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Thursday, May 15, 2008

AP: Griffey pays off Fogg in pennies

Ken Griffey Jr. owed Cincinnati Reds teammate Josh Fogg $1,500, and paying by check just wouldn’t do. So when Fogg arrived in the Reds clubhouse Wednesday, he found his locker filled with 150,000 pennies—60 boxes, each weighing 16 pounds and containing $25 worth of pennies.

“Basically, it’s like having 60 bowling balls in your locker, only with no holes to pick them up with,” Griffey said.

Neither player would say why Griffey owed Fogg the money. Griffey had threatened to pay it off in pennies, but Fogg didn’t believe him.

“I’m going to take them out to the bullpen and count them,” Fogg said. “I’ve got a lot of time on my hands out there.”

Dayton Daily News blog: McCoy: 150,000 pennies for your thoughts

NTNgod Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:22 PM | 59 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
Related News: General, Cincinnati

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1. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:27 PM (#2782618)

Someone paid me $10 in pennies when we were about 12 years old. It wasn't that amusing then, either.

2. A triple short of the cycle

Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:30 PM (#2782621)

Is that even legal?

3. Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott) Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:35 PM (#2782623)

if you consider the cost to make each penny, Griffey overpaid by nearly 400 bucks.

4. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:38 PM (#2782625)

If he specially commissioned each penny from the federal mint, which I doubt.

5. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:39 PM (#2782626)

Though who knows...anyone lame enough to pay $1,500 in pennies might go to the trouble of having them cooked up just for that occasion.

6. NTNgod Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:42 PM (#2782627)

“I’m a man of my word,” said Griffey. “And when you owe a man $1,500, you pay him. And I’d like to thank the lovely people at National City Bank for helping me with this joke. There isn’t a whole lot you can do with pennies."

Dayton Daily News

7. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:42 PM (#2782628)

They're Reds, so this means they were betting on baseball.

8. Swedish Chef Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:46 PM (#2782633)

There isn’t a whole lot you can do with pennies

They're money! Money can be exchanged for goods and services.

9. Not The Real Fausto Carmona (Dan Lee) Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:46 PM (#2782634)

Keppinger ends up with a broken kneecap and his teammate immediately pays off a debt.

I'm just sayin'...

10. BeanoCook Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:53 PM (#2782637)

Keppinger ends up with a broken kneecap and his teammate immediately pays off a debt.

I'm just sayin'...

4-1/2 stars.

11. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: May 15, 2008 at 09:57 PM (#2782642)

Griffey was probably planning to make a copper arthritis bracelet for every limb on his body.

12. Dr Love Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:18 PM (#2782651)

Ken Griffey Jr. owed Cincinnati Reds teammate Josh Fogg $1,500, and paying by check just wouldn’t do.

Yeah, don't want baseball investigators to be able to trace the sale.

(I'm kidding)

13. OCD SS Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:21 PM (#2782652)

if you consider the cost to make each penny, Griffey overpaid by nearly 400 bucks.

I heard a fun little podcast story about people who are using pennies as an investment opportunity. They are banking on the idea that the penny will be taken out of circulation and they can melt down on the pennies that have copper in them and take advantage of the mineral exchange rates. A few people have actually invented sorting machines that you can dump a bunch of pennies into and it will separate the ones that are made of copper from the ones that aren't.

14. Dewey, Steven Wright Wannabe and Soupuss Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:22 PM (#2782653)

15. TVerik, AKA Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:26 PM (#2782654)

It would be illegal if they are still active currency, but I don't think it would be so if they were taken out of circulation.

16. Halofan Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:27 PM (#2782655)

I know a restaurant owner who has the boxes of pennies ready for payout when a nasty employee quits and comes around for that final paycheck.

17. Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott) Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:27 PM (#2782656)

it might be legal. they're not breaking the law. they're certainly entitled to keep their pennies in a piggybank. and once pennies are no longer legal tender, it's not a crime to destroy them.

18. Morally Excellent Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:29 PM (#2782658)

Keppinger ends up with a broken kneecap and his teammate immediately pays off a debt.

I'm just sayin'...

MSM: "Yes! I needed a reason to not vote for Junior!"

19. OCD SS Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:38 PM (#2782664)

It would be illegal if they are still active currency, but I don't think it would be so if they were taken out of circulation.

