Contest: 14 years of change

[Provost Harrison]

I can't believe that this has actually become a serious discussion

[Colonâ„¢]

God damn physicists.

[:) Smiley]

now, if we converted Straybow's change into energy, we could power the entire nation for a good amount of time...

[KrazyHorse]

~2 months

[Straybow]

I'm just as glad the change isn't converted to energy. It would be inconvenient. If it were fissionable it would surely have been more than critical mass, which would've been messy.

Originally posted by snoopy369
What really depends, is what sort of person Straybow is ... is he an exact changer (probably not, 14 years -> $200-400 is a decent haul) or is he a bill-only guy (probably not, $200-$400 is not THAT much for 14 years), or presumably he's somewhere in between - in which case it depends on how he uses the coins (if he prefers to give up 2 nickels instead of a dime, due to the mass/value ratio, or if he prefers to give the least coins to the clerk to avoid complicating the clerk's math). The former leads to a lot more dimes - the latter more nickels.

I'm a bumper. If I have a few coins in pocket (so I don't have to rummage to find something) and they'll make the change only quarters, I'll do that. Or if it's only a little over a dollar amount I'll chip in a coin or two so I don't have to break a dollar or a bigger bill.

Yes, dimes do get used preferentially for vending machines and such. A minor effect on distribution.

[Jon Miller]

350

JM

[Jon Miller]

I almost always use dollars. What change I have I either throw in Crown Royal bags.. or leave as Tip.

Quarters I use for laundery. I will sometimes keep some coins on hand to use for parking.

Jon Miller

[Straybow]

OK, the "contest" part seems to have run its course, so here is the answer:

Dollars*   2	$  2.00	 0.036 lb
Quarters  81	$ 20.25	 1.012 lb
Dimes	1996	$199.60	 9.971 lb
Nickels	1207	$ 60.35	13.293 lb
Pennys	5156	$ 51.56	28.392 lb
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Total		$333.76	52.704 lb  (3.765 st)
* Susan B. Anthony Dollars

By accident, Lul was closest. Lul and others who attempted calculations were assuming it was entirely dimes, nickels, and pennies whereas I'd said they were almost entirely so comprised.

He was almost right about 5:1:2, a reasonable approximation of the distribution is closer to 4:1:2.

Of course, I didn't get $333 out of it. Coinstar charges 8.9%. The only free coin changer is for members of that particular bank. I could've used it with a fee lower than the Coinstar, but it was out of service. I fished out the quarters (except for 3 that escaped notice) and SBAs. The quarters go to laundry while the SBAs and singles go into general funds, and Coinstar charged $27.80, leaving $280 towards rent of $375.

[snoopy369]

Don't you have a bank account somewhere? Every bank i've ever belonged to will accept change at larger branches for no fee...

[RGBVideo]

Originally posted by Straybow

* Susan B. Anthony Dollars

Carter quarters Horrible design, idiotic ultra-PC selection of a mascot. Americans should go with Lincoln on $1 coin once the soon-arriving line of presidential $1 coins is over in the 2010s. Then you can finally scrap the penny.

[Straybow]

Yes, but since I'd have to count them in order to deposit them...

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Straybow
OK, the "contest" part seems to have run its course, so here is the answer:

Dollars*   2	$  2.00	 0.036 lb
Quarters  81	$ 20.25	 1.012 lb
Dimes	1996	$199.60	 9.971 lb
Nickels	1207	$ 60.35	13.293 lb
Pennys	5156	$ 51.56	28.392 lb
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Total		$333.76	52.704 lb  (3.765 st)
* Susan B. Anthony Dollars

By accident, Lul was closest. Lul and others who attempted calculations were assuming it was entirely dimes, nickels, and pennies whereas I'd said they were almost entirely so comprised.

He was almost right about 5:1:2, a reasonable approximation of the distribution is closer to 4:1:2.

Of course, I didn't get $333 out of it. Coinstar charges 8.9%. The only free coin changer is for members of that particular bank. I could've used it with a fee lower than the Coinstar, but it was out of service. I fished out the quarters (except for 3 that escaped notice) and SBAs. The quarters go to laundry while the SBAs and singles go into general funds, and Coinstar charged $27.80, leaving $280 towards rent of $375.

Bah, accident.
The quartes and dollars add about 20$ to the total I was already 8$ under.
So even that assumption only made me off by less than 15$.

I think you're underestimating the powers of analysis

[snoopy369]

Hmm? My local bank (major Chicago bank, but not an interstate bank or anything like that) even at my small neighborhood branch has a little machine that counts the coins. I brought them a grimy cookie tin full of money, they just dumped it in, waited thirty seconds, and handed me $62.35 in paper money... (well, $62 in paper money )

[civman2000]

What? You didn't count them by hand??

[Straybow]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Hmm? My local bank (major Chicago bank, but not an interstate bank or anything like that) even at my small neighborhood branch has a little machine that counts the coins. I brought them a grimy cookie tin full of money, they just dumped it in, waited thirty seconds, and handed me $62.35 in paper money... (well, $62 in paper money )

Yeah, but I live in a bucolic backwater. As I explained, only the local credit union had a machine account holders could use for free, but it was broken. None of the Bank of America branches could do it. What a bunch of bums.

Anyway, that's why there is a market for Coinstar.