January Close-Out

Not much to report. I thought it was going to be another goose-egg day but a trip to the old Food Emporium yielded a penny at check-out.

Total haul for the day = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.92

Back on Track

Let's naught talk about yesterday. You can buy zero dollars here.

This morning I found a penny on the floor of a residential lobby. Good start to the day.

Greg Marotta, whose radio show, "The Natural," hosted FoundMoolah as a guest recently, found a hundred dollar bill in a parking lot recently.

And another friend, we'll call her 'Hats,' saw a quarter in the crack of a taxi seat but when she went to photograph it for us, it was gone! And no one reaches in there. Or do they?

UPDATE: Found another penny at Prince Street subway. That's becoming a reliable station.

Total haul so far today = .02

Slush Fund

Picking coins up off the ground is not for the timid today. We're enduring one of nature's bad jokes called "Wintry Mix." It's one of the few days of the year when you can't decide if you should wear rain boots or snow boots, parka or rain coat. In a word, it sucks. And the pennies come up soggy. But they are free of salt and pretty shiny so that's something.

I found one penny at the turnstile exiting 14th Street subway station. It's a recession-sized slush fund.

Total haul today = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.89

Dirty Quartet

This Idiot, and the act he's engaged in here, are the reason some coins are dirty. But he's worth it. Just wash your hands, as you would after handling a dead, pox-riddled rat.

This morning This Idiot and I went visiting, which means a walk from Union Square to the Lower East Side. We found three pennies on the sidewalk, two of which were exceedingly filthy (one pocket for kleenex and lip-gloss, another for dirty money). The fourth was found in a hair salon.


Total haul for the day = .04 and a new 'do

TOTAL to date = $17.88 and looking good

Uh, oh.

I will level with you, people. I am a little nervous. I have a bad feeling about today. First, it's cold and we all know that cold streets are stingy streets. Second, I haven't had to go out much so my exposure to possible free money is limited. Third, it's really late in the day. I'm not sure it'll happen today. There are two dog walks left so let's keep our heads held high and keep hope alive.

UPDATE: Calm down, everyone. We're going to make it. I found a penny in a Union Square not far from the dog run. It's not much but it beats zero.

Total haul for the day = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.84

Wheat Penny, Say What?

In over six months of picking up dirty coins I never came across a wheat penny. Until today. On 12th Street just next to University I crouched over to retrieve a penny from a wide and filthy crack in the sidewalk to find that it was a wheat penny dated 1953, and the 6th found cent of the day.

Later, in SoHo, I found another penny of the modern variety.

Total haul today (including nickel from earlier) = .07

Cinqo d'Enero! Cinqo deniro!

The nickel (which is mostly copper) is more valuable than a dime. Start hoarding!

I found a shiny new nickel this morning on the curb in front of Walgreens at 14th and 4th. I was on my way to Trader Joe's, which already had long check out lines even though they'd only been open for 15 minutes. WTF!?

Total haul for the day = .05

TOTAL to date = $17.81

Late Night Coin - And Then Some

Found two cents on the evening dog walk (after midnight).

Late morning dog walk yielded two more cents on 14th Street between 4th Ave and Broadway.

Midday dogwalk revealed another four pennies - most of which were white and covered with salt.

In the evening I found two more pennies in the West Village.

Total haul for the day - .10

TOTAL to date = $17.76 - the year of America's birth

A 31 Cent Day

Another penny found, one block from my door, first thing in the morning. This is not an image of an NYC sidewalk in January. It's in front of some school somewhere in summer and it's a refreshing contrast to our salt-caked streets and sidewalks. I am sick of winter.

In the Prince Street subway station (downtown) I found a penny coming out of the turnstile, and then saw another penny, and next to that - a quarter. Nice.

Walking East on 14th Street I picked up another three pennies over the course of several blocks. Warm weather makes a difference.


Total haul so far today = .31

TOTAL to date = $17.65

New MTA Subway Fare = $1.98

I found one penny on the steps descending into the 14th Street station and another on the train (right by the door). That means I can take two cents of the cost of my ride today. Of course, I use the unlimited card so who knows what my ride really cost.

Found another penny hiding out by a lamppost on Lafayette. It was covered in salt and well-disguised.

UPDATE: I nearly ended up face down on University when I spotted a penny midway through leaping off of a curb. I tried to stop in midair to dive down and pick up the penny. It wasn't graceful.

Total haul for the day = .04

TOTAL to date = $17.34

Grimy Gutter Ducats

Cold streets are stingy streets. I didn't find anything yesterday (although I did count at least 25 pennies between the tracks at the 14th St Station of the downtown-bound R/W line) and today has been a challenge. I've done a lot of walking in the cold, I've been in a taxi, and I've been on the subway but so far all I have found were two nasty cents.

Near the sewer drain at 13th and Broadway I spotted two suspicious circles. The salt on the road oxidized the copper to a greenish white and the usual soot did a real number on these two pennies; they were just circles the size of pennies until I could pick them up and confirm. My fingers got so dirty that I didn't put my mitten back on and that's saying something. But I got my two cents.

