How did Batman get the Giant Penny into the Batcave?

Lump · Aug 25, 2020

As we all know, Batman fought and defeated the famous villain Penny Plunderer when he tried to steal the Giant Penny from a Coin and Stamp Exhibition. When Joe Coyne is defeated, Batman decides that he likes the Giant Penny so he decides to take it for himself. All is well and normal so far.

(Note that later versions/retellings cowardly replace Penny Plunderer with Two-Face as the origin for the Giant Penny)

The 'how' is where it gets iffy though. We're never really told how he gets it from Point A (the Exhibition/Plunderer) to Point B (the Batcave). The most we get is a "Don't ask."

Physically speaking, there aren't too many realistic ways for a lone non-superpowered person to get something like a Giant Penny into the Batcave, both in terms of handling/lifting the Giant Penny and in terms of squeezing it through any doors/elevators necessary to get it into the Batcave. This doesn't cover the logistics of at least one person in Gotham noticing a Giant Penny flying/driving by toward Wayne Manor by something pretty powerful towing it. I don't think the Batmobile can haul this thing without taking out other cars or getting stuck in a tunnel. There's no folding the Giant Penny.

Superman's help is a possibility (at least for the lifting/hauling part), I'm pretty sure the Giant Penny in the Batcave predates Batman meeting Superman, and I don't think there is any version of Batman that would call up Superman to ask for this particular favor.

More Giant Penny media for reference:

Darknight · Aug 25, 2020

If he can get a Batwing/Batjet in and out, he can get that in easily. Heck, it's not really bigger than a car and he can get the Batmobile in and out just fine.

Michael F. Assbender · Aug 25, 2020

Aaaaaand we're done here.

Dalek · Aug 25, 2020

Pym Particles

L Thammy · Aug 25, 2020

buttman

Platy · Aug 25, 2020

Darknight said:
If he can get a Batwing/Batjet in and out, he can get that in easily. Heck, it's not really bigger than a car and he can get the Batmobile in and out just fine.

yeah, batplane is my vote

Protoman200X · Aug 25, 2020

In the modern continuity, I always excuse that one of the various incarnations of the Atom shrank said giant penny down to a regular penny, then grew it back to normal size once moved into the Bat Cave.

Back in the 1950's? Probably got it in with the Batwing/Batjet and used small crane/pullies to bring it into the cave.

echoshifting · Aug 25, 2020

Now I am just imagining Batman sneaking this thing up the road to Wayne Manor strapped to the top of the Batmobile or something

Hanging from the Batplane is almost more funny

Remember when Batman was allowed to be a goof sometimes. Sigh.

Maximum Spider · Aug 25, 2020

Batman the new Star Ball Z

Chiaroscuro · Aug 25, 2020

Better ask "did he pay for it?"

Capra · Aug 25, 2020

There needs to be a modern, gritty-ass Batman movie that just has the giant penny hanging out in the background of the Batcave

Firebrand · Aug 25, 2020

Batman decorates his batcave with random shit he finds? What else has he got?

acheron_xl · Aug 25, 2020

The penny was always there, the mansion was built around it.

Tavernade · Aug 25, 2020

Bruce Wayne is famously a crazy billionaire, maybe he bought it from the police auction and no one thought anything else of it.

Darknight said:
If he can get a Batwing/Batjet in and out, he can get that in easily. Heck, it's not really bigger than a car and he can get the Batmobile in and out just fine.

What would he put it in though? Does he have a giant harness and camo for the penny that attaches to the Batmobile?
I mean he's Batman, so... with prep time...

Dalek · Aug 25, 2020

Firebrand said:
Batman decorates his batcave with random shit he finds? What else has he got?

If one of his friends dies he takes their clothes and suspends them from midair in a big glass.

mrmoose · Aug 25, 2020

How did he get the T rex in there?

8bit · Aug 25, 2020

Giant Wallet.

TheMadTitan · Aug 25, 2020

Firebrand said:
Batman decorates his batcave with random shit he finds? What else has he got?

He has a t-rex.

Dalek · Aug 25, 2020

mrmoose said:
How did he get the T rex in there?

bit by bit. It comes in handy too during invasions.

Squarehard · Aug 25, 2020

Shrink ray, then enlarge ray.

Kinthey · Aug 25, 2020

You got it backwards. He built the batcave around the penny

Parch · Aug 25, 2020

If that was pure copper, how much would it be worth?

