Leave/Take A Penny
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24 members have voted
Do they have similar set ups for avoiding change in countries that use different currencies?
Quote: AyecarumbaWhen you see a, "Leave-a-Penny, Take-a-Penny" tray by the cash register, what is the most that you will take?
Do they have similar set ups for avoiding change in countries that use different currencies?
Two is my max. Once or twice the clerk took more on my behalf.
FWIW, I have saved pretty much every penny I have gotten since i was 12 or so and have nearly filled one of those 5gal polar water jugs with them. It is a dandy floor decoration.
With my math skills? You've got to be kidding!!Quote: AyecarumbaWhen you see a, "Leave-a-Penny, Take-a-Penny" tray by the cash register, what is the most that you will take?
I rarely ever take a penny.
I fact, I recently started getting soup and an egg roll at a local Chinese take-out restaurant. With tax it's $4.01. The first time, I gave $5, and didn't notice the penny dish. I got $1 change and the clerk never bothered with the penny. The next time I brought in a few pennies and left them in the dish. They still didn't take a penny when I paid.
Don't try to lift it. The jug will break and you'll have pennies everywhere!Quote: AZDuffmanFWIW, I have saved pretty much every penny I have gotten since i was 12 or so and have nearly filled one of those 5gal polar water jugs with them. It is a dandy floor decoration.
Quote: DJTeddyBear
Don't try to lift it. The jug will break and you'll have pennies everywhere!
Been told that but this is an old, thick, glass one. I rarely lift it except when I move.
Quote: AZDuffmanFWIW, I have saved pretty much every penny I have gotten since i was 12 or so and have nearly filled one of those 5gal polar water jugs with them. It is a dandy floor decoration.
Is it just pennies? I wonder how much money is in there (not compounding interest for x years...)?
My sister bought a bank repo'd house several years ago, and found a duffle bag full of change hidden in a cabinet. I guessed there was $360 since it looked like mostly pennies. When it was finally counted, the total was over $1,000, as there were a bunch of quarters and dimes too. It was like getting a free mortgage payment.
Might give you an idea...
Quote: AyecarumbaIs it just pennies? I wonder how much money is in there (not compounding interest for x years...)?
My sister bought a bank repo'd house several years ago, and found a duffle bag full of change hidden in a cabinet. I guessed there was $360 since it looked like mostly pennies. When it was finally counted, the total was over $1,000, as there were a bunch of quarters and dimes too. It was like getting a free mortgage payment.
It is all pennies and a guess would be <$300. Even at $.50/week, which is very high, for round to 30 years is $6.00 or so. Still, if my place gets robbed I will probably end up getting sued when the burgular hurts himself trying to lift it.
Change does add up. College professor said her husband put all his change into those tennis ball cans which he had as he played. Guy died and she took them to the bank, needed help bringing them in they were so heavy. $600+ in them and this was the 1980s or earlier, so near $1,500 in today's money. She said if he wasn't dead she would have killed him!
Another way I used to get "hidden" savings was round up when you wrote a check, eventually your real balance was a few hundred more than what your little record with the checkbook said.
a half gallon jug and at the end of the year there
was always $400, give or take. Always.
Quote: AyecarumbaWhen you see a, "Leave-a-Penny, Take-a-Penny" tray by the cash register, what is the most that you will take?
I've seen them, but ahve never taken or left any. When I travel to the States I seem to attract pennies. I always get home carrying a few. As far as I know they're only good for making change.
Quote:Do they have similar set ups for avoiding change in countries that use different currencies?
Beats me. Not in Mexico. The smallest coin is worth 0.10 of a peso. I think the 0.05 peso coin no longer circulates. At current rates, it's worth 7/10 of a US penny. If you're over or under by that much, no one cares.
Quote: AZDuffmanIt is all pennies and a guess would be <$300. Even at $.50/week, which is very high, for round to 30 years is $6.00 or so. Still, if my place gets robbed I will probably end up getting sued when the burgular hurts himself trying to lift it.
Wow.
Here is an unconfirmed solution from the web:
Quote: Google Answers
"...there are exactly 231 cubic inches in a US gallon, this translates
into 231/V, or about 5252.5523 nickels per gallon. In 5 gallons,
you'd have at most 26262 nickels, worth $1313.10 (possibly a little
bit more if the walls of the container are shaped to fit the coins,
but much less in a random packing).