Total haul for the day = .02

TOTAL to date = $17.30

44 - On the Money

How do you like him now?

It would be nice to find 44 dollars today to commemorate the inauguration of our 44th President but since that's unlikely - and I haven't found a cent yet - I'm going to celebrate with this image I shot during the campaign.

Total haul today = A Big Improvement Over the Last Guy

TOTAL to date = $17.28

0+1 = 1

After a zero day yesterday (17 Jan 2009), I am delighted to report that I found a penny this morning on the floor of a deli. And it's early so I'm hopeful to find more loot before midnight.

Total haul for the day = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.28

One Cent Hawk

We went out to run errands, walk the dog, and find a coin.

After the Post Office, we sat in the dog run and watched a hawk chase off a bunch of little birds that looked like tennis balls with beaks. We got cold and thought it might be time to come home so we went to check out the hawk where he'd parked on a branch over yonder and then we stepped up our hunting efforts. Just as we got serious - presto - we found a penny.

Let's go home, we said, we love to see hawks and all but it's freaking cold out here! See you next time, birdpants.



Total haul today = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.27

OKmart

Kmart pays out again. Second day in a row I found a penny on the sidewalk in front of Kmart at Astor Place.



Total haul for the day = .01

TOTAL to date = $17.26

Heaven 17

I stopped on the steps exiting the Prince Street NRQW station to pick up a penny and then found another in front of the Goth costume store on 4th Avenue.

That means we say good-bye to Sweet 16 and welcome Heaven 17. Does anyone know where the '80s pop band "Heaven 17" got their name? Here's a hint - it's sort of how like Duran Duran got theirs.



UPDATE: Joe, you are correct. "Heaven17" got their name from the Stanley Kubrick film, "A Clockwork Orange." And "Duran Duran" is named after a character in "Barbarella."

In coin news, it's been a big day. After a slow morning, we picked up speed. A trip to Kalustyan's this afternoon hooked me up with two more pennies - one on Lexington near 23rd Street and one on the way home near Madison Square Park dog run.

Later, in the subway, I decided to look on the floor near a news-seller and saw a penny. When I was going for the penny I spotted a dime right in the corner of the door. Nice! I needed a dime today. Maybe even two.

The return trip on the subway took me to another news-seller in Grand Central to ask about a publication. My daughter held up a bag of peanut M&Ms hopefully and revealed a dime. I took the dime and left the candy. My candy-less kid spotted a penny right inside the turnstile and cheered up immediately.

Total haul today = .26

TOTAL to date = $17.25

Found Moolah Hits the Airwaves

Join me today as Found Moolah calls in as a guest on Greg Marotta's "The Natural" on wvnj.com.


Found Moolah dials in at 4:10 p.m. EST.

I've never done sports radio before but I sure have logged some hours listening. Can't wait to talk baseball in January! Oh, man, I hope Greg doesn't ask me about football. Sorry, Eli, I'm just not that into you. And I haven't watched hockey since Bobby Orr played for the Bruins. Okay, I've watched more recently than that but not lately.

Back to the cash. We'll probably hit $17 today. I found two pennies stuck together near a garbage can (someone tried to chuck them and missed). I'm going to drop them into some acetone or solvent and see if I can split them up.

I found another one in front of a coffee cart on Broadway between Houston and Prince. Do you think the attendant cares that I took the penny?

Total haul today = .03

TOTAL to date = $16.99

Greg Marotta has some good found money stories I'll post later.

Nickel on the Loose

The cold weather has made stingy streets but this morning I walked out onto the sidewalk and into a shiny clean nickel (it was in the water coming off my building, which was being washed).

UPDATE:  Hard Eight - I found three more pennies, which gets me to .08 for the day so far. One penny near Utrecht on 4th Ave, another at Astor Place, and the third - at least I think it's a penny, I've never seen a chipped one before - at Houston and Chrystie.

Lincoln, is that you?

LATER UPDATE:  Found a penny parked outside of Kmart.

LATEST UPDATE:  Found two more pennies at the dog run, prompting the piggy banks to ask for a bath.

Total haul today = .11

TOTAL to date = $16.96

We've Arrived

Changepot, the original found money blog maintained by a family from Staten Island, got written up in today's NY Daily News (in the Money Section, naturally). Local NBC news also picked up the story. Update: and so did Gothamist - now the hits and hipsters are really checking in.

Foundmoolah.blogspot.com got a mention too and all three of my piggy banks made the photo. The caption isn't strictly correct because I don't limit finds to the street - like the Humphreys from Staten Island - I'll pick it up from just about anywhere I find it.  

Today I found a penny but it was frozen solid into some dirt near the base of a tree.  I can't decide if I should go back with a cup of hot water or a screw-driver but I think just I'll wait for a thaw, it's 26F out there.

What have you found lately?  Quarters, fins, sawbucks, c-notes? What's the most you've ever found?