That was the point. They talked to one of the guys who invented one of the sorting machines and he just goes around to banks, gets change, sorts the pennies and returns the ones he doesn't want. Of course they're totally dependent on the penny being pulled from circulation. The guy had several hunderd pounds of pennies in his garage.

20. RB in NYC (Now with New Running Goal!) Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:40 PM (#2782665)

The guy had several hundred pounds of pennies in his garage.

To go along with the several hundred voices talking to him in his head.

21. Raskolnikov Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:56 PM (#2782671)

The penny should be put out of circulation. They're useless.

22. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: May 15, 2008 at 10:58 PM (#2782672)

To go along with the several hundred voices talking to him in his head.

About the several hundred black ZOG helicopters hovering over his house at night.

23. Argu!!!! SATAN!!!! (Sessile Fielder) Posted: May 15, 2008 at 11:20 PM (#2782680)

Snopes on the legend that Don Drysdale and/or Maury Wills once paid a fine in pennies.

The Straight Dope on the legality of paying large debts in small change.

24. Phil Coorey, You Won't Posted: May 15, 2008 at 11:51 PM (#2782703)

The penny should be put out of circulation. They're useless.

We took them out ages ago. My god you guys are behind the times...

:)

25. Darren

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:15 AM (#2782717)

Why are these fellows waiting around for pennies to go out of circulation? Who's going to know if they secretly melt them down and sell off the copper? What's the profit margin here (no reason)?

26. Argu!!!! SATAN!!!! (Sessile Fielder) Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:25 AM (#2782725)

Pennies cost 1.7 cents per to make as of 2007. Same link also mentions a five-year prison sentence for melting down currency.

27. Cooperstown Schtick Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:33 AM (#2782732)

The penny should be put out of circulation. They're useless.

Useless? How else would you make change for a nickel?

28. Boots Day Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:37 AM (#2782737)

They're useless.

So's your mom.

29. J. Michael Neal Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:55 AM (#2782748)

When I worked managing parking ramps, we had a policy that we didn't take bills larger than a twenty. We had a sign on the ticket spitter right in front of the driver's face when they enter, too. Periodically, some jackass would insist on using a $100 bill. One of my fellow managers had a bag with $20 in loose pennies in his desk for just these occasions. The customer got $20 of his change in pennies.

30. Rough Carrigan

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:55 AM (#2782749)

Yeah, but she's in circulation!

31. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:11 AM (#2782815)

Given that the Artist formerly known as The Kid is getting on in years, I'm sure he has the pennies lying around for the 31st of October each year.

32. Dewey, Steven Wright Wannabe and Soupuss Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:32 AM (#2782822)

they're totally dependent on the penny being pulled from circulation.

Ah. There's been a small movement for years to get that done. It's been a non-starter.

Even though it would make total financial sense to get rid of the penny (and, indeed, the nickel and the dime), it's not going to happen any time soon.

33. Jeff K. Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:39 AM (#2782828)

So's your mom.

Not that I really care, but what's up with the explosion of "Your Mom" jokes lately? It's multiple people, though I think this is BD's second run at it. Did I miss something?

34. NTNgod Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:45 AM (#2782833)

Not that I really care, but what's up with the explosion of "Your Mom" jokes lately?

Delgado's rather unusual agent* broke it out in an email to a NY writer:
BTF Thread

* - same guy who, prior to Delgado's signing with FLA, threatened to rule out Delgado signing with any team that tried calling him (the agent) while he was at a Joe Cocker concert, IIRC.

35. Darren

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:45 AM (#2782834)

I really don't like that Carlos Delgado's agent is getting credit for making "So's your mom" popular, when chris p. and I were really the ones who made it famous.

On another note, even assuming you could recoup all the 1.7 cents for each penny, you're making .7 cents per penny. So 1,000,000 pennies makes you 700,000 cents or $7,000.00 profit. According to the math in the Griffey article, that's 400 boxes of pennies ($25 or 2,500 pennies each) at 16 lbs per box. That's 6,400 pounds, or about 3 tons of pennies, that you have to acquire, store, transport, melt down, and sell. Doesn't sound like a great plan.

36. phredbird

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:51 AM (#2782838)

just some silliness from an article about carlos delgado's stupid agent a couple of days ago. everybody jumped all over the guy's smooth debating tactics.

37. Justin T contains indigenous nudity Posted: May 16, 2008 at 02:53 AM (#2782839)

* - same guy who, prior to Delgado's signing with FLA, threatened to rule out Delgado signing with any team that tried calling him (the agent) while he was at a Joe Cocker concert.

