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Other than for spending and collecting, what have been other uses for coins over the years?

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  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,460 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Washer, in a pinch.

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • sparky64sparky64 Posts: 7,047 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dime pitch at our local Field days.
    Toss dimes at a stack of dishware and if they stay put in a glass or on a plate, it's yours. Not easy.
    If you get it to stay in the shot glass on top of the pile, the $5 dollar bill underneath is your prize. Nearly impossible.
    Half of my cupboard is made up of these winnings. :blush:

    "If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"

    My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress

  • tommy44tommy44 Posts: 2,319 ✭✭✭✭✭

    From Hotels.com travel guide on Rome.....

    "The throwing of coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome is a popular ritual that tourists from all over the globe just love to take part in. The practice of throwing coins in to the Trevi Fountain comes from a couple of legends that explains why so many people are so keen on coin throwing.

    The first is that the throwing of a coin from the right hand over the left shoulder will ensure that you will return to Rome in the future.

    The second legend was the inspiration behind the film " Three Coins in the Trevi Fountain". This legend claims that you should throw three coins into the fountain. The first coin guarantees your return to Rome, the second will ensure a new romance, and the third will ensure marriage."

    it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 11, 2017 4:17PM

    You've heard the expression "Izzat a roll of korters in your pocket, or are you excited?

    A ) screwdriver.
    B ) ballast for window frame.

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.american-legacy-coins.com

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    From the Silver Colloid website:

    ""•Pioneers trekking across the American West found that if they placed silver or copper coins in their casks of drinking water, it kept the water safe from bacteria, algae, etc.""

    Perhaps Topstuf can verify that.

  • ChrisH821ChrisH821 Posts: 6,730 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I understand that rolls of coins were a suitable alternative to brass knuckles.

    Collector, occasional seller

  • bronco2078bronco2078 Posts: 10,425 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ChrisH821 said:
    I understand that rolls of coins were a suitable alternative to brass knuckles.

    Only if you want 4 broken fingers

  • UnclePennyBagsUnclePennyBags Posts: 327 ✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:
    From the Silver Colloid website:

    ""•Pioneers trekking across the American West found that if they placed silver or copper coins in their casks of drinking water, it kept the water safe from bacteria, algae, etc.""

    Perhaps Topstuf can verify that.

    Brass and copper have known antibacterial qualities... I once heard that brass doorknobs essentially disinfect themselves after about 8 hours of the last person handling it.

    Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,

  • EzmoneyEzmoney Posts: 149 ✭✭✭✭

    There was a girl I saw in this show down in Tijuana that could do some amazing things with a roll of quaters.

  • TurboSnailTurboSnail Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 11, 2017 6:02PM

    @Coinstartled said:
    From the Silver Colloid website:

    ""•Pioneers trekking across the American West found that if they placed silver or copper coins in their casks of drinking water, it kept the water safe from bacteria, algae, etc.""

    Perhaps Topstuf can verify that.

    Yes. silver has been used as a water disinfecting agent.

    Off google, Colloidal silver is used to treat infections due to yeast; bacteria (tuberculosis, Lyme disease, bubonic plague, pneumonia, leprosy, gonorrhea, syphilis, scarlet fever, stomach ulcers, cholera); parasites (ringworm, malaria); and viruses (HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, herpes, shingles, warts).

    Colloidal Silver is the most potent disinfectant and antiseptic, and on-contact killer of viruses, bacteria, fungi and all kinds of germs. My guess is, if you want to make it, you probably know what is does, and how it has been used for the last 3,000 years. Since you can make it yourself and you need no prescription, you will not see it on TV -- ever!
    Items you need:
    2 ft. common electric wire (any laying around in the house)
    4 small alligator clamps ( $6 for 4 at the hardware store)
    A bit of electric tape.
    3 9V batteries ( about $ 10)
    Distilled water $0.99
    Saline (eyewash drops) $2-3.00
    1 ft silver wire, 999.99 pure . $10-25.00, depending on gauge, a thin one will do fine.
    A glass (for the electrolysis) no plastic or metal containers

  • joeykoinsjoeykoins Posts: 17,547 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 11, 2017 6:12PM

    WoW! All the uses, excluding for expenses or/and purchases. :o Interesting thread!

    "Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!