Update:  I found one penny dangerously close to where my dog was lifting his leg, which is one reason more people don't pick them up, and another one at the gate of the dog run.

Total haul today = .02

TOTAL to date = $16.85

Nickel Tour

On a stroll through the East Village with my friend Jonathan, we happened across a nickel sitting boldly in the middle of the sidewalk. In truth, Jonathan spotted it but he let me have it because that's the kind of guy he is.

Total to date = $16.83

January 10, 2009

Nothing. It's a rare day but it happens. I didn't find diddley today. Maybe because most of the surfaces were covered in snow. A cold snow that crunched underfoot.

Total haul for the day = naught

January 9, 2009

Brooklyn and Manhattan finds got me up to .14 today.

I got well past 5:00 p.m. without finding a thing and I was looking. I even got off a bus early in 25F weather so I could cover more ground on foot and hopefully find some coins. Nothing doing.

No pennies till Brooklyn!
On our way to a friend's art opening in Williamsburg, I found one penny on the steps coming out of the Bedford L train stop and another at Berry and N 7th Street. And then I found a dime in the turnstile coming out of the 14th street station on the way home. And then two more pennies during the late night dog walk - one in front of the Strand and another near a garbage can in front of the liquor store at 4th Avenue and 13th Street.

Total haul for the day - .14

TOTAL to date = $16.78

Cheapskates

I found one penny today in the crosswalk of East 15th Street between Union Square and the little island of park just east of Union Square.

Update: Another penny found in the icky trashy 'mulch' under a tree on 4th Avenue surrounded by a short iron gate.

Total haul today = .02

TOTAL to date = $16.64

Two in the Rain

I found two pennies on Broadway in SoHo around noon in the pouring 35F rain.


Total haul today = .02

TOTAL to date = $16.62

January 6, 2009

I didn't find any money on January 6th. But my daughter found a penny in the subway, which counts.


TOTAL to date = $16.60

Dropping a Dime

On the uptown platform of the 14th Street N/R/W/Q trains I passed a couple sitting on a bench and as I did I heard the sound of a coin hitting tile (which, in my mind is the same thing as the electric and cacophonous sound of a slot machine screaming JACKPOT). The couple heard it too and the woman looked to see a dime settle out of her reach on the floor. I passed and when I looked back she had looked away too. So I retreated. When I picked it up she looked at me and I said,

"Is this yours?"

"I'm not sure," she replied as I handed it to her. She took it and said, "Thanks any way."

She had dark purple nail polish on short nails that I could see as she pinched the dime from my fingers. I wonder if she didn't want it. Would she have felt robbed if I had just swooped it up with no eye contact and hustled off down the platform? I was sad to see it go but not for long.

I got off the express at the deuce and then took the stairs up to street level (you don't find coins on escalators) and after the turnstile but before the sidewalk there was a dime waiting for me.

Total haul for the day (including the 2 Pennies from 2 Blocks) = .12

TOTAL to date = $16.59

I'm Not Alone!

Here is an article about how much money one can find on the ground by collecting change. And it mentions other blogs wherein dorks like me chronicle what they've found.

How Much Change Can You Find on the Ground?

This link was sent to me by Christopher.

2 Blocks, 2 Pennies

Late night dog walk yielded two pennies. One in front of Subway on 4th Ave and one in front of the Turkish jeans company on Broadway near 13th.

TOTAL to date = $16.49

Fender Finder

If you find a ten dollar bill under the wiper of someone else's car - would it be stealing to take it?

I found a penny on the fender of a Graffiti Truck today at Union Square (It was a truck from the Bread Alone fleet parked where the Green Market takes place on Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat). I'm pretty sure the owners would thank me for garbage collection if they knew I took the penny, but I'd like to know how it ended up there. I found another penny under the same fender.

Total haul today = .02

TOTAL to date = $16.47

3 January 2009

When you're in the mail room of your building and you're chatting with a neighbor and see a penny sticking out from under his shoe, do you say,

"Excuse me, you're standing on my penny."

Or do you shift your weight and position so he moves back and then you dive down for it?

Or do you wait for (encourage) the conversation to come to a close and then retrieve it when he can no longer see it nor you?

Sure, the polite thing would be to say,

"I think you dropped a penny, can I pick it up for you?" and then reach down, pick it up, and hand it over to your horrified neighbor who doesn't want it any way because he doesn't blog about finding money and finds pennies useless and dirty. And he doesn't want to insult you by saying,

"Oh, please, keep it for yourself," because that would be like tipping a guy a nickel. So I think the truly polite thing would be something else.

What do you think I did?

Total haul for the day = .01

TOTAL to date = $16.45

Dec 31, Jan 1, Jan 2

I didn't find anything on Dec 31st but that's no wonder, what with the parties and taxis and such. I did find a penny hours into the new year however. Walking the dog around 1:20 a.m. I found a penny. Nice way to start the year. And then I found another one next to some serious grime next to/under a garbage can later in the day.

And today, Jan 2, I found one in SoHo.

Total haul over the last three days = .03

TOTAL to date = $16.44