For pennies (diameter: 0.75", thickness: 1.55 mm) the above
computation would give a "V" of about 0.029727 cu in, or about 7771
pennies per gallon."
Given that there is quite a bit of volume lost to inefficent packing, my guess would be that the total would probably be in the $325 - $350 range. Given the spot price of copper nowadays, the salvage value might be even more, if it were legal to melt them down.
Quote: AyecarumbaWow.
Here is an unconfirmed solution from the web:
Given that there is quite a bit of volume lost to inefficent packing, my guess would be that the total would probably be in the $325 - $350 range. Given the spot price of copper nowadays, the salvage value might be even more, if it were legal to melt them down.
I love it! Two roads to almost the same answer!
the penny thing all the time. They like to scoop all
the change out of it when the clerks back is turned,
or put .25 cents extra in their tank and use all the
change to pay for it. My wife used to have a hard
candy dish in the antique mall but got rid of it because
so many people abused it. They would take all the candy
when they thought nobody was looking. As usual, a
few people ruin it for the rest of us.
I've always like it when cashiers just let the penny slide if you're 1¢ over an even dollar amount. When I worked at Knotts Berry Farm a large fry cost $1.01 with tax, and the supervisors tracked how you balanced very carefully. So I just bought in my own pennies every day, asked for an even dollar, and paid the penny myself. This is just the kind of saint I can be -- sometimes.
Finally, I've always thought it would make for a good casino promotion to let customers bring in their loose change and give them full face value for it, but in free play. I have a water cooler jug about 25% full of loose change and I have no idea how what I'm going to do with it. I refuse to pay the juice on those coin counter machines.
Quote: WizardI have a water cooler jug about 25% full of loose change and I have no idea how what I'm going to do with it. I refuse to pay the juice on those coin counter machines.
You have kids, all kids love to roll coins. For
some reason its fun for them.
Quote: WizardI pretty much don't carry pennies and will leave them at the register, tray or no tray. I try to do so when the cashier isn't looking, and put them in a spot customers are likely to see, but not the cashier. Sometimes I wonder if the merchants object to these attempted good deeds.
I've always like it when cashiers just let the penny slide if you're 1¢ over an even dollar amount. When I worked at Knotts Berry Farm a large fry cost $1.01 with tax, and the supervisors tracked how you balanced very carefully. So I just bought in my own pennies every day, asked for an even dollar, and paid the penny myself. This is just the kind of saint I can be -- sometimes.
Finally, I've always thought it would make for a good casino promotion to let customers bring in their loose change and give them full face value for it, but in free play. I have a water cooler jug about 25% full of loose change and I have no idea how what I'm going to do with it. I refuse to pay the juice on those coin counter machines.
I've been to some Tribal casinos that were happy to count and cash change. Even the dimes. Don't know if it is true in Vegas. I have seen self service coin counting machines (pennies, nickles, quarters, no dimes, halves, or dollars) at the California downtown.
Coinstar also offers free counting if you take the payout in the form of a credit on Amazon, Starbucks, Overstock.com, etc. gift card. They recently started offering free counting for some grocery chain gift cards, which makes it very convenient since most of the machines are located in grocery stores.
I agree that the vig is ridiculous. Even the machine in my credit union wants 7%.
Quote: WizardFinally, I've always thought it would make for a good casino promotion to let customers bring in their loose change and give them full face value for it, but in free play. I have a water cooler jug about 25% full of loose change and I have no idea how what I'm going to do with it. I refuse to pay the juice on those coin counter machines.
Keep checking around, "duty free" ones are popping up, even if it is just for credit at the store where they are located. Casino free-play idea not bad for locals places, but they might not want the rifraff.
On the subject of the later, I stopped by the casino on the way to work to see if I could find the promotional football-pick macine. This was 7:30 AM or so. Some woman comes up to me begging for money. I told her I didn't have a dollar for her and then told security. Security guard ASKS ME TO BRING HER TO HIM! Some thanks. Before anyone calls me a rat, I will just say I am sick of panhandlers and the casino is the one place I am sure they will try to keep them out. That and McDonalds, where I have seen them ejected but refuse to really eat that food anymore.