EVA UNIT 01 · Aug 25, 2020

He rolled it downhill with a stick

Pau · Aug 25, 2020

Firebrand said:
Batman decorates his batcave with random shit he finds? What else has he got?

One of the BTAS comics gives the best explanation for why he does it. Because Dick couldn't compete in school sports or competitions and he's someone who really enjoys the recognition, Bruce started bringing in "trophies" from their missions together. First one was the T-Rex.

Harpoon · Aug 25, 2020

Protoman200X said:
In the modern continuity, I always excuse that one of the various incarnations of the Atom shrank said giant penny down to a regular penny, then grew it back to normal size once moved into the Bat Cave.

Back in the 1950's? Probably got it in with the Batwing/Batjet and used small crane/pullies to bring it into the cave.

Squarehard said:
Shrink ray, then enlarge ray.

Why not cut out the middle man and just enlarge a regular penny tho

mrmoose · Aug 25, 2020

Harpoon said:
Why not cut out the middle man and just enlarge a regular penny tho

Maybe he did?

And on a side note, is Atom rich, or does enlarging things eventually make them revert to normal after a while or something?

Garlador · Aug 25, 2020

What do you think he has a BUTLER for? Geez.

They don't call him Alfred PENNYworth for nothing.

fallengorn · Aug 25, 2020

What if used the T-Rex?

cakely · Aug 25, 2020

Infinite prep time.

Deleted member 30544 · Aug 25, 2020

Rad Bandolar · Aug 25, 2020

Through the coin slot.

Beignet · Aug 25, 2020

Firebrand said:
Batman decorates his batcave with random shit he finds? What else has he got?

There's a giant animatronic t-rex, a giant Joker card, the retired suits of his partners, and a bunch of kryptonite stashed away in case Supes goes rogue

Darknight · Aug 25, 2020

Harpoon said:
Why not cut out the middle man and just enlarge a regular penny tho

There's special meaning to that penny. Enlarging any old penny wouldn't be the same.

SteveWinwood · Aug 25, 2020

Fercho said:

these were the best gags in that show

endlessly entertaining

i remember the hogans heroes one, its just so dumb

this might be the best batman

Protoman200X · Aug 25, 2020

Harpoon said:
Why not cut out the middle man and just enlarge a regular penny tho

As already mentioned, the Giant Penny was memorabilia from a case when Two-Face attempted to use to crush Batman with. After the police arrested Two-Face, Batman was so fond of said coin he confiscated it and added it to the trophy room of the Batcave.

And it's not like that's the weirdest trophy he has in his collection.

Akira86 · Aug 25, 2020

my_own_gamertag said:
There's a giant animatronic t-rex, a giant Joker card, the retired suits of his partners, and a bunch of kryptonite stashed away in case Supes goes rogue

and it's all booby trapped in case he needs to use it against someone who finds the Batcave.

edit:

Protoman200X said:
As already mentioned, the Giant Penny was memorabilia from a case when Two-Face attempted to use to crush Batman with. After the police arrested Two-Face, Batman was so fond of said coin he confiscated it and added it to the trophy room of the Batcave.

And it's not like that's the weirdest trophy he has in his collection.

my face when they do the cutaway maps

nullref · Aug 25, 2020

Is it really that much bigger than the Batmobile? Seems like he could just drive it in on a flatbed if the tunnel is wide enough.

makonero · Aug 25, 2020

I like that everyone skipped he part where Batman decided that he should steal the giant penny.

Wolfe · Aug 25, 2020

So wait, in one panel it's a 1945 penny, in the other ones it's 47?

Eoin · Aug 25, 2020

Parch said:
If that was pure copper, how much would it be worth?

The dimensions of a US penny are a diameter of 19.05mm and thickness of 1.52mm.

Batman's penny looks like it's not a very consistent size, but at a reasonable estimate it is two Batmans high. Batman is 1.88m high, according to Google, since this is a thing that you can search for and Google will just spit out an answer as if it were a totally normal search. Two Batmans is therefore 3.76 metres which is 3760 millimetres, so that's a guess for the diameter of the giant penny.

This is 197.375328084 times the size of a real US penny, which is shit. Let's assume instead that we're a little bit out, and the penny is instead 200 times the size of a real one, since that makes way more sense. That means it's a coin with a diameter of 3810 millimetres (radius of 1905 millimetres) and a thickness of 304 millimetres. From that we get the volume of 3.466 cubic metres.

