As I mentioned in the previous post, I’ve been out of the office for the past week-plus (except for Monday). When I have a big block of time available like that, I tend to put together a big-ass list of stuff that needs doing. One of the items on the list was cleaning off the console table.
The table is at the top of the stairs and is the first place small things get dumped upon entry into the house. It was covered in receipts, ATM slips, office memos, warranties, baseball caps, maps, Post-Its, and small change.
I made a couple of passes through the paperwork, dumping most everything in the shredder. Soon I was left only with a significant quantity of change. I dumped it on my desk and thought, “Well, as long as I’m clearing that stuff out, I oughtta get the change that’s been piling up in my car for the last 3 years, too.”
That was a little tougher, insofar as pennies and nickels were consigned to the cup-holder area, which left some of the coins at the bottom a little sticky. In fact, there’s still a penny that I simply am unable to pry from the cup-holder, but I guess that’s tribute to Charon or something.
On the other hand, the actual change-holder, which I use for quarters and dimes, turned out to be cavernous. Amy joked that I’m going to get better mileage and handling now that I’m not hauling a ton of loose change in the car.
So I looked at this enormous pile of change lying on my desk, and I thought, “Surely the time it’ll take me to count all this is worth more than the value of the coins.”
But my ethnic stereotype was undeterred. It took even longer than I feared, and put me in mind of being a little kid with a piggy-bank. Final count?
- $5 in Sacajawea dollars
- 1 50-cent piece (I also carry a “lucky” one in my wallet)
- $1.71 in pennies ($1.72 if you include the one that’s permanently stuck to my car)
- $4.00 in nickels
- $18.70 in dimes
- $23.25 in quarters
- 25.60 Euros (about $33)
- 64 Danish Kroner (about $11)
- 400 Hungarian Forints (about 3 cents)
I don’t think there’s any sorta lesson I can impart from this, outside of “Don’t let your change pile up” or “Just use CoinStar, fer chrissakes.” My next challenge will be finding someone who can exchange the Euros and Kroner, since my local bank won’t touch foreign coins, only paper money.