Now THAT'S funny!

Also, even if I had several million bucks in the bank, if someone who owed me $1500 paid me in pennies by putting them in my "office," I think I would consider that guy a shithead. Paying a large sum in pennies might have been semi-clever the first time it was done.

38. Jeff K. Posted: May 16, 2008 at 03:01 AM (#2782844)

Apologize this retard

And NTN's link explains something else that I couldn't figure out today on Primer. Good show.

39. Lujack Posted: May 16, 2008 at 12:57 PM (#2783033)

I can't believe Griffey wasn't injured in this transaction. He didn't drop a box on his foot or strain a muscle carrying these?

40. McCoy Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:09 PM (#2783050)

It used to be legal to melt down pennies for the metals but Congress put a stop to it. But they left a loophole open. The law only says that you cannot melt down pennies or nickels (with Nickels being even more valuable then pennies), it says nothing about quarters and half dollars. There was a business that used to melt down the pennies and used the change sorters mentioned above but they got shut down on the penny front so they switched to half dollars.

The US mint loses something like 50 million dollars each year minting pennies.

41. Hal Chase Headley Lamarr Hoyt Wilhelm (ACE1242) Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM (#2783060)

once pennies are no longer legal tender

Doubtful that this will happen any time soon. We've never in our history demonetized any coinage (the trade dollar doesn't count). Half cents from 150 years ago are still good at the bank. Agreed, it would make sense to stop making cents.

42. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:32 PM (#2783072)

On another note, even assuming you could recoup all the 1.7 cents for each penny, you're making .7 cents per penny. So 1,000,000 pennies makes you 700,000 cents or $7,000.00 profit. According to the math in the Griffey article, that's 400 boxes of pennies ($25 or 2,500 pennies each) at 16 lbs per box. That's 6,400 pounds, or about 3 tons of pennies, that you have to acquire, store, transport, melt down, and sell. Doesn't sound like a great plan.

The profit wouldn't even be that large. It costs 1.7 cents to make them, which includes manufacturing costs, transportation, etc. Lets say you could somehow make .35 profit per penny. For coming up with a million pennies, you could make $3500 profit.

Instead of going around to banks, hording pennies in your garage, somehow melting them down to sell, etc., how about these yahoos get a part time job? Much easier.

43. SouthSideRyan Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:40 PM (#2783079)

Or they could take the money that they're storing in boxes in their garage losing value they could invest it and make that money by the time pennies are out of circulation.

44. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:47 PM (#2783081)

Not that I really care, but what's up with the explosion of "Your Mom" jokes lately? It's multiple people, though I think this is BD's second run at it. Did I miss something?

Your mom likes multiple posts.

45. Boots Day Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:54 PM (#2783083)

Good show.

So's your mom.

46. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 01:57 PM (#2783089)

As a born collector and borderline neurotic, I have to look at every penny I get nowadays to see if it's mostly copper or mostly zinc. Sometimes the color is a giveaway (deep red is copper, blotchy grey means zinc is showing through). Usually I have to look at the date to confirm. In the case of 1982 pennies, the test is to drop them on a table: if they ring, they are copper, and if they clatter like a plastic button, they are zinc. I take the copper pennies out of circulation and save them in a bowl. This costs me about a buck a year. I don't know what I'm doing it for, but OTOH I don't know why I stay logged into BTF all day or watch Texas Ranger games at night, either.

47. phredbird

Posted: May 16, 2008 at 03:04 PM (#2783168)

the negative seigniorage of penny and nickel manufacture is more than made up for by dimes, quarters and the others.

48. McCoy Posted: May 16, 2008 at 03:12 PM (#2783185)

and yet still completely unnecessary

49. Styles P. Deadball Posted: May 16, 2008 at 05:37 PM (#2783361)

and yet still completely unnecessary

So's your mother-in-law

50. David Wrightwing obstructionist Posted: May 16, 2008 at 06:52 PM (#2783449)

I once collected $1837.00 in change. I used to cut the check for rent on a house I shared with 2 other guys. They would sometimes pay me in change(anything to get the money out of them ontime). In about 2 years I saved that much and rolled it all, which the bank really hated. I carried it in in shoe boxes that felt like I was carrying bricks of gold. A confirmed stripper was the transaction behind mine so I didn't feel as bad.

51. Traderdave