History Main / PayingInCoins

** In "SquidsOnABus", [=SpongeBob=] pays the bus fare with tons of pennies, and later gets Patrick to do the same.

** In another episode, "Cent of Money", Mr. Krabs' hospital bill was paid entirely in the coins he stole throughout the episode. A case of LaserGuidedKarma, as those coins caused him to go to the hospital in the first place.

* A satire site claimed that Samsung paid off its $1.05 billion fine to Apple by sending them dumptrucks full of nickels. ''Website/{{Snopes}}'' covers it [[http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/samsung.asp here]].

* This is slowly becoming a DiscreditedTrope. Nobody wants to fiddle around with change anymore, and technology is slowly enabling people to avoid having to do so. Even places that traditionally use coins so that you can micromanage your consumption, like laundromats and arcades, are starting to transition to prepaid cards -- which you could, in theory, load up using coins, but can do just as easily with a debit or credit card. In some places like UsefulNotes/HongKong, your prepaid public transit card can be used all over the city for things like laundromats, vending machines, and convenience stores. And in Japan, arcades might accept [[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitCash BitCash]]. {{Pinball}} machines, though, tend to be laggards -- most still demand coins.

** [[http://www.francetvinfo.fr/peut-on-payer-ses-impots-en-pieces-de-1-centime_211639.html In France]], a man protested a tax increase by paying his taxes with 50kg worth of 1, 2, and 5-cent coins. He apparently was able to recruit other people in his town to help him, not necessarily because they agreed with his political claims but mostly because [[ItAmusedMe they thought it was amusing]].

