I’m just like you. I have a wife, two young children and a blog. I don't live a life of luxury, nor do I live in poverty. And I’m on my way to a million dollars, one coin at a time.
Everyday millions of coins on the sidewalks of America suffer from specie neglect. After walking by more and more change, I started to think about how much money was living on the streets.
At once, I decided to pick up all the change I saw–regardless of denomination–and write about my finds. It’s the quintessential get rich slow scheme.
Call me a street-comber. I don’t go out to find money; it just seems to find me.
I initially hoped this quest would teach my children about the value of money, but the adventures associated with my expanding endeavor have taught my whole family something in this age of financial pressures.
We’ve learned that people actually relate to simple things such as a penny on the sidewalk. They just have to be inspired to stop and consider it in a larger context.
So why are coins so poorly treated that we think it’s OK to forsake them to the ground, or to walk over them without a thought?
We all know they are money, but we perceive their value in circumstance. Some people will pick up a penny if they dropped it, but wouldn’t stop and pick up one that was dropped by someone else.
Others stop in their tracks to pick up a quarter, but are too embarrassed to do the same for a penny or a nickel. The effort and the time involved are the same, but the perception of worth is different. Some people even refuse to pick up any coin showing tails. Would they change their mind for the back-end of a fifty-cent piece?
A coin in the company of others is perceived to be more valuable than the same coin in isolation. I’m reminded of this everyday by the lonesome pennies littering our pedestrian zones. These “lost” coins were once part of a bigger pack that you were once happy to have residing in your purse or your pocket.
Inflationary pressures will inevitably push our lowest denominated coinage into obsolescence. But a jar filled with one thousand pennies is still worth $10 today. Enough for a movie ticket or an economical family dinner at home!
Is the rush of modern life hastening the demise of sidewalk change? Are we voting with our feet as we continue to ignore these orphaned coins?
Skirt the penny at your own peril, for the day it departs us will create a tremor of inflation.
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Changing my world one found cent at a time! Follow me every cent of the way on my quest to get rich slowly. I'm the quintessential tortoise when it comes to amassing wealth. I find money on the street and blog about the various adventures that accompany that pursuit, and trust me there are many!
From colorful characters to bizarre coin finds, it's all in the blog. What started as an exercise in teaching my kids the value of money soon took on a life of its own. And that is where I stand today.
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Great to see Luke Sidewalker's wisdom in FiLife, his perception of value in our modern world provides valuable lessons to us all!
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The Penny as a symbol of frugality and righteous living is a good thing. However, for me the Penny has become a symbol of the evils of inflation. The Penny should be scorned! The use of pennies cost our government hundreds of millions of dollars to produce and the loss to our nation in wasted time and productivity in accounting for the little devils is in the billions.
Oh the pennies of yesterday are fine but today "the Nickel is the new Penny." What I mean is: a nickel today buys what a penny bought when I entered grade school in the 1950s. When Ben Franklin talked about the British penny in colonial times (abt 1729), he lamented that it had become so devalued that it took 6 pennies to buy a days labour whereas it used to take only 1 penny. In those days a penny had real buying power!
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You make some interesting points Jan. But would the abolition of the penny and the consequential blip in inflation as we round goods and services to the nearest 5c increment not push more Americans below the poverty line.
This leads us to the following question. Is the production and transaction/accounting costs of the penny more unseen Government welfare/stimulus?
Definitely something to think about.
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Very seldom do I see an article advertised at xx.96, it is almost always xx.99 so the rounding up is most likely one penny not 4. There would be a blip albeit small and commerce would quickly adjust to the new reality of a nickle being the smallest coin.
The US could become more efficient doing away with minor coins and having more durable currency.
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I did enjoy the article though and people need to realize that wealth can be accumulated in small chunks!
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Good point Morris, we have already been unwittingly ripped off to the tune of 4¢ over time with the $XX.99 pricing strategy. It wasn't always like that was it? I wonder what year this tactic really took off?
The truth is a world of constant but contained inflation is preferable to one of deflation. Or so we have been conditioned to think.
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Ever since I started reading Luke's blog, I've picked up every coin I see. No matter if it's a face down penny.
I've probably accumulated at least $3.00 in 2 months. That's not much, but it's $3.00 I never thought I'd have 2 months ago.
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I have been picking up pennies & other coins for many years. It's fun although I have to immediately wash my hands or use GermX which I carry with me in my purse.
I have found quarters occasionally & one dime but usually pennies.
Unfortunately, I have not kept track of the amount but will "turn over a new leaf" & save them all from now on.
Actually, I find lots more money in my dreams but wake up just as I'm bending over to pick them up. Go figger!
Thankx for the fun, informative blog.
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I keep a bowl with all the loose change from my wallet, the dryer, the floor, wherever. When the bowl is full we go to Coinstar at the supermarket and usually take home $60-80. It really adds up.
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The xx.99 price is on most advertised items but most day to day items still sell for xx.81 or xx.73, etc so the roundup would be worse then you might think. Check the shelves at the grocery store or discount store...
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