    --- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,305 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @johnny9434 said:
    dimes for adjusting the sights on some rifles ( cents/pennies have worked as well )

    scope rings like Weavers and sling swivels.

    theknowitalltroll;
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,305 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @UnclePennyBags said:

    @abcde12345 said:

    @grip said:
    Used on car batteries.

    How? Is this a local custom?

    The penny acts as a sacrificial metal so it attracts the corrosion and not the lead battery terminals

    Same reason for putting pre-1981 (2) copper cents in with your coins; kinda like the intercept shield boxes.

    theknowitalltroll;
  • themasterthemaster Posts: 676 ✭✭✭

    Silver coins were used in milk cans to disinfect.

    Have a Great Day!
    Louis

    "If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some." Benjamin Franklin
  • IcollecteverythingIcollecteverything Posts: 1,033 ✭✭✭

    Coins were made into lighters, also a pocket knives and hollowed out to hide notes or microfilm for espionage. We have been shown some really nice examples of some of these on here but I have none.

    Successful BST deals with mustangt and jesbroken. Now EVERYTHING is for sale.

  • TrazTraz Posts: 377 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Snapping between your fingers and hitting your kid brother. By the way if you do this right it will break skin, glass, etc.

    Also seeing how many you can Chinese elbow stack...lol

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Carved out dollars with hidden snap/hinged comparment for hiding cocaine or a family photo.
    Nickels hollowed out and spy film placed into it.

  • KellenCoinKellenCoin Posts: 1,237 ✭✭✭✭

    Art

    Fan of the Oxford Comma
    CCAC Representative of the General Public
    2021 Young Numismatist of the Year

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 11, 2017 9:27PM

    Over your eye lids when you croak

    mark

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,515 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Newly-commissioned military officers would give a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who rendered a salute to the new officer

    Also, knew a guy who kept nickels in his Jeep to chuck at other vehicles/drivers as a "thank you" for doing something stupid on the road. I guess nickels are quite throwable and not as costly as a Kennedy or Ike

  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 10,088 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Justacommeman said:
    Over your eye lids when you croak

    mark

    "Declare the pennies on your eyes". "Taxman" by The Beatles

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • mannie graymannie gray Posts: 7,259 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A previous poster mentioned screwdriver.
    A dime works great for an emergency straight screwdriver substitute.
    I try to keep a really nice toned Roosie RPM in my pocket for just such a possibility. :D

  • AzurescensAzurescens Posts: 2,783 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting you say lures. My grandfather fed the family by fly fishing for 50 years. Made his own flies. Swore by using silver shavings. He would use damaged silver coins, shine them good and hit them with a knife or melt.

    The results spoke for themselves; for five decades a man was able to feed his family mostly for free for a large part of the year. He would melt silver and use the droplets as small sinkers, too. Everyone thinks I'm crazy but I've used them, and they work a lot better, especially in hard rapids and amazing in faster streams.

    Dad punched a few for lures when he was a kid. It worked well. Good thing to do with damaged 90%.

  • the Mohs hardness scale used to determine the hardness of minerals.
    a copper penny is a hardness of 3.

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,299 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Cheap way to replace a blown 15 amp fuse with a 600 amp fuse.

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are some of these methods illegal? I wonder if it's alright to use coins outside of commerce for any willy-nilly purpose and if so if there is U.S. code to prevent the abuse.

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,755 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @abcde12345 said:
    Are some of these methods illegal? I wonder if it's alright to use coins outside of commerce for any willy-nilly purpose and if so if there is U.S. code to prevent the abuse.

    Just cents and nickels I believe.

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,755 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 12, 2017 8:18AM

    Silver coins were melted down to make "coin" silverware. Colonial times until the 1870's.

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Using hosts coins to stamp replica/token coins over them.

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,799 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sticking cents in fuse boxes in place of a fuse. Not a good idea.

    A silver dollar to nailed to the main mast of the U.S.S. Constitution (a.k.a. "Old Ironsides) for good luck. In think that date on it was 1797. A large number of other coins were placed under the main mast.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Washington skipping a silver dollar over the platomic to see how deep the water is.