Quote: AyecarumbaCoinstar also offers free counting if you take the payout in the form of a credit on Amazon,
My wife does that. She also does these surveys online that
pay her in Amazon credits. She buys all kinds of stuff from
Amazon, they sell almost everything now.
It is still stinks but I figure I will give up some of value in the pennies, nickels and dimes so I don't have to roll those. Figure it is the only way to get value out of the low denomination coins and the $0.045 for dealing with 50 pennies and $0.18 for the roll of 40 nickels seems worth it. Don't like the $0.45 for 50 dimes, but whom am I kidding.....I'll take some of that coin money and bet on a hard way at the craps table!! Would be hypocritical to complain about the vig on coin rollling and then turn around and bet a hard 6.
Quote: AZDuffmanFWIW, I have saved pretty much every penny I have gotten since i was 12 or so and have nearly filled one of those 5gal polar water jugs with them.
Is one of these pennies the 'coin' in your blog that is tearing up the sportsbook, going 10-2-1 last week?
Quote: AyecarumbaCoinstar also offers free counting if you take the payout in the form of a credit on Amazon, Starbucks, Overstock.com, etc. gift card. They recently started offering free counting for some grocery chain gift cards, which makes it very convenient since most of the machines are located in grocery stores.
Good suggestion. I'll look for one around here.
Quote: AZDuffmanOn the subject of the later, I stopped by the casino on the way to work to see if I could find the promotional football-pick macine. This was 7:30 AM or so. Some woman comes up to me begging for money. I told her I didn't have a dollar for her and then told security. Security guard ASKS ME TO BRING HER TO HIM! Some thanks. Before anyone calls me a rat, I will just say I am sick of panhandlers and the casino is the one place I am sure they will try to keep them out. That and McDonalds, where I have seen them ejected but refuse to really eat that food anymore.
Most casinos, I think, would not put up with that. I wrote in my Tropicana review that some lady was bothering me for money. When she left security asked if she was bothering me, but I didn't want to rat her out, so declined to answer the question. RE: McDonalds, there are some bizarre people at the one on Sahara and Paradise. Words would not do justice to describing the scene there.
Quote: ncfatcatPennies are nothing but tax tokens
Yeah, I never use the dish. If I don't have it, sometimes the cashier will use it for me. If they don't, I get the change.
Question - I guess I'm kind of anti-penny. Is it wrong if I throw them out? I mean, they have a cost of production and I don't like to waste, but I also prefer to stand up and not use something I'm against. My son has a piggy bank, but I don't want to fill it with junk. Any suggestions for penny usage, besides legal tender? ;)
Quote: Wizardthere are some bizarre people at the one on Sahara and Paradise. Words would not do justice to describing the scene there.
That whole area is a strange place. I often stop
at the Burger King right there on LV BLVD and
see odd things while waiting. I stop at the liquor
store about a block from there to buy vodka for
my room and its like being on another planet.
Using the latest metal prices and the specifications above, these are the numbers required to calculate melt value:
$31.56 = silver price / ounce on Oct 13, 2011.
.40 = silver %
$3.3171 = copper price / pound on Oct 13, 2011.
.60 = copper %
11.5 = total weight in grams
.0321507466 = ounce/gram conversion factor
.00220462262 = pound/gram conversion factor (see note directly below)
The NYMEX uses pounds to price copper and that means we need to multiply the metal price by .00220462262 to make the conversion to grams. The silver price is based in troy ounces and that means we need to multiply the metal price by .0321507466 to make the conversion to grams.
1. Calculate 40% silver value :
(31.56 × .0321507466 × 11.5 × .40) = $4.6675167884
$4.6675 is the rounded silver value for the 1965-1970 silver Kennedy half dollar on October 13, 2011. This is usually the value used by coin dealers when selling these coins at melt value. However, the total melt value is continued below.
2. Calculate 60% copper value :
(3.3171 × .00220462262 × 11.5 × .60) = $0.0504586
3. Add the two together :
$4.6675167884 + $0.0504586 = $4.7179753884
$4.7179753884 is the total melt value for the 1965-1970 silver Kennedy half dollar on October 13, 2011.
