# Pennies are worthless



## Peter_C (Nov 26, 2014)

SmallTownGuy said:


> The local grocery store has one of those change to cash machines. Charges a whopping 12% but its fun anyway.


Most common one I have seen is "Coinstar".

Inside bank where I have an account they do not charge. If you visit one in a grocery store and instead of taking it in cash, take a store credit off their list there is zero fee. I always get Amazon gift cards from Coinstar as I shop on Amazon routinely/daily it seems like. 
https://www.coinstar.com/giftcards

I keep a change jar on the shelf and if my wallet gets change added I empty it into the jar. I never pay with change and every other year or so go and cash it all in. These days though I use a credit card mostly and probably should switch to Apple Pay.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

We collected our change a few years ago. We had carted the jars and containers for years.

We had over 600 bucks. It came in handy in a particularly thin month.

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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Coinstar sounds familiar.

Doesn't matter. I very rarely go inside a bank. One of my dear friends much younger wife is my personal banker...whatever the eff that means. I go inside a bank maybe couple times a year. ATM drive thru mostly.

Pay nearly everything locally with cash. They are all mom & pop local operations; I know every little bit helps. 

It makes a difference too. Yesterday some of what I call "our local talent" was dicking around at the register of the local gas station, trying to remember why they were there (a girl & guy crack or opium head "couple").

As soon as I walked up to back of line, she spies me, calls out, and the owner says "John I can take care of you here at this register" (he opens up the closed one).

Small Town, small courtesies. :thumbup:


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## TxElectrician (May 21, 2008)

Robie said:


> I was given one of these many years ago. believe it or not, it works really well and the batteries have lasted as long as I've had it. Tells you instantly how much you have in the jar.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Coun...=1519137373&sr=8-7&keywords=coin+counting+jar


My wife keeps one on top of the ice box. I just unscrew the lid and drop in my change, easier than putting them in one at a time.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

TxElectrician said:


> My wife keeps one on top of the ice box. I just unscrew the lid and drop in my change, easier than putting them in one at a time.


Oh man...can't you just play nice?


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Estimate the value of your coin jar with this:

https://www.coincalc.com/

I once has a cardboard box that personal checks come in, and the full box of coins came out to over $90. More than I would have thought. Maybe I was heavy on dimes.


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## Lettusbee (May 8, 2010)

My Cupholder in the truck usually has about $50 worth of change before I decide to empty it. 

I have kept every penny I've ever gotten. Put em in old jars. Have dozens of old jars full of pennies hanging around the shop and the house.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Lettusbee said:


> My Cupholder in the truck usually has about $50 worth of change before I decide to empty it.
> 
> I have kept every penny I've ever gotten. Put em in old jars. Have dozens of old jars full of pennies hanging around the shop and the house.


If they are before 1982, you stand to make a tidy profit on the pennies.


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## Lettusbee (May 8, 2010)

My kids will have fun sorting through them after I'm dead:laughing:


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## RangoWA (Jun 25, 2014)

Lettusbee said:


> My kids will have fun sorting through them after I'm dead:laughing:


They'll probably say these are worthless and toss them.


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## cedarboarder (Mar 30, 2015)

bwiab said:


> And so are quotes and or invoices with them... Seriously tracking pennies is mind numbing. If a sub sends me a quote with pennies I just round down. The 37 cents goes to my time to strike through the numbers. Anyone feel they can justify quoting or billing in pennies.. I don't get it. :no:


Ya, that really helps with the bookkeeping..... 

Stop being a baby and write 2 numbers :laughing: to lazy? stop being cheap and round up haha


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## Frank Castle (Dec 27, 2011)

My girlfriend (now wife) and I bought our first house with change.
Kept saving our change from bar tending tips. After a very short time, we had enough for a down payment.:thumbsup:


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

I buy a coffee at the gas station every day and maybe a snack. I use cash for that stuff and put my change in a jar close to what Robie posted. It is pretty accurate. Usually has $100 once or twice a year. I split it between my 3 kids' savings accounts. I get it sorted for free at my bank. I bring the kids so they can see what the total is..plus they still give out suckers at my bank. 

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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

overanalyze said:


> I get it sorted for free at my bank. I bring the kids so they can see what the total is..plus they still give out suckers at my bank.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk




All of my banks used to have the free machines but they took them away...the grocery store was the same, now around here it is getting more difficult to cash in a bucket of change. 

I am still old-school and use cash for a lot of purchases as opposed to debit/credit cards so I always have some change in my pockets to use when I pay so rarely do I have a large accumulation of change 




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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

If the total on something I'm paying cash for has .01, I want the 99¢ back. I put the change in a 5 gallon bucket. Every 18 months theres a couple of grand in it.

Tom


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## Peter_C (Nov 26, 2014)

Lettusbee said:


> My Cupholder in the truck usually has about $50 worth of change before I decide to empty it.


My friends car was broken into, and he couldn't figure out what they took...until he realized he had left about $.50 in the cup holder. $500 later he had a new window. I have lost track of how many windows I have sold/replaced due to vehicle break ins. Point being, make sure it is out of sight.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

A friend of mine in NJ had to keep a sign on her car window saying "radio stolen". Otherwise, it would just keep getting broken into before they noticed the radio was already gone.