* Some places only accept coins, like arcades and laundromats. Usually, if they want you to do this trope, it's in quarters. They should have a change machine too.
** Coinstar will accept this trope. It turns your coins into bills, so you can avoid this trope. Of course, it does this at a rather hefty fee...
*** Unless you accept the amount placed on one of a variety of gift cards.
*** Some banks have machines like this which also turn coins into bills, but for free if you have an account there.
*** There are also machines that combine coins into rolls so that they're easier to carry and you don't have to manually count them out - a roll of 50 pennies is still worth 50 cents, but it's a lot easier to work with than the same amount in loose change.
*** As of late, there has been increasing aversion in both arcades and laundromats: Both types of sites have since introduced special plastic cards that you can preload with money at a machine (or in person in some cases), either as cash or from a debit or credit card, which is then used at the location. Devices to read these cards have been made to retrofit onto existing older machines, which has become the norm for some of the more technologically advanced places, like Tokyo and Orange County. Some can even read debit and credit cards directly and will deduct the price of a load or game once started (though some, such as the [=PayRange=] system, were designed with vending machines in mind but can be fitted onto arcade games, washers, and dryers).\\
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Currently played straight with {{pinball}}, however--some machines have these devices installed onto them, but unlike arcade video games and redemption machines, they are the minority, and currently, only one pinball game has been released (''Pinball/FullThrottle'') with the option to have card readers pre-installed. as a result, pinball is one of the hobbies in which "BYOQ"--Bring Your Own Quarters--is still given out as a heads-up in regards to locations without change machines.
** Many modern chain arcades, such as Round 1, Dave & Buster's, and Timezone will use cards that you store your credits on, so that you don't have to fish around for coins in your pocket. In Japan, arcades may accept [[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitCash BitCash]].
* Averted in real life for the most part. Most countries have laws that allow retailers to reject payments if they involve too large a volume of small denominations. Should someone do this, it is illegal. For example, up until they were removed from circulation in 2013, Canada only required a payee to accept up to 50 cents in pennies (all purchases since 2013 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cents).
* Averted in general in the United States. There is no law says it is illegal to use small denominations in large quantities, but neither is there is a federal law that requires merchants to accept any and all denominations (some states do, though). This means people, businesses, and organizations (including government entities) can refuse payment in a legal transaction using legal tender as a matter of policy (toll booths not accepting pennies, convenience stores not accepting bills larger than $20, etc). This also means, for example, it is legal for someone to only accept gold or even Beanie Babies as payment if you want to buy something from him - you cannot make him accept your pennies or $20 bills.
** Paul Brant of Indiana paid for a new truck with jars of change accumulated over the course of his life; the dealer couldn't be compelled to accept the coins, but chose to do so, on the grounds that the publicity would be worth the inconvenience.
* On the other hand, this trope can be played straight (at least in the US) for a debt that has ''already been incurred'' (this is the significance of the Legal Tender status of currency—as quoted on all bills: "This bill is Legal Tender ''for all debts, public and private''."). If you already owe someone money and he doesn't accept your legal tender, he risks having the whole debt cancelled. For example, restaurants that don't collect payment until after you finish your meal cannot refuse your offer to pay cash and insist you pay in, say, gold - if they did, you could bring them to court and the judge would have the debt dismissed because your valid payment offer was refused. This is why you hear stories of disgruntled taxpayers paying their bills in coins - it is a perfectly valid form of payment to a debt-holder (in this case, the [[IntimidatingRevenueService IRS]]) because the debt existed ''a priori''.
** There is a case of [[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705373959/Peeved-patient-proud-of-penny-protest.html a man in Utah]] who paid a disputed $25 bill with a clinic entirely in pennies. He was cited by the police for disorderly conduct, but only because he intentionally spilled them all over the counter and on the floor, scaring the crap out of everyone - the actual payment of the bill in pennies was perfectly legal.
*** [[https://www.fmylife.com/article/today-i-needed-to-pay-off-a-35-parking-ticket-to-try-and-get-some-sort-of-revenge-i-went-to-the_147710.html There's a story on FMyLife]] about a man who tried something similar with a $35 parking ticket, trying to pay it with a bucket of pennies. They tried to fine him $147 for this stunt, but according to the Follow Up, the court ruled mostly in his favor--he was using legal US tender so they couldn't refuse it and the additional fine was dropped, but he had to either count them all himself or have them rolled by the bank in order to pay the parking ticket this way. He chose to have them rolled.
** There was another case in which a man paid a $137 traffic ticket with [[https://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/19/man-pays-ticket-with-137-origami-pigs-made-from-dollar-bills/ 137 origami pigs]] - for bonus points, he delivered them [[DonutMessWithACop in a donut case]], though he had to unfold the origami before the clerk would accept them.
** This works in reverse as well: if a good cashier is being put upon by an absolutely terrible customer, the cashier can take vengeance by administering what's known in the United States as "the penny treatment", which is giving the customer his exact change — entirely in the lowest possible money denomination, typically counted out individually. The change legally counts as debt owed by the store to the customer, so the store via the cashier is legally allowed to settle the debt this way. However, unless the customer was being ''excessively'' abrasive (at which point a store could simply refuse to close the sale and eject the customer, meaning no money changes hands), it's considered bad form to do so since the customer could refuse to return and start up a social media storm about the incident.
* This is inverted in Mexico: Almost all business other than banks or financial institutions refuses to accept high-denomination bills like 500 or 1000 pesos bills (the highest denomination bills available for public use in Mexico) for paying, since it's too difficult to give change when using such kind of bill, especially for small business. This also caused the 1000 pesos bill to be almost worthless outside banking, especially if you don't have a credit or debit card.
** This trope is also played straight in Mexico regarding paying many services and products: All service bills (Electricity, water, phone, internet, etc), taxes, phone cards and pre-paid cards '''must''' be paid with cash.
* Supposedly, there have been people who paid their taxes in pennies.
** [[http://www.francetvinfo.fr/peut-on-payer-ses-impots-en-pieces-de-1-centime_211639.html A French example]] from 2012, a man protested against a tax rise by paying his taxes with 50kg of 1, 2 and 5 cent coins. He was apparently helped gather the coins by the other inhabitants of his town, "amused" by the prospect.
* King Ludwig II of Bavaria was a big fan of Music/RichardWagner. His subjects, even the ministers, didn't share his love. When the king ordered that Wagner should receive a great sum of money for support, the responsible man paid him in silver coins. Several sacks of them. Wagner was enraged and demanded that the whole cabinet would step down.
* In Germany, there's the custom that a bride will pay for her shoes in pennies. [[note]]Explanation: This is to demonstrate that she will be a thrifty housewife.[[/note]] The problem with this: When this custom developed, this would amount to some hundred pennies. Nowadays, with the inflation, ''ten thousands'' aren't impossible.
* British regional councils got so fed up with people making points, or paying disputed bills or local tax money under protest, by bringing a wheelbarrow full of small coin to the tax office, that they are now exerting their common-law right to refuse the method of payment. If the citizen then retorts that he has offered payment and it's not his fault, the council refused to accept it, test cases have been brought to court and established that the citizen is still guilty of non-payment or late payment, and fines have been imposed.
** The legal tender law in the UK (as of 2013) states that the following payment for a debt that has already been incurred must be accepted: \\
English banknotes - £50, £20, £10, and £5 - in any quantity. Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are not legal tender, but may be accepted at the creditor's discretion. [[note]]There's a kind of gentlemen's agreement in place between the English and Scottish national banks, so functionally the two are interchangeable without difficulty.[[/note]] \\
Coins valued at £5, £2, and £1 in any quantity.[[note]]£5 coins are not in wide circulation and mostly exist as commemorative items for collectors.[[/note]] \\
50p and 20p coins up to £10-worth of each. \\
10p and 5p coins up to £5-worth of each. \\
2p and 1p coins up to 20p-worth of each. \\
Bullion coins may also be legal tender, but will be accepted at their face value, not on the actual value of their precious metal content.
** The fact that the debt must have already been incurred is important. Attempting to pay for a £1.50 bus journey in 5p coins or with a £50 note can see either refused. [[note]]Because most bus journeys are paid in advance and no journey has been made at the point of purchase, no debt has been incurred - so they can turn down the shrapnel and refuse to change up your huge notes. London buses have done away with cash entirely, partly because of both of these (and partly because they want the whole world using Oyster cards).[[/note]]
* ''America's Dumbest Criminals'' relates a story in which the girlfriend of an accused vending machine thief comes to the station to pay his bail... [[NotHelpingYourCase entirely in quarters]].
* Before 2010 (with the introduction of the 50,000 Won bill): [[RidiculousExchangeRates The South Korean Won is at approximately 1,000 Won = $1 US.]] Unfortunately, the largest size bill available to the general public is 10,000 Won, which with the varying exchange rates tends to be about an $8~$11 bill at most. Now Korean landlords, instead of monthly rents, prefer rentors to give them a large interest-free loan up front, in cash...So every year to two years, a number of Americans are seen with [[BriefcaseFullOfMoney large brown paper bags full of 10,000 Won bills.]]
* When UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch bought John D. Rockefeller's mansion for 44 million USD in 2005, he paid in cash.
* Creator/JamesHerriot recalls that on his first date when he was fourteen, he had to do this at the cinema because he'd done the reversed trope on the tram; he'd paid with an excessively large denomination and the bus driver got revenge by giving him his change entirely in halfpennies.
* Up to this very moment, most bus systems in Japan only ever accept the coins or the city specific prepaid cards, with the readers clearly bolted-on the coin box in the older buses. They also always have the change machines nearby, so that the people could get exact change to put it there.
* Ditto for Russia, only with the card readers and change machines making the appearance only in the largest and most affluent cities. Elsewhere its just the driver and his coinbox nearby. Most bus drivers in Russia can give you the exact change so fast it's frightening… [[DrivesLikeCrazy especially when they're actually]] ''{{driv|esLikeCrazy}}ing''.
* When a country takes certain denominations out of circulation, there can be a rush for people to get rid of their small change before it's too late. To avoid wasting too much time, stores will sometimes refuse small change payments above a certain amount.
* [[https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/06/09/mother-and-daughter-donate-80000-pennies-child-support-pkg-vpx.wtvr One father in Virginia]] decided to be a total {{Jerkass}} and rent a trailer to dump 80,000 pennies on his ex-wife's lawn for his daughter's final child-support payment. Mother and daughter shoveled them up, toted them to the bank, and [[InsultBackfire donated the deposit to a charity supporting domestic-abuse victims]].

