SURVEY SAYS – How Much Change Would You Pick Up?

August 20, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - OK, this is a simple question - perhaps deceptively so.

This week I asked readers “if you saw coins in the street, what value would they have to be for you to stop and pick them up?”      

As it turns out, most would stop to pick up something as small as a penny – but for what turns out to be an interesting variety of reasons.  

First the details; more than half ( 60.7% ) said that a penny saved is a penny picked up, while nearly one-in-five ( 19.1% ) said it would have to be at least a nickel to warrant stooping.   

The next most common response, cited by 13.5% , was “I’m not bending over for less than a quarter.   Just over 2% said “unless it’s a buck, I’m not stopping there, and 1.1% weren’t sure.   That, of course, left 3.4% who said that they didn’t pick up coins.

Motivational Differences

Now the motivations were wide-ranging – some thought it was good luck to pick up a penny, others saw it as potentially bad luck (one reader noted, “Hawaiian superstition – if you pick up any money, spend it right away as there may have been a reason it was ‘lost” (bad karma)” , and still others thought it might be bad luck NOT to pick up those coins on the street – and others had, well “conditions” ( “If it’s heads up,” noted one).  

Some did it to honor God (whose name appears inscribed on the coinage), or to at least avoid dishonoring God, while others did it to pass the change on to others in need.   Still others saw in those discarded coins opportunity – one reader noted “You never know when that penny might be an old, rare vintage worth hundreds!”

For some, it was a matter of "physics":

"It depends on what I am wearing - tight pants, high heels or a short skirt mean that the penny stays where it is - even if I dropped it!"

"My fingers aren't exactly "slim", so I would look foolish enough trying to pick up a coin off the ground that it wouldn't be worth the humiliation for how long it took me to actually grab it! Unless it was a greenback...I have no desire to subject myself to that!"

"I used to pick up pennies, but now and older and find it hard to bend down, so it has to be at least 5 cents."

"Anything below a dollar really depends on the traffic flow of the street. I live in New York, and if you suddenly top dead on a busy sidewalk and stoop over, you'd better be having a heart attack."

For some there was a capitalistic element:

"The streets of San Francisco are so dirty with homeless "leftovers" that I wouldn't pick up anything less than a $20 bill. So I guess I do have a price.

There is no denomination so small that an attorney would not stoop to pick it up. As a member of the class, I can speak from experience."

And for some - well, it was a matter of privacy:

"Depends on whether someone else is watching. If no one else is around, I'll pick up anything."

"I will pick up a penny as long as I don't lose my dignity in the process. If there is too much of an audience I won't do it."

But this week's Editor's Choice goes to the reader who said, "Assuming traffic is not barreling down on me, right?"

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!

"See a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck" - how can you afford not to pick up a penny if this old saying is true!

You never know when that penny might be an old, rare vintage worth hundreds!

I regularly pick up coins of whatever denomination and deposit them in the cups/hats/hands of the local panhandlers.

Hawaiian superstition - if you pick up any money, spend it right away as there may have been a reason it was 'lost" (bad karma).

Assuming traffic is not barreling down on me, right?

$0.25 buys a can of soda in my company's vending machine -- a free afternoon caffeine pick me up? Sure!

I will pick up any coin and throw in a big jug, which I turn in about once a year for a hundred bucks or so (and a -8% return -- thanks Coinstar!). But, if it's a penny i will either leave it if it's heads up or turn it over if it's tails, to brighten somebody's day.

The streets of San Francisco are so dirty with homeless "leftovers" that I wouldn't pick up anything less than a $20 bill.  So I guess I do have a price.

My fingers aren't exactly "slim", so I would look foolish enough trying to pick up a coin off the ground that it wouldn't be worth the humiliation for how long it took me to actually grab it! Unless it was a greenback...I have no desire to subject myself to that!

All coins: The inscription reminds me every day Who to trust.

There is no denomination so small that an attorney would not stoop to pick it up. As a member of the class, I can speak from experience.

I will pick up a penny as long as I don't lose my dignity in the process. If there is too much of an audience I won't do it. (I guess that makes me a cheap hypocrite). I want to start a jar of just found money because I often wonder how much I have picked up over time.

It depends on what I am wearing - tight pants, high heels or a short skirt mean that the penny stays where it is - even if I dropped it!

And I always say the ditty - "See a penny, pick it up. All the day you'll have good luck." when I pick it up.

I always pick up coins that are on the ground no matter what denomination.

I used to pick up pennies, but now and older and find it hard to bend down, so it has to be at least 5 cents.

If it's heads up

Firm believer in "Pennies from Heaven"

I'll pick up coins - even a penny - if it's an easy stoop-and-pick motion. They're left on the ground if they have bubble gum attached to them.

Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you have good luck....

I always consider them my "lucky" pennies.

Anything below a dollar really depends on the traffic flow of the street. I live in New York, and if you suddenly top dead on a busy sidewalk and stoop over, you'd better be having a heart attack. My friends and family always laughed at me for always looking at the ground, but I've found lots of money this way. I once found $60 on my way to meet a friend for a night out on the town. However, there was an ATM slip with it, so I brought it to the bank the day to have it returned to the person's account, much to my friend's disappointment.

Pennies. BUT, only if they are heads up!

I generally don't pick up coins, but I just read one of those circulating internet stories about a rich man who would pick up even a penny because he was honoring God by preventing the trampling of the coin as it is inscribed with "In God We Trust". I may be changing my coin picking habits. Yup - I still pick up pennies. On Monday I saw 3 objects in the parking lot that must have been there some time, and are all corroded from the salt and lord knows what else. I think they may be coins - 3 pennies or 2 pennies and a dime. I know I can save them!

It is bad luck not to pick up a penny....

Depends on whether someone else is watching. If no one else is around, I'll pick up anything. But I won't pick up less than a quarter if others can see. I feel it is ungrateful to not pick up even the smallest amount of money. I always say a word of thanks.

"I keep a change bank at home that anytime I either have spare change or, even better, find even a penny - I deposit the coins into. That money adds up. Then when the bank is full, that becomes my "fun" money to spend on whatever. This is a mini lesson on the value of saving even a little and watching it grow to become something more valuable!"

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