On his podcast, Clark Howard answers real reader questions on money, credit, debt, retirement, travel, and more, along with co-host Christa DiBiase.

Clark's answer: There are billions of pennies sitting in circulation and in people's drawers because nobody bothers to carry them around anymore. Now, people rarely carry any coins at all because we so seldom use physical cash. Some people think, "Wow, I’m going to get rich hoarding these!" No, you're not — there are simply far too many of them out there.

There are rare exceptions where a coin collector will say, "Clark, you're missing out, look at this specific rare coin." But unless you are a professional coin collector who knows exactly what to look for, just get rid of your pennies. Go ahead and cash in your nickels and dimes, too — just remember to keep a quarter in the car for your shopping cart at Aldi!