** [[BadHumorTruck An Ice Cream Man's deep-seated grudge]] turns out to be from Dexter paying for an ice cream (the most expensive one on stock, by the way) with a ridiculously large jar of pennies, [[ItMakesSenseInContext an accident with which]] [[DisasterDominoes manages to systematically ruin]] [[DisproportionateRetribution the Ice Cream Man's]] [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity entire life]]. [[MotiveRant After the Ice Cream Man explains]] this to Dexter and the latter apologizes, Dexter buys a regular ice cream (which costs $1)... and pays with a $100 bill. [[BigNO The Ice Cream Man's]] [[DespairEventHorizon anguished]] [[HereWeGoAgain shriek]] [[AesopAmnesia says]] [[HypocriticalHumor everything]].
** The episode "Repairanoid" has an electrician coming to Dexter's house, discovering his lab, and . Although the electrician's $40,000 bill shocks Dexter's mom (she doesn't know about Dex's Lab) at first, she quickly shifts to an agreeable tone and takes out her purse to pay -- by withdrawing coins one at a time and counting them. The electrician doesn't protest, and the episode ends as she just begins the payment.
* Done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where Stewie is held up in line in a supermarket due to Bruce, [[ExpressLaneLimit after done quibbling over having one item over the 10 Items Or Less limit]], asks to pay for it all in pennies.

