Monday, May 9, 2005

Today I found $1.39 . . .3 nickels, 1 dime, 3 quarters and 39 pennies (the legendary coin cycle).

Today I am going to throw a dilemma to the readership and elicit some feedback. First, my finds were as follows: 26 cents at the Kwick Kar Wash (one penny & one quarter), six cents (all pennies) at the Sonic next door, and $1.07 in a vacuum cleaner at Exxon.

For the past several days I have made large finds inside vacuum cleaners at area gas stations. Bailey has raised some questions regarding the validity of these finds, although I fail to see a reason why they should not count.

The rules of the Change Race are simple, the coins must be lost (i.e. they can’t be taken from a give a penny, take a penny jar on a counter) and their must be no clear ownership to the coins. Here is my take on the vacuum cleaner dilemma: The true owner of the coins is the person that lost them in the first place. For example, if I am using the vacuum cleaner to clean my car and I suck up a penny that penny belongs to me. At the point that I choose to drive away and leave the change I abandon ownership of the coin.

Bailey argues, and Brian might back him up on this, that the gas station has a right of ownership to the coins. I disagree. To me this is a slippery slope argument. Any property owner (gas station, fast food establishment, car wash, city) could argue that the coins on their property are theirs. I wouldn’t accept that argument. Just because a coin is dropped there doesn’t mean they own it. If that was the case than any coin that is ever found (unless it is on your property) belongs to someone else. Thus, the dilemma. One last fact, that can be considered if you would like, is that none of the vacuum cleaners were locked. All were open and accessible to anyone, including the original coin owner, to retrieve coins if desired. What does everyone else think?

Totals for the day: $1.39
Race Totals: $56.51