Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with coin

Dollar Coin Conundrum

gimonca — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:18:33 -0800

Convenient way to get dollar coins outside of a bank? So I used to have this habit of buying stamp booklets from the vending machine at the post office, and keeping the dollar coins you'd get in change. (Most of the dollar coins went into the change cubby in the car to pay parking meters and automated ramp kiosks.)

Now I'm out again. I go to the post office to find out all the post office vending machines around here have been replaced with cashless ones that only accept credit/debit cards. Other than standing in line at a bank teller window that may or may not have dollar coins, is there any way for me to get dollar coins relatively conveniently in my daily routine?

(Twin Cities, MN, if you have local recommendations.)

A penny for your thoughts?

1f2frfbf — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:01:43 -0800

What's a really good looking copper coin? I'm looking for a copper coin that I can polish up and give to a friend as a present. I don't want anything rare or valuable since I'm going to be polishing it using methods coin collectors would frown upon. Bonus points if it was minted in 1979.

Coin Flipper Arrested

Tube — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:00:34 -0800

How popular is "Coin Flipping"? Recently a friend of mine in Las Vegas sent me this flyer, which detailed the arrest of a man charged with "Coin Flipping". I can understand why running your own game inside a casino might be illegal, but I want to know more about "Coin Flipping". Is there something more going on here than just betting on heads or tails? Are people betting on runs of the same result? Is this the Three-card Monte of the 21st century? How does this game work?

Picking Up that Penny

chase — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:33:50 -0800

Are there any statistics for how much money (e.g. loose coin on the ground, forgotten change in a vending machine) one finds over a period of time? I always stop to pick up a lost coin on the ground, even the pennys. Has anyone ever kept track of how much money s/he found?

Restoring old coins

retiree — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:45:11 -0800

I have a coin collection that has sat untouched for 50-60 years. At the time they were collected the coins were taken from circulation. They are from all over the world (no U.S. coins) and were minted in the early part of the last century. They were mounted on light cardboard pages with scotch tape. As you can imaging the tape has gotten quite brittle and sticky by now and may have interacted with the metal in the coins. I need advice on cleaning and restoring the coins in my collection. I understand that under normal conditions collectible old coins should not be cleaned.

Please help me find a cool piggy/coin bank

theperfectcrime — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:13:57 -0800

Is there a term for when you see something you like, later on consider going back to get it, and when you finally decide to buy it, it is no longer available? "Non-buyer's remorse"? Anyhow, I digress: A couple of months ago, I was at an Urban Outfitters store and saw a (in retrospect) very cool coin bank shaped like a howling coyote. I went back last week looking for it and was told that they had gone on sale and were no longer available. I even had the salesperson search their database to see if another location still had any in inventory; no luck.

I have a habit of just throwing my change into any random tray, catch-all, or recepticle, and I would like to have a central "piggy bank"/coin bank into which I can empty the coins from my pockets every evening.

I'm looking for a piggy/coin bank with some style value that would look good on its own on a shelf or table. My friend tells me that he has recently seen a metallic/ chrome one that is shaped like a boar with tusks. That sounds great, but he couldn't remember where he saw it. Any ideas? I'd prefer retail rather than ebay, etc. Points for style, humor, irony, but open to all suggestions. My budget is equal to the estimated value of my current coin stash; Probably 50-80 US bucks. Would prefer larger rather than smaller, Thanks in advance!