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## B.Johnson (Sep 17, 2016)

I'm surprised that no one has brought up that it costs more than a penny to make a penny.


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## stuart45 (Oct 7, 2009)

Some pennies are worth keeping. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36257107


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

B.Johnson said:


> I'm surprised that no one has brought up that it costs more than a penny to make a penny.


Hey...quiet down.

It's the way the government does things in the U.S.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

SmallTownGuy said:


> If they are before 1982, you stand to make a tidy profit on the pennies.





B.Johnson said:


> I'm surprised that no one has brought up that it costs more than a penny to make a penny.


...:whistling


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

B.Johnson said:


> I'm surprised that no one has brought up that it costs more than a penny to make a penny.


You have to make a penny once, they last 100 years plus.

Bills have a short lifespan.



> As a result, the average lifespan of a $100 bill is 15 years while a $5 bill lasts just 4.9 years. Dollar bills last just under 6 years on average while the $20 bill has a relatively healthy lifespan at 7.7 years.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I look for and save all the old Wheat back pennies. I have a few pretty old ones.

If anyone wants to send me your coins, I'll pay face value.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

I have a 1909 VDB coin. Collected coins when I was younger. Have a few of the penny books that are mostly full. Only pennies I don't have are the super rare ones you'd never keep in one of those books. You'd keep it in a safe. On occasion I find a wheat back in my change. But it's pretty rare these days. Most of them have been taken out of circulation by people like you and I.


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## TxElectrician (May 21, 2008)

Leo G said:


> I have a 1909 VDB coin. Collected coins when I was younger. Have a few of the penny books that are mostly full. Only pennies I don't have are the super rare ones you'd never keep in one of those books. You'd keep it in a safe. On occasion I find a wheat back in my change. But it's pretty rare these days. Most of them have been taken out of circulation by people like you and I.


Growing up in the 60s it was not uncommon to get wheat pennies or Indian head nickels as change. Still have quite a few of both.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Well they stopped making them in 64-65. The cutoff date is 1964. So in the 60s they were aplenty.


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## bwiab (Mar 17, 2006)

Hey Dont get me wrong.. love me some coins.. older the better.. gold ones, silver ones, you betcha. I just hate cents on an invoice or a quote. Maybe laziness, but more of a pet peeve...


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## bwiab (Mar 17, 2006)

Leo G said:


> I'm sure rounding down could be construed as stealing. Especially when you round down 7 cents. And you are altering a contract.


my contract says something along the lines of, " all previous correspondence is superceeded by this agreement and this agreement represents the entire agreement." yada yada yada not legal advice, etc.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Your contract can't change another contract unless they sign it.


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## millhouse (Mar 9, 2007)

Save them up - You could always make a countertop or backsplash!
These are not my projects, but I do think they are pretty cool - except thinking about how much of a PIA they would be to accomplish


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## B.Johnson (Sep 17, 2016)

They sell penny mosaic sheets.


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## millhouse (Mar 9, 2007)

B.Johnson said:


> They sell penny mosaic sheets.


I was not aware of that. I have never seen any examples in person, looks like it would make an interesting floor.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

bwiab said:


> Hey Dont get me wrong.. love me some coins.. older the better.. gold ones, silver ones, you betcha. I just hate cents on an invoice or a quote. Maybe laziness, but more of a pet peeve...


One of those Liberty silver dollars just turned up in some badly corroded change of mine.

It's nearly black and has even less detail than yours.


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## Adamthebuilder (Apr 14, 2016)

Last year at the Builders Show in Vegas, I found a 1943 nickle in my winnings. (For a few years during the war, they were made of silver as the demand for nickle for war production). Was going to save it with all my silver and gold coins. 

When I am in hotels, I leave all my change to tip the maids, and left the nickle. Hope she noticed it and appreciated the windfall.


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## B.Johnson (Sep 17, 2016)

millhouse said:


> I was not aware of that. I have never seen any examples in person, looks like it would make an interesting floor.


https://www.real-penny-tile-projects-made-easy.com/

They don't have the patterned one like you show in your picture, but maybe there is another source. It looks like sheets to me.


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## RangoWA (Jun 25, 2014)

Must be a lot of fun cleaning all the crevices on those penny designs.


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## cedarboarder (Mar 30, 2015)

RangoWA said:


> Must be a lot of fun cleaning all the crevices on those penny designs.


It gets a coat of epoxy I believe. Not sure how that is done a on back splash.,, 

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## Lettusbee (May 8, 2010)

Went to the hardware store for some washers. They wanted 5 cents each for 'em. 

Said no way. Went home and drilled holes in pennies. 

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## cedarboarder (Mar 30, 2015)

Lettusbee said:


> Went to the hardware store for some washers. They wanted 5 cents each for 'em.
> 
> Said no way. Went home and drilled holes in pennies.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


They work really good with Ramset guns, won't rust either


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## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

Pennies are worthless??? Ya think, hell Dollar bills are worthless. As far as the invoices my invoice program just adds it all up and I don't round up or down, too much hassle for me to do so.


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