Eye finds - do you pick them up?

[treasurekidd]

Just curious, and I know there was a thread similar to this a while back. Do you pick up change you just happen to spot lying on the ground? I do, and my wife and kids get mortified when I do. I've had my best luck in parking lots and car washes. Where are the good spots to look?

 

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[BuckleBoy]

BB, You don't need a MD w/ a girlfriend with eyes like that. Better keep feeding her carrots!

Hahahaha. Perhaps I can train her to tell me where to dig. I'm just glad to date someone that enjoys the hobby as much as I do.

 

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[funkman]

I've got my kids who are 11 trained to do it. When we walk through the mall we all have our eyes scanned on the ground and if I spot it before them I usually send one of them to get it, that way it doesn't look as bad. The crazy thing now is that they put a bunch of gumball machines in our mall now. There are 2 sections with about 20 machines in each sectioon and sure enough, the kids find some that have the knob that you turn is halfway turned, they try to turn it completely but it won't go anymore and when they turn it back to the beginning, sometimes the quarter is still there. My daughter has good fingernails and can with a little work dig it out. And it is about the same as finding it on the ground because :
A - the person that put it in the machine left it there, same as if they dropped it
B - the machine did not dispense a gumball so the owner of the machine did not lose anything either

Just my little bit to this conversation. I don't have them do the gumball thing every time we go to the mall but while I am getting a cup of coffee she is checking out for coins. Mainly it is just off the ground. Actually at one of those machines someone stacked up 10 pennies and left them on the shelf next to the machine....so I took em.

Funkman

p.s. these finds usually go into a coin sorter at home...seperate from my dug up coins, those are my treasure

 

[agbonanza]

of course I will pick it up and say a quiet thank you everytime....if I'm gonna dig for pennies I'll darn sure pick it up on top the ground. I have had problems with my ankles over the years, so I am always looking down so I don't step on something wrong and twist them....have found a lot over the years.

 

[mlw67]

Oh yeah, I'm a picker-upper.

My two best eye-finding coin tips:

2nd best tip: Look under the front of the counter at the convenience stores. Busy ones in metro areas are the best. Sub tip: (especially good when there is a line of people) drop a penny or two on the floor as you approach the counter. Then when you bend down to pick up your change you can pick it *all* up. No one will look at you funny doing it that way.

1st best tip: When waiting for your food at the drive through, open your car door and look down. That one is a gold mine.

 

[wmas1960]

Of course I do. In fact, the other night when at the County Fair, in Lake County, IL, I walked from my car, through the field with my eyes down to the ground. Looking for anything that might have been dropped in the grass and dirt. I didn't find anything but anywhere that people would be going to and from their cars, pulling out money or keys, is a prime possibility for finding something.

The thing I wouldn't understand is why someone wouldn't pick up change on the ground. I can see situations like in traffic or such where I certainly wouldn't stop my car in traffic to pick up a dime or a quarter in the gutter. Too dangerous for what it was worth. However, if you are standing in line, walking through a parking lot. waiting for a bus and you see money on the ground.... What are you, NUTS?

Back before I started reading this site and taking interest in the various forms of treasure hunting, I might not have thought of looking around on the ground. I would have, probably, just walked past stuff not noticing. Now, I pay closer attention. However, I think that if I had ever seen something, I would have definately picked it up.

 

[wmas1960]

i started saving the change i found on the ground just to see how much i would fine.... i have half of a ten gallon water jug filled with change and some bills. once i found a 20 dollar bill. nice!!!

A friend of mind found a 20 on the floor in the Bowling center, the other day. He was one of the kids who goes around cleaning up the lanes after people mess them up. I have heard several stories about the employees there finding money on the lanes after parties. One time, after a Bar Mitzvah, they found $2 bills all over the place. Some torn up. Don't know what the significance of that was but kind of interesting in an odd way. I think the bills were inserted into some of the party favors. I just don't know why kids would have just tossed them asside and/or torn them up.

 

[wmas1960]

I am a teacher at a high school and I always pick up change. I make it a point to tell my students how it adds up. This year I picked up over 1000 coins and came away with nearly 66 bucks. Not to shabby.

Was watching Fox News the other day and for a story about getting rid of the penny, Brian Wilson went around the news room with, I think, a coffee cup checking out how people seem to hoard their pennies. He went from desk to desk and other staff told him how they just dump their pennies in their pencil cups. Or in a compartment inside their desk drawers. Some, I think said they just throw them away. During the course of the story he had no problem getting people to give him their pennies. At the end, he dumped them on a desk or counter and counted them up. He had over $5 in pennies when he was done.

 

[Captain Trips]

A friend of mind found a 20 on the floor in the Bowling center, the other day. He was one of the kids who goes around cleaning up the lanes after people mess them up. I have heard several stories about the employees there finding money on the lanes after parties. One time, after a Bar Mitzvah, they found $2 bills all over the place. Some torn up. Don't know what the significance of that was but kind of interesting in an odd way. I think the bills were inserted into some of the party favors. I just don't know why kids would have just tossed them asside and/or torn them up.

