PDA

View Full Version : A battle over non-cents?


Arizona Coin Collector
December 12th 08, 10:39 PM
Hello

Not wearing a seatbelt? I guess they don't issue
warning first before giving you a ticket.

----------------------------------------------------

FROM:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/aroundnj/Non-cents.html

A battle over non-cents?

Friday, December 12, 2008
Last updated: Friday December 12, 2008, 5:16 PM
BY JEFF FRANKEL / NUTLEY SUN
STAFF WRITER

Frank Gilberti finally gets to put in his two cents
in his effort to pay a $56 traffic fine.

In pennies.

The Nutley resident has been trying to settle up
with the Bloomfield Municipal Court for weeks, but
administrators there won't accept his payment.

They aren't loose but wrapped in 112 separate
rolls, each valued at 50 cents, Gilberti argues.
They're divided into two bricks, $25 worth each,
plus an additional 12 loose rolls, valued at
$6. Total: $56.

Bloomfield Court Administrator Richard Salierno
Jr. says there's a simple solution: "If he would
put [his 15-digit] driver's license number on all
the rolls, we would accept them."

But Gilberti refused, arguing he wouldn't have to
write down the information on paper money.

To the court, it's serious business. It issued a
warrant for his arrest, and Gilberti showed up
ready to turn himself in. But his lawyer [who
happens to be his uncle] got the $90 bail
revoked after saying Gilberti would be pleading
not guilty.

The court date is set for 9 a.m. this Tuesday.

"I really don't look at change different than I
do from dollar bills," said Gilberti, a
22-year-old funeral home employee. "It all adds
up to the same amount."

He insists he isn't trying to make anyone look
back. He said he merely went to the bank to get
the money needed to pay his fine and decided to
pay with 5,600 pennies.

Gilberti originally was pulled over and cited
for not wearing a seatbelt. Municipal Court
Judge Joseph Connolly rejected the pennies, and
court workers advised him to go back to the bank
and convert the coins to cash.

"They thought I was leaving with my tail behind
my legs," he said. But to Gliberti "money is
money" and 100 cents equals $1.

Neither side seems willing to give in.

And if the judge decides to penalize him with
time in custody?

"I haven't given any thought to that situation,"
Gilberti said. "I'll deal with that when it comes
up."

In the meantime, he remains perplexed.

"Pennies are an accepted currency in the State
of New Jersey," Gilberti said, "except in the
town of Bloomfield."


...

Arizona Coin Collector
December 16th 08, 12:01 AM
This is an update from the Friday, December 12, 2008 story
shown below the WCBS TV story. His day in court is
on 12/16/08.

----------------------------------------------------

FROM:
http://wcbstv.com/local/pennies.traffic.ticket.2.888011.html

Dec 15, 2008 6:06 pm US/Eastern

N.J. Man Tries To Pay Traffic Ticket With Pennies

To Frank Gilberti's Shock And Dismay A Warrant For His
Arrest Was Issued After He Tried To Pay $56 Fine

NUTLEY, N.J. (CBS) ? A Nutley man is putting in his
two cents about what he calls a lot of non-cents
over a traffic ticket.

He has been trying to pay his fine in pennies, but
the town is demanding he change his way of paying.

"It's very easy to count. It goes in 10s. I mean,
there's five rows of 10s," Frank Gilberti said.

Gilberti showed 112 rolls of pennies to CBS 2 HD.
He said he thought he could use the coins to pay
a traffic fine at the Bloomfield Municipal Court.

"I went to the bank and got $56 worth of rolled
pennies and went down to the court house and they
refused to take it. They had told me to bring cash.
I was under the assumption this was cash."

Non-cents? Not really. Pennies are legal tender.
In fact, at the courthouse CBS 2 HD found a sign
saying cash is accepted.

That's why the Nutley resident said he fought
back, calling the court and convincing workers
there to take his pennies.

But the 22-year-old said there was a
condition -- that he write his driver's license
number on each roll.

"I simply asked them if I would have to do just
this if I were handing in $56 bill. Would I have
to write my driver's license number on each bill?
They had no response," Gilberti said.

And even more shocking he said: "Then I found out
there was a warrant out for my arrest."

The funeral home employee paid a $90 bail fee in
order to stay out of jail. We went by to get a
comment from the court.

But as soon as we got there we were told: "Turn
the camera off."

"It's injustice. This is U.S. currency accepted
all over the country [but] apparently not in
Bloomfield, N.J.," Gilberti said.

Gilberti's got a court date Tuesday morning and
he plans on taking all of these pennies with him,
all 112 rolls.

CBS 2 HD also contacted the court system in
Trenton, but no one there would comment.

---------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arizona Coin Collector"
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coins
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 3:39 PM
Subject: A battle over non-cents?

"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...

> Hello
>
> Not wearing a seatbelt? I guess they don't issue
> warning first before giving you a ticket.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> FROM:
> http://www.northjersey.com/news/aroundnj/Non-cents.html
>
> A battle over non-cents?
>
> Friday, December 12, 2008
> Last updated: Friday December 12, 2008, 5:16 PM
> BY JEFF FRANKEL / NUTLEY SUN
> STAFF WRITER
>
> Frank Gilberti finally gets to put in his two cents
> in his effort to pay a $56 traffic fine.
>
> In pennies.
>
> The Nutley resident has been trying to settle up
> with the Bloomfield Municipal Court for weeks, but
> administrators there won't accept his payment.
>
> They aren't loose but wrapped in 112 separate
> rolls, each valued at 50 cents, Gilberti argues.
> They're divided into two bricks, $25 worth each,
> plus an additional 12 loose rolls, valued at
> $6. Total: $56.
>
> Bloomfield Court Administrator Richard Salierno
> Jr. says there's a simple solution: "If he would
> put [his 15-digit] driver's license number on all
> the rolls, we would accept them."
>
> But Gilberti refused, arguing he wouldn't have to
> write down the information on paper money.
>
> To the court, it's serious business. It issued a
> warrant for his arrest, and Gilberti showed up
> ready to turn himself in. But his lawyer [who
> happens to be his uncle] got the $90 bail
> revoked after saying Gilberti would be pleading
> not guilty.
>
> The court date is set for 9 a.m. this Tuesday.
>
> "I really don't look at change different than I
> do from dollar bills," said Gilberti, a
> 22-year-old funeral home employee. "It all adds
> up to the same amount."
>
> He insists he isn't trying to make anyone look
> back. He said he merely went to the bank to get
> the money needed to pay his fine and decided to
> pay with 5,600 pennies.
>
> Gilberti originally was pulled over and cited
> for not wearing a seatbelt. Municipal Court
> Judge Joseph Connolly rejected the pennies, and
> court workers advised him to go back to the bank
> and convert the coins to cash.
>
> "They thought I was leaving with my tail behind
> my legs," he said. But to Gliberti "money is
> money" and 100 cents equals $1.
>
> Neither side seems willing to give in.
>
> And if the judge decides to penalize him with
> time in custody?
>
> "I haven't given any thought to that situation,"
> Gilberti said. "I'll deal with that when it comes
> up."
>
> In the meantime, he remains perplexed.
>
> "Pennies are an accepted currency in the State
> of New Jersey," Gilberti said, "except in the
> town of Bloomfield."
>
>
> ..
>

Google