Over the last couple of weeks I have found 3 dimes on the ground at different times and places. For a long time I've realized that most people will not stop and bend to pick up a penny. Now, with inflation, it seems like maybe dimes aren't worth stooping for. What's your threshold??ÿ
I still pick up coins I see on the ground.?ÿ About a year ago, I found a Mercury dime (in good condition) in the parking lot of an old hotel we were surveying. I'm not sure of its actual value, but definitely more than the $0.10 face value.
I pick up pennies, but only if they're heads up. If they're not I'll flip them to heads up and leave them for someone who might could use a change of luck.?ÿ
Thirty years ago I was part of a lunch discussion where we calculated that if there was a big supply of pennies on the sidewalk, but you had to bend down individually to pick up each one, you could almost earn the minimum wage at that time.
I still pick them up, anyway.?ÿ I'm not billing out my time.
If it ain't paper with a pic of some President on it I don't bother. ?????ÿ
While surveying in an intersection at the corner of a high school we found hundreds of coins embedded in the asphalt.?ÿ It appeared that they might have been tossed at or to the roller while the asphalt was hot and none were able to be plucked out. I tried one and gave up.
At another time and another site that was a major freeway off-ramp for trucks the intersection where noone drives (that pile of crap where turning vehicles miss it and through traffic does too) there was a pile of loose coins, too many to pick up if you valued your life.
The lady in front of me at the bank brought in a boatload of coins she had collected over time. She appeared to be 75 or 80 and after counting them the bank gave her $3200 and some odd change.
(that pile of crap where turning vehicles miss it and through traffic does too)
I call that the "diamond of safety" when it is in the middle of an intersection.
I found a Mercury dime...?ÿI'm not sure of its actual value
Common "junk" silver will get you something in the neighborhood of 13 or 14 times face value. It will cost you at least 20 times face to purchase it.
These days I don't even pick up quarters.?ÿ I still hesitate, but always decide that it isn't worth adding to the stuff in my pockets.
On the other hand, yesterday I picked up a piece of 4x4 from an abandoned railroad bridge fence and threw it in my truck because it has some interesting bridge washers attached.?ÿ Most people would value that at way less than 25 cents.
I was working on the site of a demolished old house.
During the day I stepped over a small coin several times. Thinking it was just a ten cent coin I ignored it.
Then, late in the day, I did stop and pick it up - turned out to be a gold sovereign
They are worth about $800 at today's prices
?ÿ
a pic of some President
Franklin wasn't a president; but I'd pick him up too
Nor Hamilton.
The lady in front of me at the bank brought in a boatload of coins she had collected over time. She appeared to be 75 or 80 and after counting them the bank gave her $3200 and some odd change.
And then the bank fished out all the rare coins she had collected, sold them for $3.2 million and everybody lived happily everafter. ?????ÿ
Listen up Doobie and Billy, I was trying to convey the fact I only will bend over for legal USA paper tender, usually green and grayish (unless I printed it). I don't care whose picture is on it, "they all look the same to me". ?????ÿ
What is it about Hamiltons that they don't circulate much??ÿ I get a pair of fives in change much more often than a ten. I like tens because a five and a ten will usually buy a meal with tip at our retiree get together or writers meeting (I drink water).
We had a local fellow who was a brick shy of a pallet load.?ÿ Nice guy.?ÿ Fairly intelligent but a strange duck.?ÿ Perpetual bachelor.?ÿ Did a little time in an asylum in his youth when he put himself in there.?ÿ Lasted in the Navy less than one week before they shipped him home and said don't come back.
He was a frequent visitor to the corner of the convenience store that had a few booths.?ÿ He really knew his history, so was sort of fun to chat with at times.?ÿ I'm not sure what he had coming in for money after retiring from his job as a floor sweeper in a manufacturing plant.?ÿ He was exceptionally careful with what little money he had.?ÿ He would scour the parking lot every time he came in and every time he left searching for any loose change.?ÿ Typically, he would hit the jackpot when I left a bit ahead of him.?ÿ I would casually empty all the change out of my pocket onto the parking lot while he wasn't looking.
One time when he came in, one of the clerks told him he had a gift certificate he could use there until he had it all spent.?ÿ It was for $100.?ÿ He told that story over and over hoping to find out who did that for him.
There was a couple that lived in a manner similar to his who frequented the same convenience store.?ÿ They were in their 70's and had not had a steady income in a long time.?ÿ One other fellow was particularly close to them.?ÿ On three or four occasions he handed them five $20 bills and said they were from an anonymous friend.?ÿ They were not from him, but he was the delivery service.
So far as I know, none of the three people ever found out the source of their gifts.?ÿ All three have died within the past two years.
Back in the day one of our favorite "profitable" enterprises involved taking a yardstick to the corner laundromat and raking out change from beneath the machines.?ÿ At times it was surprising how much cash we could find.?ÿ The Asian guy that owned the place would run us kids off if he caught us in there.
Another money-making scheme involved the neighbor girl Darla and the car wash.?ÿ Darla was a really fine and healthy example of youthful femininity.?ÿ And with her father being an automotive mechanic she knew cars well.?ÿ After our "mark" had placed their handful of quarters on top of the little coin-slot selector and started washing Darla would show up and engage them. Feigning interest in their car and the size of its motor she could keep any male distracted forever with her gab and anatomical protuberances.?ÿ The rest of us would sneak around from a blind corner and nab the pile quarters off the coin-slot box.?ÿ A quick getaway was essential...most quarter wash cycles only lasted 120 seconds.?ÿ
Another "quick money" trick involved wire newspaper racks with the change-box attached for "honor system" sales.?ÿ This took two of us.?ÿ We would grab the rack, quickly inverting it, and then shake it like crazy.?ÿ All the change would eventually fall out on the sidewalk.?ÿ This was usually our last-ditch desperate choice.?ÿ The brutish "strong arm tactic" lacked the finesse and technique to provide us with some sort of ill-found pride in our actions.
Interesting observation on shaking down a newspaper rack:?ÿ The daily papers were a dime and Sunday papers were a quarter.?ÿ You would really be surprised how many pennies we would shake out of them.?ÿ At a young age I realized a lot of "law-abiding" adults really weren't.?ÿ ;)?ÿ
All this time, I thought tails was supposed to be good.... 😉
I started using a pinpointer to supplement my Schonestedt awhile back, and have turned up some coins as a result while searching for monuments.?ÿ Nothing of any value (yet!), but I wonder how many interesting coins I've overlooked over the decades.
