We toss all our pennies into an old coffee can that doubles as a door stop for the office door that likes to slam shut with the slightest breeze.
A few months ago our 6 year old neighbor twins knocked at the door with a baggie in hand and asked if we had any pennies we'd like to donate to a penny drive the school was having to benefit a local child with some debilitating disease.
I led them to the office and hefted the coffee can into their hands. Their faces were so comical! They got it to school the next day and their class won the school penny drive. I don't know what the total amount was that the school kids raised for the disabled child, but it was such a perfect thing to do with a door stop that we had no plans for.
I keep putting pennies into a glass jug. Once Church was having a fund raiser and the minister repeatedly reminded the congregation that every penny counted. We took in the glass jug to find that a gallon container could hold over $56 in pennies and proving that even pennies made a difference.
I get really frustrated that DS tosses his pennies away. I find pennies along the driveway nearly every day. I am from the cheap (frugal?) side of the tracks. I cannot by-pass a coin on the ground, not even a penny.
I suppose we can think of these coins as some sort of "non-profit subsidy" but $105 million annually above value to mint them seem an odd use of resources.
An odd use of resources shouldn't be a surprise when you're discussing government decisions.
They keep making pennies. The pennies we get may as well be used for something.
The coins would still maintain their $.01 and $.05 value.
The $.005 coin minted until the 1850's is worth, at minimum, over $30. So ... our children's great grandchildren will rue folks' decisions to throw them in the streets .