# Glass jug full of pennies



## wahoowad (Sep 16, 2009)

For several years I was dropping pennies from my pocket change into a large 5-gallon glass jug. After awhile it got so dang heavy I stopped but am stuck with this heavy thing. I can barely pick it up now. I am worried it will shatter in my hands one day as I move it or something smacks into it. Trying to shake the pennies out doesn't work - the pennies quickly clog up the opening. I'd like to get them out and cash them in, but do so without resorting to smashing the jar and separating the glass shards from the pennies. Any ideas? One thought is to try a basic glass cutter and try to cut the top off. Thought I'd ask here first.


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## seige101 (Sep 16, 2009)

I do the same thing with a plastic 5 gallon water jug. When it comes time to get all the change out i turn it on it's side and when it starts to clog a jam a butter knife in there.


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## woodsman23 (Sep 16, 2009)

Lay the jug on its side and allow pennies to spill out if a jam is possible simply roll the jug on its side (roll it side to side), it may take some time but it works.


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## LLigetfa (Sep 16, 2009)

Use a clean shop vac and suck them out.


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## Gooserider (Sep 16, 2009)

Note that large glass carboys / water cooler jugs are precious resources to home brewers - if you get the coins out, you can probably easily get $15-20 for the bottle itself on Craigs list or equivalent, as new ones will run close to $30 in the brew shops, and more if you have to get them shipped...  (This applies to pretty much any kind of glass jug over 2 gallons, with a small enough neck opening to take a stopper...)

If you want to move it around, what I have found is the best tool is a sort of "basket" made out of nylon webbing called a "brew-hauler" - you slide the carboy onto it, and fasten it around the sides with a fastex buckle, and it gives you a couple of soft fabric grips that let you move it as easily as anything that weighs that much can be...

Gooserider


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## Flatbedford (Sep 16, 2009)

I try to use my pennies to pay with exact change whenever possible.


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## Metal (Sep 16, 2009)

What's a penny?


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## gpcollen1 (Sep 16, 2009)

The butter knife idea was spot on except I would use a skewer or stick or something that is sturdy yet not too large in diameter.  You would be surprised how quickly you can get them out by constantly plunging the hole as they come out...


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## drewmo (Sep 16, 2009)

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> I try to use my pennies to pay with exact change whenever possible.



Right on. I'd rather make the exact change than trusting a cashier to give me back the correct amount.

With that said, can someone answer me why we still have pennies? I'm sure it costs at least a penny to make a penny. And then to have them sit in jars for years until you take them to a CoinStar machine so they can take 9 percent. Doesn't make sense.

And on another note, I've heard paper money has a life-span of 18 months. Check your change purse, I'm sure you have a coin that goes back longer than you can remember. I say get rid of the dollar bill altogether and go with larger coins. In the EU, the smallest bill is a 5 (about $7). 1 and 2 euro coins are incredibly popular. In Switzerland, their smallest paper money is a 10 franc (about $10). Coins there go up to 5 franc.


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## LLigetfa (Sep 16, 2009)

As soon as I get in the house, I dump all the coins out of my pocket.  The wife takes them.  Canada stopped making 1 and 2 dollar bills a long time ago.

They should get rid of the penny but then they would have to modify all the cash registers to round to the hearest nickel.  Now if they got rid of sales tax, retailers could simply adjust their prices to multiples of 5 cents.


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## SlyFerret (Sep 17, 2009)

My dad switched to a plastic jug when his glass one exploded in the middle of the night from the weight of the change inside it.  They were picking up coins and glass shards for hours.  He put all his pocket change in it, not just pennies.

When my sister wanted to go on a school trip to Europe, my father said that she could have what was in his change jug, but that she would have to make up the rest.  He had no idea how much would be in it... and she would have to count it to find out.

Luckily for my sister, their bank provided bags to fill with the change, and said that they would run it through their sorters and deposit the money into my sister's account for a fee of $2.00 /per bag.  Talk about a deal!

In the end.. my sister came out  WAY ahead, and my dad wished he hadn't given her the entire jug.  There was over $1700 worth of change in that nearly full 5 gallon jug!!

-SF


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## Hogwildz (Sep 19, 2009)

seige101 said:
			
		

> I do the same thing with a plastic 5 gallon water jug. When it comes time to get all the change out i turn it on it's side and when it starts to clog a jam a butter knife in there.



Agreed, do the same thing here.


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