*** Some banks have machines like this which also turn coins into bills but for free if you have an account there.

* When UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch bought John D. Rockefeller's mansion for 44 million USD in 2005, he paid in cash, thereby cementing his status as the closest thng to a Film/JamesBond villain we'll ever get in real life.

** There was another case in which a man paid a $137 traffic ticket with [[https://www.khou.com/article/news/jersey-village-man-pays-traffic-fine-with-137-folded-into-origami-pigs/285-413095199 137 origami pigs]] - for bonus points, he delivered them [[DonutMessWithACop in a donut case]], though he had to unfold the origami before the clerk would accept them.

* In the German comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Oskar}}'', the family uses pennies to pay for their new ''car''. It's TheAllegedCar, but still.

* In ''Film/TheHebrewHammer'', Mordecai finds himself in Duke's, a skinhead bar, while chasing a lead. Amusingly, the racist bartender has a bottle of the Jewish wine Mordecai requests and he repays the bartender's naked loathing with a handful of shekels dropped onto the countertop.
* In ''Film/ConfessionsOfAShopaholic'', the title character has racked up a sizeable debt and is hounded throughout the film by an EvilDebtCollector. After he embarrasses her on national TV, she finally pays it off - by filling his office with jars of coins.

* In ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad The Belgariad]]'', This was one of Silk's scams against toll collectors. He pays a bribe with Mallorean half-pennies, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading this with the fact that they are currency, just a pitifully small amount.]] This was also a callback to an earlier scam, where he just used gravel instead of the gold pebbles and dust the miners were expecting.
* In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', one of the LemonyNarrator's comments about Six Beneficial Winds's low-grade unpleasantness is that he keeps change in a small purse, and counts it very carefully when buying things, especially if there's a queue.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' had Kramer collecting change to use the apartment's dryer so his clothes would be warm when he got dressed. Then, after deciding to use Jerry's oven instead, tries to pay for George's calzones with loose change, pissing off the store owner. The episode's stinger has him paying a debt by tossing a pillowcase of coins at someone, knocking them over.

