short in pocket when making a transaction.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

But are you earning $0.02 in that particular second? Probably not, because you're walking somewhere. You're earning your money in clumps of time, not when you're sleeping or walking or eating a Hot Pocket. So the penny is actually added income on top of your regular income.

Yeah, I was going to mention that. That is something to think about, but what if you are just lazy and done want to "work" more outside of regular hours and time? Goal of my post was just to illustrate how that task compares to ones working wage.

[DanT]

For some reason, I've found quite a bit of money outside.

Back when I worked at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, I once found ten $20 bills in a flower planter box on the edge of the campus. It was late at night, around midnight, and I had just left my office to walk home a couple of blocks away. I returned it to one of the hospital cops at my office building. Three months later, on the same day when I later got the money back (because no one had claimed it), I found a $5 bill on the public sidewalk on my way to work. I figured that was the interest on the original $200.

I've also found cash in parking lots and the like. I think the last time it happened, I found a $10 in front of a grocery store that I frequent. If I recall correctly, I checked with the store manager to see if anyone lost some cash and then pocketed it when he or she said no one had.

If I see a penny or a coin on a floor where it could be a slipping hazard, I'll pick it up just to remove the hazard. (I don't want anyone falling down at the hospital or at any of the stores I shop in!) If there's a place to leave it (like a donation box), I'll do that. Otherwise, I'll pocket it. At that same store where I found the $10, I'll sometimes leave nickels and dimes on the brick work on the columns in front of the store, just for the hell of it ( here's a picture of the store, in case you're interested in what the columns look like: https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en...IVDNFjCh0HmAIW ). I've gotten up to 1 bucks or more (a nickel or a dime at a time) on a column before it's noticed by anyone and removed.

Sometimes when I have a bunch of pennies, I'll leave it in the change return box for a pay phone or a vending machine, just for the hell of it. I imagine the person finding it thinking it's a bunch of dimes only to discover it's just some stupid pennies.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by DanT

For some reason, I've found quite a bit of money outside.

Back when I worked at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, I once found ten $20 bills in a flower planter box on the edge of the campus. It was late at night, around midnight, and I had just left my office to walk home a couple of blocks away. I returned it to one of the hospital cops at my office building. Three months later, on the same day when I later got the money back (because no one had claimed it), I found a $5 bill on the public sidewalk on my way to work. I figured that was the interest on the original $200.

I've also found cash in parking lots and the like. I think the last time it happened, I found a $10 in front of a grocery store that I frequent. If I recall correctly, I checked with the store manager to see if anyone lost some cash and then pocketed it when he or she said no one had.

If I see a penny or a coin on a floor where it could be a slipping hazard, I'll pick it up just to remove the hazard. (I don't want anyone falling down at the hospital or at any of the stores I shop in!) If there's a place to leave it (like a donation box), I'll do that. Otherwise, I'll pocket it. At that same store where I found the $10, I'll sometimes leave nickels and dimes on the brick work on the columns in front of the store, just for the hell of it ( here's a picture of the store, in case you're interested in what the columns look like: https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en...IVDNFjCh0HmAIW ). I've gotten up to 1 bucks or more (a nickel or a dime at a time) on a column before it's noticed by anyone and removed.

Sometimes when I have a bunch of pennies, I'll leave it in the change return box for a pay phone or a vending machine, just for the hell of it. I imagine the person finding it thinking it's a bunch of dimes only to discover it's just some stupid pennies.

One time I was in Fargo, and I saw something in the distance with a ice scraper sticking out of the snow with a bunch of reddish snow around it. I lumbered out into the snow covered field and found about 6 Million dollars. Do you think if I leave I owe you notes that will suffice? I'm going to pay whoever's it is back. I promise. My I owe you notes are as good as gold

[PunkinDrublic]

I give all my Canadian change to the homeless.