The Penny Plunderer (Joe Coyne) is an adversary of Batman who first appeared in World's Finest Comics #30 in 1947.[1][2]
He began his career selling newspapers for only a penny, but he was soon caught stealing pennies. He now commits crimes which center around pennies.[3] In The Penny Plunderers, he left Batman and Robin in a deathtrap with a penny each as a token of their worth - just two cents. Batman turned the tables by using the coins to make a battery and signal for help.[4] The giant penny often shown in the Batcave is a trophy of Batman's defeat of The Penny Plunderer.[5]
Though he is a classic adversary of Batman, he has recently been ret-conned out of Batman's rogue gallery. The giant penny has also been the focus of a ret-con and is now canonically known as an item that Two-Face attempted to use to crush Batman.[6] The Penny Plunderer's last known whereabouts were in Arkham Asylum. He wore a green suit and had black hair. He made only one appearance.
In Scarecrow/Two Face: Year One, Penny Plunderer made a cameo appearance. He is robbing a bank with the underground approval of the Penguin. Again he has a green pin-striped suit. He is attacked by Two-Face, who is waging his own vigilante war. The Batman confronts them both. Two-Face destroys the supports on the classic giant penny, which is inside the bank being robbed. It crushes Penny Plunderer, killing him. It almost kills Jim Gordon. The Batman stops the coin.[7]