A Dollar is a Dollar and a Dime is a Dime.
When did coins lose their value? I remember as a kid, finding a penny was a major score. I still pick up a penny when I find one. It’s still a score to me.
I first noticed that coins were losing value when we would ask the kids to clean up their rooms. They would parade into their rooms with trash bags and throw away just about everything that was on the floor. I guess it was easier to do without something that to find a proper place for it.
When they were finished I would sort through the trash to separate out things that could be burned, recycled, reused or not thrown out all together. The rest was trash which usually was very little. I’ve rescued a lot of good things over those years; binoculars, knives, books, cassette tapes. The oddest thing was that there was often a couple dollars in coins at the bottom of each bag. I’d fish out the coins and yes, I kept them. I figure if they didn’t understand the value of money, they didn’t get it back. There was always money in the bag when they cleaned their rooms. I considered it a tip.
Knowing the value of money goes even further, like when I’ve needed a washer and paying 28 cents for one where a penny with a hole in it would do equally as well, I opted to deface currency and save 27 cents and a trip to the hard ware store.
I found a dime the other day. It had been shot with a small caliber gun. The dime was still intact but was concaved, or convexed depending upon which side you were looking at. I could have chosen to leave the dime in the dirt, but I picked it up. It is un-spendable in its present shape. I’ll have to put it on the vice and see if I can re work it. I was saddened to see that someone used it to sharpen their marksmanship, but I guess it cost less than a clay pigeon.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
16 Comments:
I still pick up pennies (find-a-penny-pick-it-up-all-day-long-you'll-have-good-luck). Not only that, but I have a jar in which I save them.
I also save quarters in a pint jar. I'm working on getting a pint of quarters; I'm halfway there.
Once I was tempted to use one of those "coin machines" that count your coins for a fee......but I just couldn't bring myself to "lose" eight cents out of every dollar. 16 cents for 2$, 32 for 4, and so on......I just couldn't do it......LOL
loopy
I'm almost ashamed to say it, but if I could hit a dime with a small caliber gun at any distance, I'd do it too. Bit I constantly embarrassed my children by picking up pennies and other change where I found them. There's probably fifty pounds of loose change in jars and bins in my house. I separate anything older than myself and keep it somewhere else.
My daughter (who is 4) is learning the value of change thanks to my husband. She has a piggy bank and every night she and DH put any change they have found in her bank. When her bank is full he takes her to the credit union and they use the coin machine. The money goes in her savings. The only downside is you can't keep any change in our house or vehicles, once Amelia sees it, it goes directly to her bank. :-)
Jeez I thought I was cheap. That's pretty ingenious using pennies for washers. I'll keep that one in mind.
On a side note. I do hope they up the deposit on bottles and cans. Last time I hauled a bunch to the automatic machines at Safeway, it was barely worth my time and many were not accepted.
Hmmmm...veddy inderesting...the pennies theme showing up again and references to hard ware,tips,bags,vices and working it. Getting any Guy??
Moose
i have no comment other than that was a well written mini story.
kudos.
you have kids?!?!?!
I still pick up & save any coins. I also NEVER spend change in stores as it slows things down searching for it. When coming into the house, the 1st stop after hanging up keys is the old pickle jar that holds tons of change. When it's full we treat ourselves to something as it holds about $75 worth. Pennies go into a penny jar all their own.
Back when I was restoring the hot-rod Green Machine, I made many trips to an OLD wrecking yard for parts.
My kids were in grade school at the time and I took them along so that they could snoop around the old cars.
As we entered the wrecking yard, the owner, probably 80 years old would gather my kids and point out where in the yard the newest junkers were parked.
While I was extracting the parts off of some old relic, my children were tearing through the latest wrecks looking for what ever they could find.
Sometimes we left with the kids pockets so full of change that they had to carry some of it in their hands.
Somehow the old owner took pleasure in watching youngsters enjoy their trip to his yard.
Mrs. Gearhead would help them count out the loot and take it to the bank. Sometimes as much as $8.00 each.
Fun memory.
If the cost wasn't prohibitive, I'd mail you all our jars of loose change.
Donna, can you imagine all the coins that are not presently in circulation across the country. Probably enough to pay off the deficit.
Loopy, Banks have them now as well and they don't charge.
Darev, you need to stand closer to what you are shooting.
Stephanie, it's well worth it to develop the habit of saving at an early age.
Anon, all machines should now take any brand in Oregon. That law went into motion on January 1.
Moose, Freud said sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
g Thanks, you're ok for a religious Republican.
Dalia, not my kids, they are step kids who are now 27 and 24. It was what we called "the occupation."
Mike, it saves up pretty quickly, and spends real nice.
Gearhead, you should remind your kids of that story the next time they come around. See how they react.
Beth, I'd like that, but if you think about it, the hour it would take you to gather them all up and take them to the bank (make sure they have a sorter first) you could be making over $50 an hour. My largest exchange was over $200. That kind of cash can go pretty far even if you donate it to your favorite cause.
Freud? Cigar?? I thought it was Clinton that said that...
Moose
Actually, you can turn that dime into your bank, and they can replace it, then send the damaged one off to some other place where damaged money goes.
And I still pick up every last penny. So do my kids.
:-)
Mo3 nice to have you back. You were missed.
Post a Comment
<< Home