Securing the Coin Slot

Night had fully settled over the sidewalk grid. Near the street corner stood a heavy blue metal newspaper box, its coin return flap clicking erratically in the crossbreeze. Such loose mechanics invite unacceptable noise. I mounted the lower steel pedestal, scaled the coin mechanism faceplate, and inspected the spring-loaded flap. A discarded copper washer was jammed beneath the hinge lip. Planting my boots firmly against the coin insert ridge, I drove my right fist straight down onto the washer with calculated leverage. The metal yielded with a sharp ping, snapping squarely into the coin slot channel. The flap locked flush and silent. Zero flutter.