Penny wars rules and scoring
Every class or team gets a labeled jar. Pennies in a jar add points for that class. Silver coins and bills take their value away from the jar they land in, so people boost their own class with pennies and sabotage the others with quarters. The class with the most points wins, and all of the money, sabotage included, goes to the cause.
Example: Room 12's jar holds 412 pennies, 6 quarters and a $1 bill. That's 412 points, minus 150 for the quarters and 100 for the bill: 162 points. The jar still raised $6.62.
Counting jars by weight
Weighing saves hours, but only for coins of one kind. Sort each jar into pennies, nickels, dimes and so on, weigh each pile, and the tracker turns grams or ounces into a coin count. A jar of mixed coins can't be split by weight, because many different mixes weigh the same. Dimes and quarters are the exception: both weigh 2.268 g per 10 cents, so a mixed bag of them gives the money exactly (1p with 2p and 5p with 10p work the same way, and Australian 5c, 10c and 20c very nearly).
The U.S. Mint switched the penny from 95% copper to copper-plated zinc during 1982, and the weight dropped from 3.11 g to 2.5 g. A 1982 penny can be either. So a pile with many pre-1982 pennies weighs more than its count suggests. For the closest count, weigh 100 of your own counted pennies once and enter that in the setup. Canada's older nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar coins are heavier than today's too. When a lead could vanish because of this, the standings name the jars to count by hand.
Penny wars without pennies
The U.S. Mint now makes the one-cent coin only for collector sets, and Canada stopped handing out pennies in 2013. Australia withdrew its 1c and 2c coins in 1992. The usual swap is nickel wars, as in this 2025 middle school fundraiser: nickels add points, while dimes, quarters and dollars take points away (the tracker scores each coin at its value in cents). Choose the Without pennies rules for that or, in Canada and Australia, the classic rules with 5-cent coins adding. Some groups instead let every coin add and every bill subtract; set that up under Custom.
Questions from organizers
How do penny wars points work?
Each class has a jar. Pennies dropped in a jar add one point each. Silver coins and bills subtract their value from the jar they land in, so a quarter takes 25 points away from that class. Friends of a class drop pennies in its jar and silver in their rivals' jars. The most points at the end wins.
Can we count the jars by weight instead of coin by coin?
Yes, if you sort first. A bag of one kind of coin weighs a known amount per coin, so pennies on a kitchen scale give a good count. A jar of mixed coins can't be split by weight. Some mixes do work for money: dimes with quarters, 1p with 2p, or 5p with 10p, because they weigh the same per cent.
How do we run penny wars without pennies?
The U.S. Mint now makes pennies only for collector sets, so no new pennies reach the cash drawer. Nickel wars work the same way: pick Without pennies in the rules and nickels add 5 points while dimes, quarters and bills subtract. Canada and Australia have had no penny for years, so their classic rules use 5-cent coins.
Do dollar bills count?
In the classic rules a $1 bill takes 100 points off the jar it goes in, which makes bills the big sabotage move. If you'd rather keep bills friendly, choose Custom and set bills to add. Either way every bill counts toward the money raised.
Does sabotage money still go to the cause?
Yes. Points decide the winner, but every coin and bill in every jar is money raised. That is why the standings show both: a jar can be in last place on points and still hold the most money.
Should we empty the jars every day?
Emptying and counting each day keeps jars light and lets you announce standings each morning. If you leave the money in and count the whole jar again, switch the setup to running total and the tracker works out each day's change.
What if two classes tie?
Tied classes share the place, shown as 1st=. Decide before the event how you break a tie, for example by money raised or a final half day. If either jar was weighed and the lead is small, count those coins by hand before you announce.
Where is our event saved?
On this device, in this browser, after every change, so you can close the page between counting days. Nothing is uploaded. To carry on from another phone or computer, use Move to another device in the setup.
Coin weights: U.S. Mint coin specifications and the U.S. Mint 1982 annual report (the 1982 change from the 3.11 g cent), The Royal Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint Act schedule and the Royal Australian Mint coin factsheets. Canada's penny: Department of Finance.