Where to convert coins into paper money or should we start rolling our pennies?

[ms06880]

Went to coinstar over the weekend with a coffee can full of random change collected these past few months. Coinstar charges 10 cents for every dollar of coins....YIKES! I know that TD Ameritrade and Capital One also have coin machines...but they charge if you don't have an account with them. Any suggestions? Or should we start rolling our pennies?

[bjl584]

I bought an automatic coin roller years ago. It works fairly well. It wasnt much, and all that you need to buy are the paper sleeves fro the coins. That is an option.

[snshijuptr]

I've found that Coinstar often provides gift cards without a charge. You can get a grocery gift card or a card at another place you shop often such that it is as good as cash. A few years back DH and I turned in our coins for an amazon.com gift card and bought a set of books we had been waiting for. If you have a purchase otherwise planned, just use coinstar to get a gift card.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by snshijuptr

I've found that Coinstar often provides gift cards without a charge. You can get a grocery gift card or a card at another place you shop often such that it is as good as cash. A few years back DH and I turned in our coins for an amazon.com gift card and bought a set of books we had been waiting for. If you have a purchase otherwise planned, just use coinstar to get a gift card.

Completely agreed with this.

I always get an Amazon.com gift card for my coins. I don't know what I need on there, but I shop there often enough throughout the year, that eventually I'll find something.

Do they have other places you like to shop? Check out their list!

Coinstar.com: No fee when you cash in for a card or eCert from Coinstar

[disneysteve]

Coinstar has a decent selection of gift cards that you can get instead of cash and you don't pay the fee that way, so that's an option. As you noted, TD no longer has free counters. If you want cash, speak to your own bank and see what their system is. Here's the list of free cards. No fee when you cash in for a card or eCert from Coinstar®.

ETA: I posted before checking the others. I see jpg beat me to it.

[riverwed070707]

What am I missing here? Can't you just take them into the bank? That's what we do. I take a pillowcase full of change 2x/year.

[ms06880]

Thank you fellow savers for your feedback. I will give coinstar another look.
To Riverwed: Unfortunately, our local bank (chase) branch does not accept the coins in a coffee can...oh well, maybe the answer is to change banks! Thanks anyway!

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by riverwed070707

What am I missing here? Can't you just take them into the bank? That's what we do. I take a pillowcase full of change 2x/year.

Nope. Most banks won't accept large amounts of loose coins. They have to be rolled.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by bjl584

Nope. Most banks won't accept large amounts of loose coins. They have to be rolled.

I wonder how enforceable that policy is. I would try speaking to the branch manager or calling the main office. It does seem odd that a bank could refuse to accept money from a customer.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I wonder how enforceable that policy is. I would try speaking to the branch manager or calling the main office. It does seem odd that a bank could refuse to accept money from a customer.

It happened to me once. I had a coffee can full of coins assuming that my bank had some sort of fancy machine that could seperate and count coins. They said that the coins have to be pre sorted and rolled or they can't accept them. I'm not sure the reasons why, but I am curious now. I may have to give them a call and ask.

[Cassius King]

Originally Posted by bjl584

It happened to me once. I had a coffee can full of coins assuming that my bank had some sort of fancy machine that could seperate and count coins. They said that the coins have to be pre sorted and rolled or they can't accept them. I'm not sure the reasons why, but I am curious now. I may have to give them a call and ask.

Not sure, never worked in a bank, but I have to think the tellers and their manager aren't too hot with the idea of counting a pillow case full of change. Especially if it "ties" up a teller for an extended period of time.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Wells Fargo would do it for free when I had checking there.

I switched to a credit union and get charged 3%

[jpg7n16]

I did work for a bank. And it was a HUGE pain to have to count the coins by hand. (didn't have a counting machine for a long time)

Several people got uber pissed in line waiting behind some guy wanting us to hand count the $13 of change or whatever. Mainly pennies. Time consuming and very annoying. I don't want to think about having to count a pillow case full

Was very glad when we got a counting machine. If you had an account, we'd refund the fee.

[riverwed070707]

Well to my credit, my bank does have a counting machine. It still takes some time, but I always try to go during the work day instead of busy times when I know others will be waiting. I bank with US Bank and I've done this at locations all over my state (move a lot ) and they've never given me any push back. The only requirement to being allowed to deposit the change was having to have an account with them.

[GREENBACK]

Am I the only weirdo that actually gets a little bit of a kick out of rolling them?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

Am I the only weirdo that actually gets a little bit of a kick out of rolling them?

I used to when I was a kid. I loved rolling coins and counting up what I had. I used to hoard pennies and literally had a cabinet filled with neat stacks of rolled pennies and other coins, too.

Now, I can't be bothered. I'd rather dump them in the Coinstar machine and have it print out my gift certificate. I used to go to Commerce bank (now TD) when it was still free for everyone but that's not an option anymore.

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I used to when I was a kid. I loved rolling coins and counting up what I had. I used to hoard pennies and literally had a cabinet filled with neat stacks of rolled pennies and other coins, too.

Must be the big kid in me I don't use hard cash very often so I might roll coins once a year at the most. I kind of like it when my ancient coffee can gets full and I count up the bounty

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

Must be the big kid in me I don't use hard cash very often so I might roll coins once a year at the most. I kind of like it when my ancient coffee can gets full and I count up the bounty

I guess the 50-cent roll of pennies just doesn't excite me as much as it used to when 2 quarters would actually buy me a bunch of games of pinball at the local arcade.

That said, I always toss my quarters in a separate bank on my dresser than the rest of my coins. I use those when we go to the Jersey shore and play in the arcade there so that kid isn't entirely gone.

The other thing that made rolling coins a little more exciting when I was a kid is that there were still lots of silver coins in circulation then so finding them was always a nice bonus.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

The other thing that made rolling coins a little more exciting when I was a kid is that there were still lots of silver coins in circulation then so finding them was always a nice bonus.

I wish someone had told me about the silvers sooner. I have found one 1964 dime in the last two years and thats it. I feel like I would have found much more had I known about it earlier. Its still fun and exciting when you get a quarter that isn't a new "states" quarter and it looks kinda old.....and then you look and its 1965....DANG!!!!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice Guy

I wish someone had told me about the silvers sooner. I have found one 1964 dime in the last two years and thats it. I feel like I would have found much more had I known about it earlier. Its still fun and exciting when you get a quarter that isn't a new "states" quarter and it looks kinda old.....and then you look and its 1965....DANG!!!!

I was referring to when I was a kid - from the late 60s on.There were still lots of silver coins in circulation because they weren't worth much more than face value until the silver rush of the early 80s. Today finding a silver coin in change is quite rare.