IconoclasT wrote:
] LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A California man who
] collected 1 million pennies for a bet is having a hard time
] cashing in on his $10,000 fortune.
]
] Ron England has amassed 3.6 tons of copper in his garage in
] the Los Angeles suburb of Granada Hills after making a bet
] with his brother 30 years ago that he could collect 1 million
] pennies.
]
] But neither the U.S. Mint, the U.S. Comptroller of Currency,
] coin collectors nor the local bank is interested in cashing in
] his stash -- at least without a charge.
]
] "I've been working seriously for the past two weeks to get rid
] of these pennies," England, 60, told the Los Angeles Daily
] News. "It's kind of frustrating. Nobody will take them without
] charging me."
]
] What's worse. England is still waiting for his brother to
] honor his side of the bet -- a meal in Paris.
]
] "I don't remember making the wager. Am I still good for it?
] I'm not going to answer that question," Russ England told the
] Daily News.

Lets see... what to do with 3.6 tons of pennies...

Tell the US mint that unless they take them, they are going to meet Mr. smelting pot...

Find an artist to turn them into some work of art...

Donate them in $100 lots to 100 different charities...

Bound to be more - c'mon get creative. -LB

Laughing Boy wrote:

] Lets see... what to do with 3.6 tons of pennies...
]
] Tell the US mint that unless they take them, they are going to
] meet Mr. smelting pot...
]
] Find an artist to turn them into some work of art...
]
] Donate them in $100 lots to 100 different charities...
]
] Bound to be more - c'mon get creative. -LB

I'm tripping on the fact that they will not accept them without charging a fee. What, US money is no good at a bank? Not that I believe it actually exists as anything more than numbers in a computer, but still, this is kind of a bad precedent to set.

This make me wonder though, since pennies don't say "Federal Reserve Note" on them, are they even considered part of that system? Never really researched it.

Does this mean if I walk in with a garage full of one dollar bills one day, they won't be honored without a similar sort of "bulk processing fee?" Lots of fun questions...

Laughing Boy wrote:

]
] Lets see... what to do with 3.6 tons of pennies...
]
] Tell the US mint that unless they take them, they are going to
] meet Mr. smelting pot...
]
] Find an artist to turn them into some work of art...
]
] Donate them in $100 lots to 100 different charities...
]
] Bound to be more - c'mon get creative. -LB

Someone covered a car body in pennies ~20 yrs ago. They probably would be worth more than $10K as an art medium.