Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pennies

How to get a crapload of pennies.

alexei — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:24:59 -0800

I need a large number of pennies shipped to me. Does anyone provide this service? I need to get a large number of American pennies (tens of thousands), ideally clean ones, to Australia for a project (penny-pressing machine). I would like to get them shipped to Australia, either directly or through some sort of shipping consolidator. I've been having trouble finding a good source. I have tried visiting banks with some success, but they don't ship, and their pennies are usually dirty. I'm currently in San Francisco. I can continue picking up boxes locally, packing them up and shipping them, but I'd rather automate it if possible, especially since I might need more later.

Alternately, is there somewhere to buy copper (or other suitable metal) disks in Australia for a reasonable price? (yes, I'm aware that pennies are not copper). The only quotes I've had so far are in the 30 cent range, which seems very high.

Cashing in wheat pennies

Newstuffoldstuff — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:36:25 -0800

My 16-year-old son has about 40 rolls of wheat pennies given to him by his grandfather. What is the most efficient and cost effective way for him to cash these coins in?

I Wish To Squish

Squee — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:31:11 -0800

SquishFilter: What else, besides coins, could I safely place on some railroad tracks for a bit of silly fun? When I was a kid, my mom used to bring home coins for me that she would squash by placing them on the railroad tracks near her work, then collecting them later after a train passed by. I loved them, though I was never present when the squishing took place.

I live by some active railroad tracks now, and fondly think of this every time I pass by. I've still never actually done it, but someone is coming to visit me soon and I thought this was something fun and silly that we could do together during a walk past the tracks.

Then I got to thinking about what else we could squash, besides coins. I have some old flat metal keys that I don't need anymore. I thought those might be fun to try and were coin-like enough to be....y'know....safe.

I also did a bit of googling and read in passing somewhere, that someone suggested squishing rings on the railroad tracks. There wasn't much detail about it though....I've got some old metal rings that I wouldn't mind experimenting with....

Is this a bad idea, for any reason - safety, legal, or otherwise? Should I just stick with coins?

Has anyone squashed anything with success on railroad tracks besides coins, before? Suggestions welcome. Please feel free to thwack me mercilessly if this is a bad idea, or chatfilter.

Pennies from heaven, or unwanted garbage?

hector horace — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:44:27 -0800

Would it be insulting to give a jar of pennies, (probably close to $7 or $8 worth) to a panhandler? Ok, so I just finished sorting through my change and putting it in rolls. I ran out of penny rolls half way through the process, so i now have a mason jar full of the copper slackers. I'd kind of like to be rid of it. Would it be a bad idea to give it to a panhandler in this loose form, (or any form really)? I really don't want to offend anyone, but it would be nice to do something with them that is win win. I kind of think they might have the same opinion about it that I do, that it's just not worth the effort to try and roll it up and turn it into cash.

thanks

Going Penny-Crazy, HELP !

eebs — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:35:23 -0800

I have a lot of pennies. They accumulated over the past 12 years. I need a permanent solution to this problem other than a big jar (that you have to move eventually and gets heavier by day). What do you do with your pennies?

Inconvenient funds?

ontic — Thu, 18 May 2006 11:43:44 -0800

Assuming denomination of currency was not specified in the contract, could someone hold the terms of a contract unfulfilled because the denomination of currency was inconvenient and/or costly to process? This is just a curiosity, so I'm not in such a situation. But say that it never specifies in a lease that rent must be paid by check or bills. If someone paid in pennies, could the landlord hold the terms of the lease unfulfilled? It seems like it would get dicey if much time and/or money had to be expended to verify the amount of money or get a bank to take it. Is this something regularly specified in contracts to avoid this problem?

Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?

tomharpel — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:37:48 -0800

Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?