The Monkey Exhibit

I am the not-so-proud owner of a single US penny worth over $60. How do relatively new coins gain so much worth, you might ask? The answer is somewhat simple and slightly embarrassing to be sure. This penny lodged itself in the bottom of our dishwasher.

So they penny is washed clean, how does that make it more valuable? Apparently there is some sort of “chopper” in the bottom of your dishwasher that is responsible for slicing and dicing larger particles of food from your dirty dishes. These chopped leftovers are then able to fit down the drain and not bung up the works, so to say. I didn’t know this, my wife didn’t know this, but apparently our suicidal cent knew this as it found its way into the bottom of our dishwasher one day.

The dishwasher stopped working; we had no idea why. I had to stay home from work one morning as the repairman made his way over to my house. Half an hour or so later he had found the problem, left me with a bill of $65.00 and a scraped penny. Considering how much the penny has cost us, I would not let it go for less than $65.

So, I’ll start the bidding at $66. Anyone?