pennies

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America Suffers From a 'Perpetual Penny Paradox'
The American Penny
Is a Vexing 'Paradox'
longform
Sep 8, 2024 5:56 AM CDT

The American Penny Is a Vexing 'Paradox'

Caity Weaver struggles to understand why we keep minting them in New York Times Magazine

(Newser) - Caity Weaver calls it the "Perpetual Penny Paradox." In a New York Times Magazine story about the American coin, she tries to understand why the US keeps minting them when almost nobody uses them. The piece has a "it would be funny if it weren't true"...

Family Finds Small Fortune in Late Man's Home, All in Pennies

And the 1 million coins are worth more than $10K—they're made of pure copper

(Newser) - For years, California real estate agent John Reyes, his wife, and members of her extended family have been slowly (as their schedules allow) cleaning out the home of her late father, Fritz, located in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles. One find in particular, however, in the deceased German immigrant'...

10 Pennies Fetch More Than $1M at Auction

One 1909 Lincoln penny sold for $365K

(Newser) - Ten pennies from early last century sold for the equivalent of more than 110 million modern pennies at an auction in California Sunday. Auction house GreatCollections says the pennies were "specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in the early years of...

Man Says Ex-Boss Paid Him in 500 Pounds of Gross Pennies
He Paid Up in Pennies,
Now Faces Lawsuit
updated
Jan 7, 2022 4:15 PM CST

He Paid Up in Pennies, Now Faces Lawsuit

Federal government sues owner of body shop who gave worker last payment in the coins

(Newser) - Update: The US Department of Labor agrees that an auto body shop shouldn't have settled up with a former employee in pennies. So it filed a federal lawsuit Dec. 30 against Miles Walker and his A OK Walker Autoworks in Peachtree City, saying the dump was retribution after Andreas...

He Lost His Wallet. Then Came the Penny Deposits
He Lost His Wallet. Then
He Noticed His Bank Account
in case you missed it
Oct 19, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

He Lost His Wallet. Then He Noticed His Bank Account

A stranger got creative and made 4 separate penny deposits to contact him

(Newser) - When Tim Cameron lost his wallet on the way home from work on Monday, the London resident assumed it was gone for good, particularly as it contained little identifying information. Then he looked at his bank account. Enter an ingenious Good Samaritan by the name of Simon. As Mashable reports,...

US Mint Lost $69M Making Pennies Last Year

It cost $0.0182 to make each one

(Newser) - It costs more than a penny to make a penny. The US Mint produced more than 8.4 billion of the one-cent coins last year, at a cost of $0.0182 each with production costs and shipping taken into account. That means $69 million was lost when compared to the...

Man Butts Heads With DMV, Gets the Last Laugh

Nick Stafford dropped off 1,548 pounds of pennies on Wednesday

(Newser) - "If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them," says Nick Stafford of employees at his local DMV, which received 298,745 unrolled pennies weighing 1,548 pounds on Wednesday. Stafford's payment came after months of butting heads with DMV workers. The...

You Shouldn't Ignore That Penny on the Ground

Ally Bank promotion is to 'demonstrate the importance of valuing every cent'

(Newser) - Stopping to pick up a stray penny off the ground may not seem worth the effort, yet one bank is trying to change that mindset by placing 100 fake pennies across the country worth $1,000 apiece. Ally Bank says it's hoping to encourage Americans to look for opportunities...

Cops: Man Stole 300K Pennies From Work

Mechanic left trail of coins behind him

(Newser) - Talk about penny pinching: A Pennsylvania man is accused of stealing about 300,000 pennies from his employer. Police in Taylor, just outside Scranton, have charged 34-year-old Robert Napolitan with burglary and related offenses. He's accused of taking a steel drum filled with $3,000 worth of pennies from...

Man Pays Speeding Ticket With Many, Many Pennies

As in 22K of them

(Newser) - "I didn't hurt anybody. I didn't endanger anybody's life." That's what Texas man Brett Sanders tells NBC-DFW to explain his indignation over a $220-plus speeding ticket he recently received while driving near his Frisco home. Sanders was fined for driving 9 miles over the...

Man Cashes in 500K Lucky Pennies

Otha Anders' $5K fortune will help pay off a dental bill

(Newser) - Otha Anders picked up his first lucky penny more than 45 years ago. Since then, he's gone out of his way to get as many as possible, each one a "God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful," the 73-year-old tells the News-Star of Monroe, La. "...

OK, Fine: Town Caves, Will Let People Pay in Pennies

Guy who protested parking fine says he's so over it

(Newser) - Passive-aggression has its day : A central Pennsylvania borough has changed a policy that barred a disgruntled handyman from protesting a $25 parking fine by paying with pennies. Chambersburg officials earlier told Justin Greene of Shippensburg that his payment of 2,500 pennies wasn't allowed under a federal rule...

Passive-Aggressive Man Can't Pay Fine With Pennies

It turns out you can fight City Hall; you'll just need dimes or quarters to do it

(Newser) - Officials in a Pennsylvania borough won't let a local handyman who parked on the wrong side of the street for 10 minutes pay his $25 parking ticket with pennies. The man tells the Chambersburg Public Opinion that he tried to pay his ticket with 2,500 pennies because he...

Man, 81, Cashes in 500 Lbs. of Pennies Worth ... Not a Lot

The grand total: $816

(Newser) - Save every penny you encounter over more than 60 years, and you could end up with 500 pounds' worth. But that lifetime of saving may be worth more in bragging rights than in financial gain. A Texas man has deposited his 81,600-penny collection, wowing bankers and earning him a...

Car Dealer Gives Woman Refund —in Pennies

He empties jars to comply with DMV order

(Newser) - A Florida car dealer ordered to give a refund to a customer whose car had transmission problems grudgingly coughed up—by emptying his penny jars. A 23-year-old international college student says the DMV told Holiday Motors to give her a $400 refund after she was charged for labor costs not...

We Lost $105M Making Pennies, Nickels

Time to take the nickel out of nickels?

(Newser) - Making small change was a big money-loser for the US Mint—and the American taxpayer—last year for the eighth year in a row, with the loss from making pennies and nickels adding up to $105 million. Rising metal prices have made the cost of minting the coins rise to...

Mint Tells Singer to Pay for Using Photo of Pennies

But Canadian government backs down as he launches penny drive

(Newser) - A folk singer was stunned when penny-pinchers at the Royal Canadian Mint told him he would have to pay for using pennies in a photo on the cover of his new album. Nova Scotia singer Dave Gunning was told that there would be no charge for the first 2,000...

Couple Pays Off Mortgage in Pennies

Massachusetts man had been saving them for 35 years

(Newser) - A man who pledged for decades to make the last mortgage payment on his home with pennies has made good on his promise. After warning his bank, Thomas Daigle of Milford, Mass., dropped off about 62,000 pennies weighing 800 pounds in two boxes for the final payment on the...

Let's Replace Dollar Bills With Coins

And while we're at, it's time to ditch pennies, too: Los Angeles Times

(Newser) - Here's a quick way to cut government spending: Stop making one-dollar bills. Switching to coins could save us some $5.5 billion over 30 years, write the editors of the Los Angeles Times . That's the lifespan of a coin, while a paper dollar lasts only 3 years. Want...

Man in Trouble After Paying $25 Bill With 2,500 Pennies

Move may cost Jason West an extra $140

(Newser) - A Utah man was cited for disorderly conduct after he paid a disputed medical bill—because he happened to settle his tab with 2,500 pennies. Though Jason West did ask clinic workers if they accepted cash, they probably weren't expecting him to dump an avalanche of coins on...

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