It's surprising how many people don't realize that $2.00 bills are legitimate. I have read stories on other forums about such issues. One of the people on one forum tried to pay at a Taco Bell with a $2 bill, the clerk asked him for REAL money. He insisted it was, clerk called manager. Manager told him he'd better leave, customer asked why. Manager said, "I think you know why." Customer was adamant, manager called security guard over. Sec. guard asked what's the problem, manager showed guard the $2 and said "THIS!" Security guard looked at it and again asked, "So, what's the problem?" Finally, the customer and the guard convinced the manager that a $2 bill is real! (I keep one in my wallet as good luck.)

 

[wmas1960]

My girlfriend who works in the center collects all the bills that she finds in the till. She gives them to me to hold for her She puts in singles from her tips and buys out all that come through when she is there. And there are a lot of them. Last month she has given me about a dozen of them. You touch on, perhaps, one of the reasons that the bills that I mentioned before were given in the first place. Perhaps inserted into the party gifts as Good Luck. The party gifts, I think were plastic bowling pins that were coin banks. I have also heard people being given money clips as gifts with $2 bills inserted in them. Perhaps the good luck token of putting a $2 inside a piggy bank, new wallet or money clip....

Anyway, last night, my GF gave me 8 more to hold for her and I went up and put them with the rest. She has about 85 $2 bills now. She also has a few $1 silver certificates. One is a 1932E. Others are 1957.

There may not be a lot of value in all these bills, due to their age and condition. Most of the $2 are fairly current or not great condition. The silver Certificates, with the exception of one that is pretty crisp and clean (1957) are all pretty bad.

In the end though it is a good little savings that she doesn't keep much track of. She just gives me the bills to hold for her and they do add up. Just like the pennies in my other post where people don't consider them worth much but when you go around, like Brian Wilson on Fox News did, they can all add up. I could go out to my car and grab all of them from the ash tray, or out of pencil cups on my desk and a few other places and easilly pick up a few bucks worth. You know, Money is money. Some day, those kids that tore up and thew out their $2 bills might realize that. But, living, as I do, in a fairly affluent and wealty area, I doubt it.

Here is a thought for all that discarded or set asside change. Normally I wouldn't consider Coinstar, due to their high fees. However, from reading their website, if you convert your change to one of several gift cards, from the machine, ie., Linens and Things, STARBUCKS.... you can convert your change for free. So, next time at the grocery store, take the change from your ash tray in your car, or the pencil cup on your desk and throw it in and put it on a Starbucks card for your next cup of coffee. Whenever you have a small cup of change, take it to the store with you and put it on your card.

Looking around me here, I have about 3 small banks, an old Fat Tuesdays cup from a past trip to Las Vegas, a Tall souvenir Pepsi Cup from the hotel on my Last Trip to Vegas and some of the other places, I mentioned. All full of loose change. There could be about $20 combined among them. Could get a few Iced Venti Mochas out of that.

 

[Charles Miller]

I was pretty much stranded, having lost my car, my job and my computer down on the Sun Coast of Florida some 13 years ago. It's extremely difficult to find work of any kind in Florida, particularly if you're not a long time resident --- I was even turned down for a dishwashing job because I was "overqualified"... Overqualified to wash a dish. That's pretty bad. When rent came due, I was out on the street. For nearly a year I actually lived on the beaches of Siesta Key, and made my living the VERY old fashioned way --- I never begged, never stole anything, never did anything unlawful...I beachcombed.

I was amazed at the useful (and valuable) items I found at the beach every single day, simply by eyeballing the sands. No detector, no magnets, no scoops, no nothing except my eyesight --- which improved over the months to such a degree that I could spot a dime in the sand 50 feet away (no exaggeration).

During the summer it rains almost every day on the West Coast of Florida, usually at 2:30 pm (you can set your watch by it), and the violent little storms last for a good 20 or 30 minutes before blue sky returns. People run like hell, because there are a lot of lightning deaths in that state, leaving the beaches vacant for a period of time before and after the storm. That's when I would hit the beach, following the "tourist line"... I found everything, everything I needed to survive, partially buried in the sands and exposed by the rains: Clothing, shoes, hats, towels, sunglasses, jewelry, money, gold watches, you name it. I sold the jewelry and gold at pawn shops and flea markets to buy food. I was doing okay.

The beach even afforded me luxuries --- unopened packages of cigarettes, lottery tickets, and whole six-packs of beer that people buried and then forgot. After a couple of months, I was a beach "regular," and my neighbors were other beach bums and local surfers. The beach gave me everything I needed, including eyesight like an eagle, and I have watched the ground carefully, wherever I go, ever since.

HOT TIP: I have found a LOT of great stuff in certain areas where people step out of their cars for a few seconds, then jump back in and drive away --- namely, the video rental store parking lots. People come whipping up to the curb, jump out and drop their videos in the return-chute, then jump back in their cars and leave in a matter of seconds. They are in a hurry. People in a hurry lose things. I have found Maui Jim sunglasses (worth about $300), silver bracelets, and even a one-ounce gold nugget pendant (yep, pure gold), along with greenback currency and lots and lots of coins.

