Why Don't People Pick Up Pennies?
Do You Pick Up Off The Ground Pennies When You See Them?
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I feel when some people (myself included) see pennies, they feel if they pick them up it is a sign of desperation. They may pick up pennies when walking alone, but in the company of others they pass them by. If a cashier fumbles your change and a few pennies drop to the floor most people don't take the time to stoop down and pick them up (unless you are Homer Simpson).
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Here in the United States, the penny is the smallest denomination coin that we have. It's interesting to see what people are willing to pick up. A nickel or a quarter? What about the quarter's equivalent of 25 pennies? I'd wager that unless there is a large pile of pennies, most people will not take the time to collect them off the ground.
We even have little boxes near cash registers to give away our extra pennies and are used to round up purchases so that we do not receive pennies.
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A penny by itself is not worth very much. But if I were to pick up a penny a day what would I have? 10060 pennies or $100.60. I know if I dropped $100 I would absolutely pick it up, but why wouldn't I pick up what makes a small fraction of that $100? I am not too proud to pick up a penny anymore.
To further show the real value of a penny, lets take a historic journey back to 1492 with Columbus (not a great guy, but he'll do for this example). If Mr. Columbus had taken a penny and invested it in an interest bearing account at 6%, how much would he have today? One million dollars or 10 million dollars? Not even close. Try $121 billion today. I'm not a finance expert, so I know there is inflation and if you can find a savings account that pays 6% I'm all ears, but compounding interest is like magic.
Most us us will likely not have the benefit of 524 years to watch our penny grow and blossom into millions, but a few pennies collected and placed in an interest bearing account may be quite a large sum if willed to future generations.
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A penny saved.......May be worth quite a lot more than a penny in the long term.
Will You Pick Up The Next Penny You See?
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ILOVE THIS! I ALWAYS pick up pennies, I actually get excited when I see them. My family members always roll their eye at me. Because they compare me to the real life Mr. Krabs. But I dont' care what people think!
Then again, I do go metal detecting for hours for a few pennies. So maybe I am a little crazy.
We all are a little crazy. But you are frugal which is really wise! If you enjoy metal detecting and doing things that don't cost money but are enjoyable, you are ahead of most people that can only have fun going out and spending money on overpriced drinks :)
Good read check out this video from John Oliver
It's about pennies, very comical and explains people don't pick up pennies!
I love John Oliver! Thanks for sharing this. Start stocking up on pennies as collectors items now before they disappear forever :)
:)
I wish I could give this two upvotes! I'm crying with laughter.
This reminds me of Mad magazine Dave Berg's The Lighter Side Of- a man is walking with his wife and they see a penny, she nags him to pick it up so he does and sprains a disc, at the hospital they show them the receipt and the guy says "No problem my wife can give you a penny as a down payment". I've never picked up coins after I read that.
Haha. I guess there are calculated risks to health that must be factored in to picking up pennies.
I will always pick up pennies!
Oh, you beautiful, beautiful soul - you've just inspired a post! I'll be sure to shout you out for blowing off the dust on this old high school memory :)
I'm excited to read about it! Feel free to leave the link in reply. I really enjoy giving others ideas and inspiring them, so even if you were the only one to comment, I would feel the time spent writing this post was well worth it :)
Thank you! And here's the post you've inspired: Of pennies and humble pie - inspired by a post from @bendjmiller222
Clearly people here all pick up pennies or they would never spend so much time formatting post for this site.
Haha. I'd format my posts even if I did not make any more pennies off of it. I'm a bit ocd so that is probably the reason why :)
i threw away two quarters yesterday at the airport because they were a hassle at airport security.
now i will never be rich!
:-)
Every dollar amount is divisible into pennies. Bitcoin even more so, but I'm having trouble finding any bitcoins pieces scattered all over the ground. Maybe it is just a superior currency :)
Great read, by the way I don't pick up change but if it was a bill I would. But I really never find any change or bills. Now my husband on the other had picks up every penny , nickle, dime, quarter , or bill he finds. I don't know how but he finds money all the time. It's so funny how he gets so excited even when he finds a penny.
💋 @halo 💋😇
Almost always there are coins near checkout counters, underneath vending machines, and near drive through windows. Any place money gets exchanged there are often coins left on the ground. Along with the occasional coin found on a walk or in the parking lot.
Why not pick up that penny if for no more than the exercise and....you just never know what the real worth will be.
Who knows what the value may be someday down the road. They may become nostalgic collectors items someday.
I'd pick it up if it was pure copper. Copper plated junk ain't worth it. Same for eurocents (copper plated steel).
yes. I'm surprised they cannot make a cheaper coin. But if it costs 1.7 cents to make, it is another misuse of the American taxpayers money
You only understand the "fail" of government incompetence when the cost of minting money exceeds the face value of the money - even when the material is dirt cheap.
Next step: Order pennies from Chinese subcontractor of the US Mint ahahahaha
In china we trus :) i wouldn't put it past them. I'm not sure how they factor the 1.7 cents in cost. They could hollow out the penny somehow or make it even smaller to cut costs, but i think the penny is soon to go extinct.
I pick up pennies. Some people think they are too good for it but I still do it.
It's interesting how lazy people have become about not only picking up pennies, but recycleables as well. I bet most of us would pick up a roll of pennies, but few would pick up 50 scattered pennies