Earlier this week, an Imgur user named Greatease uploaded some photos that explain the key difference between an Apple SuperDrive and a run-of-the-mill optical drive. Namely that his or her SuperDrive had a US penny wedged underneath the plastic cover.
As an isolated incident, finding money crammed into a rapidly-spinning computer part is of course strange. Did it fall in? Is it serving some crucial operational purpose? Thing is, Greatease is far from the only person to discover loose change in their optical drive.
In all my years of repairing Macs for a living, I’m not sure I ever came across this.
However, if you are ever repairing a 12-inch PowerBook G4 and the heatsink mounts are broke, you can wedge a dime between the heatsink and the top case to keep everything nice and tight.