 

[treasurekidd]

HOT TIP: I have found a LOT of great stuff in certain areas where people step out of their cars for a few seconds, then jump back in and drive away --- namely, the video rental store parking lots. People come whipping up to the curb, jump out and drop their videos in the return-chute, then jump back in their cars and leave in a matter of seconds. They are in a hurry. People in a hurry lose things. I have found Maui Jim sunglasses (worth about $300), silver bracelets, and even a one-ounce gold nugget pendant (yep, pure gold), along with greenback currency and lots and lots of coins.

That's a great idea Charles! I'll have to remember that the next time I'm returning videos!

 

[sounder]

I pick up every one I see,and always have, and I'm always looking down when I walk. I'll bet I have picked up a lot of money like this in my lifetime.

Embarresed??

Not me!! Its free money!!!

sounder

 

[diggummup]

I pick up pennies all the time.All good places to look,convenience stores,drive thru windows,car vacuums,parking lots,toll booths and even u-pull-it junkyards in old car ashtrays and floorboards.I've found all kinds of things in there.Found a dollar in CVS parking lot 2 days ago.Found a $10 once blowing on top the snow in Ky.,found a 5 spot once in D.C. in front of the Smithsonian,found another 5 in S.Attleboro Mass. while visiting friends.But for the most part I pick up 10-20 cents a week that i've eyed on the ground or floor.No shame in my game!

 

[wmas1960]

I would say also coin laundries, in your own home, or if you buy a house, I would search the basement floor thoroughly. Especially around, or under laundry equipment, cabinets etc.Check the laundry room in your apartment complex. The car is good. Look under floor mats. Before selling my old car, I must have found 3 or 4 dollars in change under the seats and under the mats. People who don't smoke, often stuff change in their ash trays. Good point about used cars.

Up there along with metal detecting, that has caused me to be a little more alert to dropped coins is the fact that, When I was cleaning my bedroom I was finding coins all over the place. Under the furniture etc. I am always finding coins on our basement floor around the laundry room and places where dirty laundry and old clothes seem to get piled. Looking carefully, I can sometimes find quite a bit.

Also, for some time, I had been pretty disorganized. Old Mail and other clutter has accumulated in banker boxes from around the house and stacked. When something is going on, like a party or holiday dinner, or a business meeting with someone, I sometimes have to go through the house and gather up stuff that has been left around. For expediency, It all gets dumped into the banker boxes. One time I was going through a lot of the boxes and sorting out junk mail and other junk, along with things that I had been looking for. I was tossing all the junk and putting other things where they belong.... then sorting and boxing things that might be better stored. While I haven't counted it all, I found lots of change. I had a souvenir cup that I had picked up on a trip to Las Vegas and I started taking all the money that I found and putting it the cup. By the time I was finished, I had almost filled the cup half way with assorted change. I even found a $20 bill wrapped in an old grocery receipt, stuffed into the bottom of one of the boxes.

 

[garrettfan2]

on vacation recently, i was going into a gas station to PREPAY since i use cash as much as possible. on the way in, i saw an envelope on the ground in a parking spot in front of the store. it was laying in the oil and grease, but was in good condition. looked to have been there awhile. i passed it up the 1st time like all others. 2nd time i had to pick it up-it was a bank deposit envelope. i knew by feeling it there was something in it. played it cool, stuck it in my pocket and checked it later. 21.00 in cash. left my name and # just in case. actually did that before i knew how much was in the envelope. point is: detect with your eyes at all times. oppurtunityisnowhere.

 

[wmas1960]

By leaving your Name and Number you saying you were trying to get it to the original owner? If so that is good. If it was in a bank envelope, you might try going by the bank. I am sure they could track it down. Does it have name or account number filled in on the envelope?

Thinking in terms of the ATM envelopes we have at my banks. They ask for name, account number etc.

Fortunately for whomever lost it, it wasn't that much. If it were a few hundred and rent was due or something that could really suck.

 

[rvbvetter]

A couple weeks ago I went to the meat and fish dept. in my local Albertsons. And while standing there waiting for another customer to be served. I happened to look down and in a case of cocktail sauce that had been cut open in a way, for display. I saw a folded bill wedged between the bottles. I pulled it out and it was a hundred dollar bill.
But I couldn't help myself, and I asked the guy behind the counter if some one had lost this. His eyes got big and he said, yeah!! Hold on a minute!! He took off and ran through the store and brought back an older lady that apparently was still wandering the isles looking for her money.
She was so happy to get her money back. That I couldn't have felt any better, than if I had of said nothing and kept it. HH

 

[Tabfry]

I always pick up change. 330 pennies = 1 gal of gas!!!

 

[MikeOregon]

Absolutely, positively, even if I have to jump a barb-wire fence into a puddle in my Sunday best (well, almost). I will pick up any coin. I have told my students that all they have to do to get me somewhere is leave a trail of pennies.

Mike

 

[cheezinoot]

Of course why wouldn't you? A penny found is a penny earned!