Quote: EvenBobThat whole area is a strange place. I often stop
at the Burger King right there on LV BLVD and
see odd things while waiting. I stop at the liquor
store about a block from there to buy vodka for
my room and its like being on another planet.
At some places I wonder where all the weirdos come from and where they go. Given an even distribution of them and restaurants all over town, why do they all end up in one place? And why is it where working folks have lunch??
Quote: AZDuffmanAt some places I wonder where all the weirdos come from and where they go. Given an even distribution of them and restaurants all over town, why do they all end up in one place? And why is it where working folks have lunch??
Quite off topic, but an interesting question. Lots of them like talking, to themselves if necessary, but I'm sure would prefer a captive audience. There needs to be some normal paying customers for the gathering place to exist in the first place.
Agreed, Bob, it isn't just that McDonalds but roughly the block bounded by the Strip, Sahara, Paradise, and St. Louis. There are quite a few around Luv It Frozen Custard too. However, I still say McDonalds is ground zero.
Quote: AyecarumbaWhen you see a, "Leave-a-Penny, Take-a-Penny" tray by the cash register, what is the most that you will take?
Well, I voted earlier and started a response before my computer died...
I actually voted 9 cents or less... I don't think there is anything wrong for using a nickel if it's in there, or two coins (nickel and penny). Any more, then I will suck it up.
I had a dream about a week ago that the store I worked at offered A TAKE A PENNY, LEAVE A PENNY Jar (we do not). We were robbed at gunpoint for the money in it... lol... not sure why they wanted the odd cents but they did.
Quote: Wizard
I've always like it when cashiers just let the penny slide if you're 1¢ over an even dollar amount. When I worked at Knotts Berry Farm a large fry cost $1.01 with tax, and the supervisors tracked how you balanced very carefully. So I just bought in my own pennies every day, asked for an even dollar, and paid the penny myself. This is just the kind of saint I can be -- sometimes.
That was VERY noble of you Wiz... and I hate to say it, but kind of stupid too...
If you think about it, you're picking up around 1% of every dollar the customer spent. Considering that 6:5 BJ adds about 1% to the house edge, it's funny you should pick up that much of a percentage....
But again, it was very noble!
Quote: ParadigmI pay the Coinstar vig but only after I have pulled out all the quarters and rolled them myself..
I do the same thing, but exclude the dimes & quarters. My kids like rolling the coins, but lose interest after a while. We just cashed in a small bucket of pennies & nickels for about $18. I didn't mind the $1.62 fee on that. Later that morning we hit the bank and deposited $140 in rolled dimes & quarters. I would have minded the $12.60 fee that would have incurred. That's enough to get ice cream for the family!
Quote: Wizardbut roughly the block bounded by the Strip, Sahara, Paradise, and St. Louis. .
I always have the feeling its the older drunk
crowd, rather than the younger druggies.
There's not a lot of begging in that area
because of the low foot traffic. I think a
lot of those guys are on limited gov't assistance
and they just hang out around there and
drink a lot. But I really don't know, I never
talk to them.
Quote: TiltpoulBut again, it was very noble!
Thank you. To be honest, not that many people ordered only a large fry, perhaps 5 in an 8-hour shift. So I probably don't get too many days knocked off my time in purgatory for sacrificing 5¢ a day. Maybe FrGamble can put in a good word for me to cut down my sentence a bit more. Every little bit helps.
I went to the subway next to there a few days ago and did not witness anything too crazy. There is a lady that has been begging in the middle of sahara right near Las Vegas Blvd. She looks pretty roughed up, probably mentally ill.Quote: WizardRE: McDonalds, there are some bizarre people at the one on Sahara and Paradise. Words would not do justice to describing the scene there.
Quote: WizardFinally, I've always thought it would make for a good casino promotion to let customers bring in their loose change and give them full face value for it, but in free play. I have a water cooler jug about 25% full of loose change and I have no idea how what I'm going to do with it. I refuse to pay the juice on those coin counter machines.
