What if...

[mitsuman]

What if someone offered you one million dollars, but it was all in pennies? And you had to spend it in pennies. You can not deposit it into a bank and use it from there. You have to pay with everything you buy using the pennies. Would you do it?

[Bernie]

I'd live off pennies.

[xcrement5x]

Sure thing.  If they were pre-1982 pennies I would be ecstatic because those are mainly copper compared to "modern" pennies.  Then I would drive to Mexico to start melting those bitches down so I could have $3 million!

[NecroPhile]

Cheater!  You have to spend the pennies, xele.

If I only have to spend the million in pennies and can pay for other stuff with my own monies, then hell yes; if I have to pay for literally EVERYTHING with the pennies, then maybe not, as many places will not accept a huge pile of loose pennies as payment.  I'd still probably do it, though, as I'm sure I could make a deal for a house/car/stocks with someone willing to deal with pennies for a fee.

[bob]

not sure where i would store them.

[NecroPhile]

Heh, that could be a problem.  100 million pennies would take up a lot of space and weigh more than half a million pounds.

[mitsuman]

Heh, that could be a problem.  100 million pennies would take up a lot of space and weigh more than half a million pounds.

I asked this same question on another website and someone did the math.

They would weigh ~551,156 pounds assuming all of them would be post 1984 pennies and take up ~90 cubic feet

[esteban]

I would love to have this problem. I don't care if I only spent it in small increments, I would be a million dollars richer. Sure, I'll probably die with the damn things. But I could swim in them, too.

Someone do the math on the cubic volume of a 100 million pennies.

[munchiaz]

I don't think i could do it. I would go nuts just carrying them with me for day to day purchases. imagine buying a car with pennies. It would just be insane. And if i'm reading the question correctly, i have to use this one million in pennies before i can use my normal income. I guess i could just buy a few really expensive things to deplete  it as soon as possible.

[NecroPhile]

Someone do the math on the cubic volume of a 100 million pennies.

I came up with a lot more than 90 cu. ft.

3.14 x .375 inches x .375 inches x .0598 inches = .026419 cubic inches x 100,000,000 = 2,641,883 cubic inches = 1,528.868 cubic feet

And that's just the volume displaced by the pennies themselves.  They'd need quite a bit more space to account for the empty bits around the cylinder.

[Sparky]

Well since Canada discontinued the penny no millions for me.

[Opethian]

Ass Pennies

[VenomMacbeth]

But I could swim in them, too.

[HailingTheThings]

Ass Pennies

Beat me to it. UCB FTW!

[synbiosfan]

Oh hell yeah!

I'd be like Scrooge McDuck!

/Surreptitious_Romantic/1679udu_th.gif

[NightWolve]

Sure thing.  If they were pre-1982 pennies I would be ecstatic because those are mainly copper compared to "modern" pennies.  Then I would drive to Mexico to start melting those bitches down so I could have $3 million!

Huh, interesting tidbit. I recall many years ago taking my propane-powered blow torch and melting a dozen or so pennies just to f--k around, heh. They're either tin or nickel depending on what's cheaper and if the melting temp of nickel was low enough for my blow torch.

I guess if it costs 2 pennies to make a penny then like Canaduh they should be discontinued. Or, make 'em out of plastic or something. That'd be cheap still and hey, those 3D printers will come in more handy. ;)

Edit: Upon looking at penny trivia, the metal I thought might be tin when I melted some pennies was in fact zinc. From 1982 and forward they're being made out of zinc plated with copper. Too bad, I would've used the metal if it was tin for some soldering jobs of copper pipe... Makes sense, zinc has got to be much cheaper than something like tin.

[cr8zykuban0]

i would secretly go to coin star and change some of the pennies everyday lol

[xcrement5x]

Sure thing.  If they were pre-1982 pennies I would be ecstatic because those are mainly copper compared to "modern" pennies.  Then I would drive to Mexico to start melting those bitches down so I could have $3 million!

Huh, interesting tidbit. I recall many years ago taking my propane-powered blow torch and melting a dozen or so pennies just to f--k around, heh. They're either tin or nickel depending on what's cheaper and if the melting temp of nickel was low enough for my blow torch.

I guess if it costs 2 pennies to make a penny then like Canaduh they should be discontinued. Or, make 'em out of plastic or something. That'd be cheap still and hey, those 3D printers will come in more handy. ;)

Edit: Upon looking at penny trivia, the metal I thought might be tin when I melted some pennies was in fact zinc. From 1982 and forward they're being made out of zinc plated with copper. Too bad, I would've used the metal if it was tin for some soldering jobs of copper pipe... Makes sense, zinc has got to be much cheaper than something like tin.

Every time I get a pre-82 penny I save it in a jar in my house because technically they're worth like 3c in the copper value alone.  Someday, when America retires the penny I will melt those fuckers down and create a solid copper Sega Saturn and then set it outside in the rain until it oxidizes and turns green like the Statue of Liberty. 

IT WILL BE AMAZING I TELL YOU!

[esteban]

Sure thing.  If they were pre-1982 pennies I would be ecstatic because those are mainly copper compared to "modern" pennies.  Then I would drive to Mexico to start melting those bitches down so I could have $3 million!

Huh, interesting tidbit. I recall many years ago taking my propane-powered blow torch and melting a dozen or so pennies just to f--k around, heh. They're either tin or nickel depending on what's cheaper and if the melting temp of nickel was low enough for my blow torch.

