“Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.”
That’s what I grew up saying, and occasionally, I can’t help but pick up a penny. The penny — a dirty brown, copper coin — is the lowest denomination we own as Americans. With inflation, rising prices, and a changing, digital economy, the penny doesn’t seem to be necessary. It’s really more weight than it’s worth.
It’s an interesting question, though: What amount of money would you need to see to pick it up? Would you go for a penny? How about a nickel, dime, quarter? When does picking up some loose change seem like a reasonable use of time? For me, if I see a nickel or more, my rapacious little hands are quick to grab it.
I’m a man with nary a dime of net worth, finding a nickel feels like winning the lotto. Well, maybe I’m being a bit hyperbolic, but you get the picture. In my current economic state, the percentage that a nickel, dime, or quarter contains is worth my bending down to grab it. But it’s important to keep some perspective about wealth in the United States.
When you’re a billionaire like Bill Gates, reaching for that little coin may cost you more than it’s worth. Here’s the always amazing, talented, and funny, Neil deGrasse Tyson to explain:
Only if its heads up! 🙂
As pennies were abandon (in Canada) there are no pennies to pick up. If they did exist, I still wouldn’t. They are just not worth it. As for larger coins, I would pick up a quarter, but nickels and dimes not so much. They are NOT worth the time. It takes months/years for enough change to accumulate in my change jar as 95% of my transactions are not cash.
As the commenter above stated, pennies are not given in change anymore in Canada (although still accepted), but I would still pick it up because it’s free exercise, the way I look at it.
I always pick up a coin of any denomination. I like to read the date and think about what happened in my life during that particular year. And don’t forget the rest of the saying….”Find a penny, leave it be, and bad luck will come to thee!”
I debate in my head whether to pick up a coin, any coin, by whether it looks clean or not. I don’t want to pick up something in a puddle of any kind, no matter how shallow or small it is. Ick. So I guess my determining factor is whether I would feel as though I had to get to a sink as soon as possible to wash my hands if I picked it up. Other than that, I love picking up pennies, doing that little rhyme in my head, and then dropping them again so that someone else can find it later. Fun stuff, Sam! Love your posts so much! 🙂
I pick up everything and then say “thank you!” and “I AM A MONEY MAGNET” No joke 🙂
I suppose it’s like picking up litter, and we’re already supposed to do that, right? 🙂
I usually don’t pick up pennies, I don’t throw them out, but I almost never pick them up. Anything above that, I’m picking up.
I absolutely love Niel deGrasse. He recently went to my school for a lecture/speech and I wasn’t able to make it sadly.
I and husband always pick up the coins. He’s very talented in ‘seeing’ them, sometimes he finds them even if they’re really hard to see. i always joke that he’s got some sort of a metal detector or something … It’s not a huge deal (money wise), but we do love the thrill of finding something. Most I found was a $20 dollar bill. The bad thing is that I also lost one (threw it in the garbage together with some receipts).
Probably a nickel or higher. Almost always for a quarter because I love free laundry money! On the flip side, how much money are you comfortable pocketing before you feel you should try to find its owner? I once saw a $50 just chilling on a rack of candy at a deli checkout. It had clearly fallen out of someone’s wallet, but I had no clue who. I could’ve easily pocketed it without anyone noticing, but felt way too guilty and handed it over to the cashier (who could have also pocketed it).
Just picked up a penny a few hours ago on my walk! I average about 3cents per week 😉
I just picked up a penny yesterday with my daughter while out on a walk. Found a dime over in the parking lot at Target today. When we are with our daughter she gets super excited and we treat it like a big deal how important all money is and she loves it. If we don’t think money is a big deal then what will our daughter think. But I must admit I like it when they are silver and shiny instead of brown and worth a cent.
I actually picked up a penny a few days ago. Then put it back because I didn’t feel like carrying change. Talk about a waste of time! NdGT always has good insight.
It’s funny I came across this article tonight. I was just talking to my best friend (who is super frugal) and she told me she refuses to keep pennies. I personally would not bother to pick on up