* In ''Series/HappyEndings'', Max has to pay rent in pennies, pouring them out of a jug into the landlord's desk, because he had no job. At the end of the episode, he offers to pay for dinner after winning a lot of money, but pours out pennies from the same jug, because "pennies are the only currency I trust."
* In one of Jinnai Tomonori's comedy skits, he gets fed up with his bank's crazy and uncooperative ATM, so he decides to just withdraw all his money and close his account. The ATM obliges by dispensing his 1 million yen in coins.
* [[Series/GilmoreGirls Rory]] was short on cash at one point and paid for a coffee in change. A minor example, since the total was only around $2.50, but still in the spirit of the trope.

* In the ''Tabletopgame/{{Shadowrun}}'' universe, the Great Dragon Lofwyr buys the majority of heavy industrial corporation Saeder-Krupp stocks with gold from his hoard, although it isn't specified if it's tons of gold coins or in another form.

* A satire site claimed that Samsung paid off its $1.05 billion fine to Apple by sending them dumptrucks full of nickels. ''Website/{{Snopes}}'' covers it [[http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/samsung.asp here]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/pennypranks This]] Website/YouTube channel has videos of services being paid in pennies.

* A Warner Bros. cartoon called "WesternAnimation/WildWife" details all of the annoyances a typical 1950s housewife has to go through in her day. One of them was going to the bank and having an old woman deposit a large amount of money in pennies. The housewife switches to another line when it clears up, only to be cut off by ''another'' old lady doing ''the same thing.''
* Done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where Stewie is held up in line in a supermarket due to Bruce, [[ExpressLaneLimit after done quibbling over having one item over the 10 Items Or Less limit]], asks to pay for it all in pennies.

* A ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had the title character paying for his mom's present out of a coin jar. The cashier fell asleep waiting for him to count it all out.
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'':
** In "Super Computer", Carl tried to pay for a hooker's services with a giant jar of pennies, and is offended she wouldn't accept it. He gets knocked out a moment later by the {{Phlebotinum}} of the episode. The hooker leaves, dragging the jar of pennies with her.
** In the penultimate episode, Carl gives Shake $20 in Susan B. Anthony coins to pay a hooker with, because he loves the irony of paying for a sex act with a feminist icon.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo,'' a demon tries to get Johnny do some evil deeds, including going into an 10 items or less line at a grocery store with 11 items and then paying in Canadian pennies. This plan backfires though as one of the pennies is a rare coin that the cashier has been trying to find her whole life.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In "The Stanchurian Candidate", when Stan is at the grocery shop, Robbie expects him to pay in pennies because he's old.

** In another episode, Mr. Krabs' hospital bill was paid entirely in the coins he stole throughout the episode. A case of LaserGuidedKarma, as those coins caused him to go to the hospital in the first place.

* In ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'', one of the LemonyNarrator's comments about Six Beneficial Winds's low-grade unpleasantness is that he keeps change in a small purse, and counts it very carefully when buying things, especially if there's a queue.

* A Warner Bros. cartoon called "WesternAnimation/WildWife" details all of the annoyances a typical 1950s housewife has to go through in her day. One of them was going to the bank and having an old woman deposit a large amount of money in pennies. The housewife switches to another line when it clears up, only to get behind another old lady doing the same thing.

* A Warner Bros. cartoon called "The Wild Wife" details all of the annoyances a typical 1950s housewife has to go through in her day. One of them was going to the bank and having an old woman deposit a large amount of money in pennies. The housewife switches to another line when it clears up, only to get behind another old lady doing the same thing.

* Averted in real life for the most part. Most countries have laws that allow retailers to reject payments if they involve too large a volume of small denominations. Should someone do this, it is illegal.
** For example, in Canada, one could only require a payee to accept up to 50 cents in pennies.
*** That is, until they were removed from circulation (but are still legal tender according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki) in 2013; now, all purchases are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cents.

