December 12, 2007: 100 Miillion pennies at Rockefeller Center NYC

When I saw copyrighted AP wire service shots of this, I realized that somebody in flickr probably had a few shots as well, marked as public. What a way to get around copyright problems!



This set of photos from flickr user mgc1005 show the Common Cents 17th annual Penny Harvest, "a national educational program designed to teach children about their value as contributors to society." Apparently the kids collect them for charity, and they've collected 600,000 pounds of them.



They take up 30 feet by 165 feet of space.



But some coin people say the word "penny" is not appropriate for the US Cent, and that the only true "penny" is the British penny. One piece of evidence: the plural of these things is "cents", not "pence" as the Brits say.

That's a lot of pennies. Don't they understand that they have paper currency now in order to make it more convenient to carry around large sums of money?

"Now we know how many cents it takes to fill Rockefeller Hall.
I'd love to turn you on."
-The Beatles

[QUOTE But some coin people say the word "penny" is not appropriate for the US Cent, and that the only true "penny" is the British penny. One piece of evidence: the plural of these things is "cents", not "pence" as the Brits say.[/quote]

Your own title calls them "pennies", which is the correct plural of penny. The penny is the coin; a cent is how much it's worth.

The American Heritage Dictionary agrees:
In the United States and Canada, the coin that is worth one cent.

Oh yeah! I stand corrected.

Practically everyone I know has stopped saying "pence" now (like Brits-wise). Probably because it sounds so old fashioned. It's just "p". I like it. It sounds cute. Lol. Anyway. It looks pretty cool. I'd love to go and see it. I'm going over there next October for an exchange trip with school but it probably won't be on by then will it? I don't know. I've never been before. Or heard anything about what it is for that matter. Still, cool post.

Very cool idea... wonder if anyone's tried taking some?

PS -

You didn't really eliminate the copyright problem, as these photos are still owned by that Flickr user. You just took photos from someone who isn't as likely to sue.

I'm thinking about going next week to see the Rockefeller tree (for the first time ever!). If I get there, I'll post some free pics.

Yeah, I thought "this photo is public" on flickr applied to the copyright section of the photo page. But it doesn't, it applies to who can view it.

Well get us some non-copyrighted images then sir!

About 500 barrels of clear epoxy would make a great paper weight.

Am I the only one with a Scrooge McDuck-ish urge to go swimming in that lot?

I wonder what it cost to ship 600,000 pounds of pennies from where they were collected to Rocky Center?

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce I wonder what it cost to ship 600,000 pounds of pennies from where they were collected to Rocky Center?

Fuck...I pity the fool who has to roll all those.

I rolled about $500 in pennies a few weeks back here. (Helpin my dad cash in his old change jar.) Lemme tell you, as much fun as it sounds...

it isn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad Yeah, I thought "this photo is public" on flickr applied to the copyright section of the photo page. But it doesn't, it applies to who can view it. Well get us some non-copyrighted images then sir!

They appear to be ready for the metal recycler. Pre-86 pennies are 97% pure copper. With the scrap rate nowdays you can almost double your money, pound for pound.

It's a shame that the mint doesnt allow them to be recycled. Even if a penny is yours, it's really not. It's "yours to spend as a penny" not yours as in your own the material.

Approx face value of 1lb of pennies - $1.80

Scrap rate recently - $2.75 to $400

A close friend has an unusually large collection of pennys that he's organized over 45 years. We've looked into getting rid of these coins but because of the weight involved it's difficult.What a pain in the ass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum Am I the only one with a Scrooge McDuck-ish urge to go swimming in that lot?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawnee123 Yep. Nekkid.

Well, see, Disney didn't recognize the early penny until 19 ought 6, and in that year pennies were made of gold and frankinsence. Then the dogs came along and ate a bunch of them. Somewhere at the turn of the next decade, pennies were used in baked goods as a preservative, until someone realized that they could be used to clean airplane runways after it snowed for three days. The earliest known cent was given to Prince Matchabelli in 1546 as a gift after his child was born. This is the first known instance of a girl being named Penny. [/a thousand Cliff Clavens]

I can't find the IOTD about the guy who builds huge structures out of stacked coins. Boy, could he do a job with these. I did save the link, though: www.fincher.org/Misc/Pennies
I also wonder if you can make a wish by throwing water in the pile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diaphone Jim I also wonder if you can make a wish by throwing water in the pile.

I misread "pennies" in the thread title, and clicked thinking it was going to be the best NSFW Image of the Day ever.

Still neat, but not nearly as exciting as I thought it was going to be.

lol@chocolatl

Yeah, I would be buying a plane ticket to get to Rockefeller RFN!

I hate how your hands smell after you've been playing with or counting coins. I wonder if anyone's done a study on the diseases you can get from coins? Maybe you have to lick them in that case...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad When I saw copyrighted AP wire service shots of this, I realized that somebody in flickr probably had a few shots as well, marked as public. What a way to get around copyright problems!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumbulu I hate how your hands smell after you've been playing with or counting coins. I wonder if anyone's done a study on the diseases you can get from coins? Maybe you have to lick them in that case...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ViennaWaits A couple of quarters ago in microbiology, we did a lab on that very thing, placing pennies n' such in the dish. Don't lick money. Ever. Or your fingers. Or your hair. Or anything else. Promise, it's NASTY.

Credit/Debit cards, will not build your immune system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Credit/Debit cards, will not build your immune system.