They weigh down our wallets, rattle around in our vacuum cleaners, and are summarily dismissed by most vending machines. You never have enough when you need them, yet their value is so inconsequential that store clerks leave bowls of them by the checkout counter completely unguarded.
Still, when the glint of a grubby one on the sidewalk catches our eye, what do we do? Four out of five of us stop and pick it up.
Pennies may be the most vilified currency still in circulation (a handful left as a tip is the ultimate insult to waitstaff), but according to a Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR) survey released earlier this month, we just can't get enough of them. (Coinstar is also a Motley Fool Hidden Gemspick.)
The 8th Annual Coinstar National Currency Poll found that 79% of people -- 84% of females and 74% of men -- will pick up a penny off the ground even though more than one-quarter of the population says it doesn't even value loose change or keep track of it.
Still, when the glint of a grubby one on the sidewalk catches our eye, what do we do? Four out of five of us stop and pick it up.
Pennies may be the most vilified currency still in circulation (a handful left as a tip is the ultimate insult to waitstaff), but according to a Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR) survey released earlier this month, we just can't get enough of them. (Coinstar is also a Motley Fool Hidden Gemspick.)
The 8th Annual Coinstar National Currency Poll found that 79% of people -- 84% of females and 74% of men -- will pick up a penny off the ground even though more than one-quarter of the population says it doesn't even value loose change or keep track of it.
so do not get rid of the penny!