  • Aspie_RoccoAspie_Rocco Posts: 3,669 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Adjusting car mirrors, altering the flow of yard sprinklers, poise training for dogs, landscaping, screwdrivers, stuff

  • KollectorKingKollectorKing Posts: 4,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Placed in red envelopes as lucky money

  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,199 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 12, 2017 9:32AM

    Commemorative tokens for important historical events, like the inaugural games at the Colosseum or the founding of Constantinople by Constantine the Great:

    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
  • BIGAL2749BIGAL2749 Posts: 742 ✭✭✭✭

    Spacers for ceramic tiles

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @johnny9434 said:
    dimes for adjusting the sights on some rifles ( cents/pennies have worked as well )

    A dime is also good for checking the choke on a 12 gage shotgun barrel. If the dime can't fit in the muzzle of a 12 gage shotgun barrel, it's a full choke. If it can fit the muzzle, it's either a modified choke or larger.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @FredWeinberg said:

    Alimony

    Question---Why is divorce so expensive?
    Answer---Because it's worth it.

    Disclaimer---I'm still married to the same wonderful woman that I married 44 years ago.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @johnny9434 said:
    dimes for adjusting the sights on some rifles ( cents/pennies have worked as well )

    A dime is also good for checking the choke on a 12 gage shotgun barrel. If the dime can't fit in the muzzle of a 12 gage shotgun barrel, it's a full choke. If it can fit the muzzle, it's either a modified choke or larger.

    one learns something new every day. many thanks :)

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Barndog said:
    Newly-commissioned military officers would give a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who rendered a salute to the new officer

    I heard that enlisted men would hang out outside the commissioning ceremonies for this very reason.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The ancient Greeks would bury their dead with a coin in their mouth so they could pay Charon the ferryman to transport them across the river Styx to Hades which is the land of the dead.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,515 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @Barndog said:
    Newly-commissioned military officers would give a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who rendered a salute to the new officer

    I heard that enlisted men would hang out outside the commissioning ceremonies for this very reason.

    true

    Sometimes, a new officer got to return the salute of his (enlisted) dad. Always liked seeing that.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Ezmoney said:
    There was a girl I saw in this show down in Tijuana that could do some amazing things with a roll of quaters.

    :o

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • LotsoLuckLotsoLuck Posts: 3,786 ✭✭✭

    Holding open screen doors. On the closure there is a metal piece that slides back and forth on the rod that is suppose to hold the door open, they fail. Put a quarter (most coins work) in between the factory door holding piece and the hydraulic tube part with door in full open position. Works great, makes you look smart and gets dates with hot women.

  • KollectorKingKollectorKing Posts: 4,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    tossing them against a wall or an object to see which comes closest to win/or for bragging rights
    poker chips

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 12, 2017 4:00PM

    When faced with a worn or warped record album, place a quarter over the cartridge (needle) to improve tracking.

    *not recommended.

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:
    When faced with a worn or warped record album, place a quarter over the cartridge (needle) to improve tracking.

    *not recommended.

    Please don't do that unless it is zinc as clad is too heavy. Why warp a needle needlessly? They're as rare as hen's teeth these days as turntables are not produced anymore unless you're a music afficianto and even then, good luck.

  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,515 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:
    When faced with a worn or warped record album, place a quarter over the cartridge (needle) to improve tracking.

    *not recommended.

    that reminds me: a coin can be used to balance a paddle on a ceiling fan.

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Barndog said:

    @Coinstartled said:
    When faced with a worn or warped record album, place a quarter over the cartridge (needle) to improve tracking.

    *not recommended.

    that reminds me: a coin can be used to balance a paddle on a ceiling fan.

    Use glue (not Elmers) or it will rotate (fall) off the first or second time the fan motor is activated.

  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,515 ✭✭✭✭✭

    oh yes, one more: I think Mark Goodman recommends this in his book on coin photography. When a coin is slanted in the slab, you can place a dime, cent, whatever under the edge of the slab to try to get the off-kilter coin in the slab back to perpendicular to the lens. I'm sure he worded it better.

  • abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Barndog said:
    oh yes, one more: I think Mark Goodman recommends this in his book on coin photography. When a coin is slanted in the slab, you can place a dime, cent, whatever under the edge of the slab to try to get the off-kilter coin in the slab back to perpendicular to the lens. I'm sure he worded it better.

    Although humorous it is disrespectful to the host coin.

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