* Apparently the catalyst for a deep seated grudge by the Ice Cream Man in ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', Dexter pays for an ice cream (the most expensive one on stock, by the way) with a ridiculously large jar of pennies, [[ItMakesSenseInContext an accident with which]] [[DisasterDominoes manages to systematically ruin]] [[DisproportionateRetribution the Ice Cream Man's]] [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity entire life]]. [[MotiveRant After the Ice Cream Man explains]] this to Dexter and the latter apologizes, Dexter buys a regular ice cream (which costs $1)... and pays with a $100 bill. [[BigNO The Ice Cream Man's]] [[DespairEventHorizon anguished]] [[HereWeGoAgain shriek]] [[AesopAmnesia says]] [[HypocriticalHumor everything]].
** There's another ''Dexter's Laboratory'' example that closes the episode "Repairanoid". Although the electrician's $40,000 bill shocks Dexter's mom (she didn't know about Dex's Lab or the repairs the electrician did there) at first, she quickly shifts to an agreeable tone and takes out her purse to pay -- by withdrawing coins one at a time and counting them. The electrician doesn't protest.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer once tried to pay a $900 gas bill by sending a water-cooler bottle full of pennies in the mail. When he puts it down next to the mailbox, it falls into the earth.
-->Hello? [[DiggingToChina China]]? A little help?
** Another instance, although offscreen: The family pays for a doghouse from the change inside a SwearJar.
** Bart pays for his fat camp with two bags of change robbed from the vending machines he got fat eating from.
** When Homer starts getting fed up with Marge's nervous penny-pinching, he takes her savings jar and uses it for the down payment of a motor home.

You go to a store, and buy your things. You check out, and you don't have more than the total. No credit cards either. Instead, you must pay in exact change, but all you got is a [[EleventyZillion really huge]] number of coins. This is either used as a last resort without going in debt, JustForFun, protesting the recipient, or as a metaphor of something. The clerk can either [[SchmuckBait try to count all of it]], or [[TakeOurWordForIt trusts the customer]] and accepts the coins.

* Carl from ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' tried to pay for a hooker's services with a giant jar of pennies, since there was nothing saying he couldn't. He gets knocked out a moment later by the {{Phlebotinum}} of the episode. The hooker leaves, dragging the jar of pennies with her. In the penultimate episode, he gives Shake 20 dollars in Susan B. Anthony coins to pay a hooker with, because he loves the irony of paying for a sex act with a feminist icon.

* ‘’ComicStrip/{{Crankshaft}}’’ once took his bus to a museum and paid for the kids’ lunch using two full {{Swear Jar}}s of pennies.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

** While adventurers work primarily with finances involving gold, platinum and magic items, commoners count their income in coppers and ''maybe'' silvers and can be very grateful for your generosity. If you're planning to stay in the region for some time, unloading those sacks of "worthless" copper at a local farm can easily earn you lifelong friends, free room and board, somewhere safe to stash inportant things, and maybe even a hideaway from the law. All for a heavy sack of junk that could barely buy you a potion.

* A satire site claimed that Samsung paid off its $1.05 billion fine to Apple by sending them dumptrucks full of nickels. ''{{Website/Snopes}}'' covers it [[http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/samsung.asp here]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/pennypranks This]] Website/YouTube channel has videos of services being paid in pennies.
* A joke about this features in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHtdywWHvUU&feature=plcp this]] {{Website/Cracked}} TV episode.

* When [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]] stumbles upon the Compe in a catalog, he immediately pulls out his bag of 80,000 pennies to pay for it (it ''crushes his mailbox'').
* LetsPlay/SuperPlayify: Convictor complains about (in-game) being paid in one-dollar bills.
* [[http://notalwaysright.com/it-would-be-penny-wise-to-accept-them/45631 This customer]] on Website/NotAlwaysRight has ''[[OverlyLongGag way too many]]'' coins in his fanny pack. "''THEY'RE BREEDING!''"
* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode, "Evil Chef Pee Pee!", when Bowser Junior accidentally kills Chef Pee Pee by dropping a frozen water balloon on his head, Craig the Devil comes to collect his soul. Junior [[DealWithTheDevil makes a deal with Craig]] to bring him back to life, and Craig makes Junior buy a Hershey's candy bar with pennies.