I guess if it costs 2 pennies to make a penny then like Canaduh they should be discontinued. Or, make 'em out of plastic or something. That'd be cheap still and hey, those 3D printers will come in more handy. ;)

Edit: Upon looking at penny trivia, the metal I thought might be tin when I melted some pennies was in fact zinc. From 1982 and forward they're being made out of zinc plated with copper. Too bad, I would've used the metal if it was tin for some soldering jobs of copper pipe... Makes sense, zinc has got to be much cheaper than something like tin.

Every time I get a pre-82 penny I save it in a jar in my house because technically they're worth like 3c in the copper value alone.  Someday, when America retires the penny I will melt those fuckers down and create a solid copper Sega Saturn and then set it outside in the rain until it oxidizes and turns green like the Statue of Liberty. 

IT WILL BE AMAZING I TELL YOU!

I endorse your plan. It better come to fruition.

[NightWolve]

Yeah, that is interesting. I might just see if I got pre-1982 all copper pennies now myself. ;) I mean, you got criminals breaking into places to tear apart the electrical wiring to get at that copper, it is becoming more valuable.

[synbiosfan]

Every time I get a pre-82 penny I save it in a jar in my house because technically they're worth like 3c in the copper value alone.  Someday, when America retires the penny I will melt those fuckers down and create a solid copper Sega Saturn and then set it outside in the rain until it oxidizes and turns green like the Statue of Liberty. 

IT WILL BE AMAZING I TELL YOU!

Glad I didn't wait for the penny to retire to do it. I'm still amazed you found out or, far more unlikely, came up with the same idea! It does look amazing I tell you!

[NightWolve]

Found about 50 in my change stash and elsewhere. Got some antiques as early as 1917 even. Had to clean some with SOS to read dates as they were so dirty and tarnished. So that's funny, they're worth about 3-4 pennies themselves, huh ?

[esteban]

Found about 50 in my change stash and elsewhere. Got some antiques as early as 1917 even. Had to clean some with SOS to read dates as they were so dirty and tarnished. So that's funny, they're worth about 3-4 pennies themselves, huh ?

They were worth that, until you scrubbed them clean. The patina is where the value is. The greasier and nastier the coin, the greater the value.

I have a 1994 nickel I rescued from a deep fryer. It smells of death, but that little gem is easily worth 15-25 cents. It's encrusted in lard and bits of potato. And a decade of dust (I once tried to remove dust with compressed air, but a kernel of crunchy fat broke off. I won't dare try that again!)

[xcrement5x]

Found about 50 in my change stash and elsewhere. Got some antiques as early as 1917 even. Had to clean some with SOS to read dates as they were so dirty and tarnished. So that's funny, they're worth about 3-4 pennies themselves, huh ?

An easy way to clean pennies actually is to rub them in some ketchup for a bit.  You could also soak them in vinegar as it pretty much does the same thing. 

I am a big fan of doing smashed pennies (like you find in tourist traps), so I normally clean my solid copper pennies and use them for smashing as I think they look nicer. 

[wildfruit]

I would take them to my local supermarket that has a change counting machine. Spend them all on that and get 95% of the value back in note form.

[NecroPhile]

You crazy fuckers, stockpiling pennies so you can maybe someday double your investment..... minus the cost of smelting. 

[Arkhan Asylum]

I already live off penis, so this is easy.



oh. 



that says pennies.


sure.

[xcrement5x]

Found about 50 in my change stash and elsewhere. Got some antiques as early as 1917 even. Had to clean some with SOS to read dates as they were so dirty and tarnished. So that's funny, they're worth about 3-4 pennies themselves, huh ?

An easy way to clean pennies actually is to rub them in some ketchup for a bit.  You could also soak them in vinegar as it pretty much does the same thing. 

I am a big fan of doing smashed pennies (like you find in tourist traps), so I normally clean my solid copper pennies and use them for smashing as I think they look nicer. 

From now on, whenever i think of you, i am going to have this mental image of a strange strange man with ketchup covered hands rubbing on a stack of pennies at a table beneath a single dangling light bulb in a windowless room full of Pico stuffs.

Now imagine me in my underwear and a gas mask like Walter White doing all the above as well....


Hope you sleep well tonight nonbeliever!

[NightWolve]

Found about 50 in my change stash and elsewhere. Got some antiques as early as 1917 even. Had to clean some with SOS to read dates as they were so dirty and tarnished. So that's funny, they're worth about 3-4 pennies themselves, huh ?

An easy way to clean pennies actually is to rub them in some ketchup for a bit.  You could also soak them in vinegar as it pretty much does the same thing. 

I am a big fan of doing smashed pennies (like you find in tourist traps), so I normally clean my solid copper pennies and use them for smashing as I think they look nicer.

I kept meaning to post this, a few months after I saw your tip about the use of vinegar, I gave it a shot. Heh. Very interesting. These photos were sitting on my HDD since 3 days after your post, but I just didn't get around to posting them. So basically I just kept letting them sit in a pan of vinegar which is a neat trick for cleaning other metals too!




There's a story about those 1943 pennies BTW, but no, I wasn't lucky enough to have scored one of the genuine 40 copper-alloy ones that got loose.

https://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts2a

[xcrement5x]

Vinegar in the sun works really well if the penny is already kind of clean, but there is any film or gunk on it, you will not be able to get it totally shiny.  I use the ketchup since it's works as kind of an abrasive along with the chemical process on the copper.