Its better to pay the vig on coinstar than sit there with those silly impulse purchases you've made over the years such as a plastic, battery-operated coin machine and a bunch of coin wrappers. Just go to the grocery store and use the coupon as if it were cash right there. The vig imposed by coinstar is better than the frustrating and boring task.
Casinos used to let people bring in their loose coins... back in the days of quarters in slot machines and change girls and ancient stuff like that, but it was always some nutcase who also had pocket lint and paperclips in his jar as well and would put the darn change booth's machine out of commission on a Friday night.
Quote: AyecarumbaDo they have similar set ups for avoiding change in countries that use different currencies?
In my experience they simply don't give you the change if it corresponds to a coin which is scarce. But in this regard, almost no country in the world panders to the public like the USA. When a coin becomes worthless to mint or distribute, they simply stop making it. The penny and probably the nickel would have been discontinued a long time ago.
In a similar way, the British began using the pound coin in 1983 (only five years after the USA discontinued the Eisenhower dollar). Most governments tell the public to pound sand when they miss a banknote or a coin which is now obsolete.
As a result the USA has the most inefficient and money losing mint, and currency printing operation in the entire world. The inefficiencies are overlooked because of the wide use of higher denomination banknotes outside of the country.
Quote: AZDuffmanFWIW, I have saved pretty much every penny I have gotten since i was 12 or so and have nearly filled one of those 5gal polar water jugs with them. It is a dandy floor decoration.
I must be older than you. I'm halfway through filling my second jar.
Quote: rudeboyoii was under the impression that your bank is supposed to change coins free of charge for you as long as its at a larger branch. i understand the smaller ones like at a grocery store might not have coin sorting machines.
My "big" bank makes you roll them and write an acccount numbers on each wrapper. My credit union limits the number of rolls they accept each day.
Quote: rudeboyoii was under the impression that your bank is supposed to change coins free of charge for you as long as its at a larger branch. i understand the smaller ones like at a grocery store might not have coin sorting machines.
No way. This is costly for the bank and being a business the banks have every right to say "no." In fact I have heard that it is urban legend that any business must take any combination of coins and currency except for more than 100 pennies. The truth is that any business can refuse coins or bills it does not want.
Quote: kpI must be older than you. I'm halfway through filling my second jar.
Is it the 5 gallon size an pennies only or smaller or/and mixed coins?
Quote: AZDuffmanNo way. This is costly for the bank and being a business the banks have every right to say "no." In fact I have heard that it is urban legend that any business must take any combination of coins and currency except for more than 100 pennies. The truth is that any business can refuse coins or bills it does not want.
The government in the UK has to accept any legal tender for payment of taxes. However, legal tender in the UK is a very precise term, meaning only certain coins and notes.
Quote: thecesspitThe government in the UK has to accept any legal tender for payment of taxes. However, legal tender in the UK is a very precise term, meaning only certain coins and notes.
cesspit, when the pound note was phased out in favor of a coin in the early 80's, I am sure many folks held on to them hoping for some collector appreciation. Do you know what one of those notes goes for today?
A six note set seems to go for 29 pounds on ebay :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAST-BRITISH-UNC-POUND-NOTE-SETS-/360399121590?pt=UK_Coins_Banknotes_GL&hash=item53e9762cb6#ht_500wt_922
I just about recongise the English Pound Note from that set.
Quote: NicksGamingStuffI went to the subway next to there a few days ago and did not witness anything too crazy. There is a lady that has been begging in the middle of sahara right near Las Vegas Blvd. She looks pretty roughed up, probably mentally ill.
Yeah I saw her there when I was in Vegas in the middle of August. She stepped out in front of me as I was turning the car on to Paradise from Sahara.
Quote: ncfatcatYeah I saw her there when I was in Vegas in the middle of August. She stepped out in front of me as I was turning the car on to Paradise from Sahara.
She's famous and doesn't know it. A few years ago I saw
an Elvis impersonator Downtown that I'd seen on the net
a few times in pics tourists had taken. He knew nothing
about it, he didn't have a computer. He was intrigued,
though.
Quote: kenarmanI never allowed my staff to round down the pennies when I had my retail store. The way I always looked at it was that the store would net about 10% if I gave away a penny on a dollar that was 10% of my profit.
That would be true in a dollar store where the clientele always spent only one dollar!
