Penny Flooring (counters, tiles, color, pictures)

[Dreadnought]

I wonder if this in even legal. $1.44 a square foot I think.

[DetroitN8V]

I've seen that in a restaurant's bathroom actually. I'm not sure that I'd want it in my house but very cool nonetheless!

[Sabinerose]

I believe there are some legality issues about "defacing" money...but I seriously doubt the government would take much interest in this.

Wonder how long it would take to do flooring like this? Seems amazingly time consuming...looks like it would last forever though.

[Dreadnought]

I was reading about this and I found sources that say it's $1.44 a square foot, $2.55 a square foot, $3 a square foot - I will have to do the math myself when I have time.

Also here are more pictures of penny floors: Cents and Sensibility: How to Make a Penny Floor | A Detailed House

[jasper12]

I have seen penny floors, mostly in restaurants.

[PNW-type-gal]

That would have to be a LOT of coats of polyurethane over the pennies - otherwise you'd end up with a very hard-to-clean floor. Also, on the last pic, by the toilet, you can see some white effluorescing, probably up from the bottom, which would be a problem. If ANY part of the penny didn't get covered in epoxy or polyurethane, you'd also get green verdigris (you might get that through the poly and epoxy anyway).

On the other hand, it is certainly cheaper than round copper tiles (which are actually coated stainless, I think):
METAL COPPER STAINLESS STEEL 3/5 PENNY ROUND TILES- shop METAL tiles at glasstilestore.com

[silibran]

No, I don't think this is legal, but I've seen it done on counters. It is cheap, but it looks like a royal pain to install.

[greg42]

Have heard about it in a restaurant. Not sure that I ever saw it in person.

I dunno what they put over it to make a smooth floor. Would have to think there's something other than many coats of polyurethane but maybe not.

No matter what, it would be tedious as all hell to put in wouldn't it?

[Oldhag1]

So cool! I want one. I will be redoing my bathroom next year and I might just do this.

[LunaRabbit]

It's not illegal. I know defacing paper money is illegal, but coins are often defaced in theme parks, zoos, malls, etc in those coin squashing/printing machines. People also are known to make rings out of silver quarters and no action is ever taken against it.

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States. This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent.

This means changing the coin to make it look like it's worth more than it is, is fraudulent. However, just changing a coin's appearance is not illegal.