3.466 cubic metres of pure copper has a mass of 31100 kilograms.

The price of copper is variable but right now is US$2.9865 per pound. Converting pounds to kilograms and applying that price, the penny, if made of pure copper, would be worth US$ 204766.39.

US pennies of that time were not pure copper, they were only 95% copper and 5% zinc, and calculating the value of that would be very slightly more difficult (it would be a little bit less), but thankfully that's not what you asked.

Keldroc · Aug 25, 2020

Eoin said:
The dimensions of a US penny are a diameter of 19.05mm and thickness of 1.52mm.

Batman's penny looks like it's not a very consistent size, but at a reasonable estimate it is two Batmans high. Batman is 1.88m high, according to Google, since this is a thing that you can search for and Google will just spit out an answer as if it were a totally normal search. Two Batmans is therefore 3.76 metres which is 3760 millimetres, so that's a guess for the diameter of the giant penny.

This is 197.375328084 times the size of a real US penny, which is shit. Let's assume instead that we're a little bit out, and the penny is instead 200 times the size of a real one, since that makes way more sense. That means it's a coin with a diameter of 3810 millimetres (radius of 1905 millimetres) and a thickness of 304 millimetres. From that we get the volume of 3.466 cubic metres.

3.466 cubic metres of pure copper has a mass of 31100 kilograms.

The price of copper is variable but right now is US$2.9865 per pound. Converting pounds to kilograms and applying that price, the penny, if made of pure copper, would be worth US$ 204766.39.

US pennies of that time were not pure copper, they were only 95% copper and 5% zinc, and calculating the value of that would be very slightly more difficult (it would be a little bit less), but thankfully that's not what you asked.

And given Bruce Wayne's estimated net worth of around $9 billion, the giant penny is no more worth his time to pick up than a regular penny would be.

Caz · Aug 25, 2020

Darknight said:
If he can get a Batwing/Batjet in and out, he can get that in easily. Heck, it's not really bigger than a car and he can get the Batmobile in and out just fine.

echoshifting · Aug 25, 2020

Wolfe said:
So wait, in one panel it's a 1945 penny, in the other ones it's 47?

The 1945 panel is from an 80s issue I believe. They used to be pretty bad about consistency with that thing. It has been portrayed with different backs as well. And as mentioned in the OP even its origin was retconned.

1947 was the original date, and that's when it first appeared, so that is what they use today.

TheMadTitan · Aug 25, 2020

Keldroc said:
And given Bruce Wayne's estimated net worth of around $9 billion, the giant penny is no more worth his time to pick up than a regular penny would be.

Nine billion? Where you getting that from? Forbes? lmao.

That shit is wrong every time it comes up, and has been from the moment it first came up.

Batman isn't going to have half of his arsenal with just $9; he'd probably need at least $50 billion.

And that's aside from the fact the comics recently just pegged it as being over $100 billion. Bruce Wayne (and comic book billionaires in general) have Bezos money in cash.

Deleted member 2802 · Aug 25, 2020

Kinthey said:
You got it backwards. He built the batcave around the penny

Netherscourge · Aug 25, 2020

He took time to plan and research it.

Keldroc · Aug 25, 2020

TheMadTitan said:
Nine billion? Where you getting that from? Forbes? lmao.

That shit is wrong every time it comes up, and has been from the moment it first came up.

Batman isn't going to have half of his arsenal with just $9; he'd probably need at least $50 billion.

And that's aside from the fact the comics recently just pegged it as being over $100 billion. Bruce Wayne (and comic book billionaires in general) have Bezos money in cash.

I mean sure, just make up nonsense sums, I suppose. But the $9 billion figure is pretty accurate given what we know about Bruce's businesses and holdings.

He still can't touch Scrooge McDuck, either way.

Gwenpoolshark · Aug 25, 2020

It was already in the cave when he found it.

Mr. President · Aug 25, 2020

Look there's an easy explanation as to how he got the giant penny in his basement without anyone seeing it:
All Batman would have to do is travel with the penny back in time to before Gotham City was built, pre-colonial times, and just roll the penny into the cave and just return to the future.

Arta · Aug 25, 2020

Honestly he could get away just buying it as silly Bruce Wayne just to get it to the mansion, and then take it from there. A billionaire buying a large symbol of legal tender is way more plausible and unquestioned by the public, than him buying a state of the art vehicle that then resembles the Batmobile weeks later.

How did Batman get the Giant Penny into the Batcave?

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