In a new weekly feature, we investigate proud packrats who put their "unique" collections on display to the captive web audience. From Beanie Babies to stamps, Internet, show us your junk!
Coin collecting is a long-standing and very serious tradition, but for this week's Show Us Your Junk we wanted to hone in on folks on YouTube collecting the most insignificant and annoying denomination of currency -- the Penny. If you're like us, you'll do everything you can to avoid getting a penny back at the store, and everything in your power to get rid of your pennies so they don't make your wallet bust. But there are people out there with an opposite approach, hoarding as many pennies as possible. So the next time you drop some pennies next to your nightstand, don't think of it as money you'll forget you have and never spend, think of it as a start to your very own penny collection, like the ones in the 5 videos below.
Penny Collection by awowogei
This man keeps all the focus right where it should be -- on a giant tub of pennies. He only has 980 pennies so far -- still not enough for a night at the movies -- but he promises to keep on collecting because, in his words, he's insane. If he's insane, then I must be crazy for keeping that piggy bank as a kid. He also wants us to know that 980 pennies is roughly the weight of a small cat. If you ever wondered about that sort of thing.
Catherine Taormina Gives The History Of Her Penny Collection by RockstarSissy
This penny video starts with a charming cash register sound, and Catherine lounging with a selection of her collection of over 31,000 pennies... sorted by date. She then recounts a tragic tale of broken glass and weeks of sorting her pennies to right things again. Who knew penny collecting could be so dramatic?
US Collection of Coints, p1 Pennys by bmdmaloclm
This collection shows how a better HD camera can really improve your penny collection video. All the penny detail can be seen (we'll admit it, Indian Head pennies are pretty cool) and our collector has done a good job of organizing his collection. It's also the most informative video we found -- copper coins used to be huge in the 1800s! Our only complaint is the jerky camera work that makes us feel like we're watching an episode of MTV's Spring Break. Look, if the pennies aren't dancing around you don't have to move that camera like that. Just saying.
Guinness World Record Penny Pyramid by mbezos
While not technically a collection, here is something you could do with a collection of pennies -- build a giant pyramid to rival the one in this video that made the Guinness World Records. You can even buy a penny used in this project, although the markup value if pretty steep -- $8.95 plus $1.50 in postage. But owning a part of penny history is priceless. And don't even get us started on the music in this video.
- lead photo:// Kristin Bradley / CC BY 2.0