Coin flip odds?

rocket88 — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:47:22 -0800

Statistics question: How can I calculate the odds of flipping a coin to get x consecutive heads anywhere within a data set of y flips. (more inside) Here's the background: I was attempting to explain the phenomenon that unlikely outcomes become more likely to occur as the number of total events increases, to someone who attributes those unlikely outcomes to evidence of "unseen forces".
So my response was along the lines that if you flip a coin ten times, the odds of flipping ten heads are very slim (1023 to 1 against, I believe), but at some larger number of flips (N), the odds of having ten consecutive heads are even (1:1), and at some yet larger number of flips (M) the odds of not having ten consecutive heads is 1023 to 1 against.
1. How do I calculate N and M?, and
2. Is there a name for this phenomenon? (It's similar to the law of large numbers, but not quite)

Help me sell my gold

mr. remy — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 10:54:42 -0800

I found a 1910 Indian head ten dollar gold coin in my childhood piggy bank. It looks like this. I have seen it listed online for different values between $400 and $1700. I am broke and (regretfully) feel like I need to convert it into cash. How do I do this quickly, fairly, and for maximum profit?

Creative ways to give coins as a gift

acoutu — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:25:06 -0800

What are some creative ways to give rolled coins as a gift? I'm planning to give my grandma rolled coins as a gift. She now lives in an apartment with coin-op laundry. She finds it troublesome and expensive to scrape together coins. I'd like to give her rolled coins as a gift. What are some inventive ways to present the money? It's okay if the solution involves some unrolled coins, too, but I don't want this to be messy for her. Bonus points for a solution that helps her store or sort the coins. It's also okay to involve other items, although I don't want to spend too much on anything else.

Her interests include TV, reading and crocheting. She's in her 80s and has a good sense of humour. She is overwhelmed with gifts of soap and bath stuff and she'd probably crack up if the rolled coin gift somehow looked like it was going to be more (dreaded) bath items. She's got six kids and 13 grandkids (and about a dozen great-grandkids), most of whom are of modest means, so you can imagine how many gifts of bubble bath and what-not she gets. Thanks.

Needed: Change Tray for 2008 Accord

SlyBevel — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:48:09 -0800

Needed: Change Tray for 2008 Accord LX - Parts guys don't know what I'm talking about. Remember me? So I got the Accord I was ogling, and it's the slickest ride I've ever had. Love it.

Anyway, when my wife and I were Accord shopping, we test drove an Accord EX (which is the upscale designation), but we ended up buying the Accord LX (not as fancy, but still plenty fancy for us).

When we drove the EX, it had a coin tray in the center console. Our LX is missing the tray, as I suspect, are all LX models. I can see where it would snap in to the console if I had one, but it's just not there.

Our previous three Accords all had coin trays, but this year begins a new design generation for the Accord line, and lots of things are different.

I've searched Ebay, the online Honda parts dealers, and I've called my dealership. Whenever I search or say "coin tray," they come back with "cup holder?" No.

I'd be thrilled to be shown an online source for the part, as it would almost certainly be cheaper online than at my dealer (who can't even find the part, let alone charge me for it).

Anyone? Bueller?

Where can I get free or cheap coin sorting in Toronto?

ManInSuit — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:15:15 -0800

Where can I get free or cheap coin sorting in Toronto? I've got a big jar of coins that I'd like to be able to turn into real money. There's a coinstar machine near my house, but it charges something like 9%, which seems crazy.

I bank w. Presidents Choice, who are great, but they have no branches, so I can't just go to my branch.

I gather that in the US, Coinstar has a deal where you can redeem your change for credit on Amazon, with no fee. That'd be fine, but as near as I can tell, we don't have that in Canada.

Anyone have ideas for free or cheap coin sorting in downtown Toronto?

Too many coins, not enough time...

Solomon — Wed, 23 May 2007 06:00:06 -0800

I have lots of coins. And no young relatives. I need the coins sorting. When I was a child, my grandmother had a coin sorter. More specifically, it was a row of 7 clear plastic tubes, of varying sizes, which were graded. They were upright, fixed to a base, with a lid of correctly sized slots on the top. You had to sort the coins into the correct slots yourself, but it showed you exactly how much of each coin you had.

I want one of these to help me manage my money. However, I *do not* want an electric one. I'm happy to sort the money out myself, but it's important that it shows how much of each coin I have. I also don't want to use one of those Coinstar machines. It's my money, I don't want to have to pay to get it back.

Where can I buy one of these sorters from? I don't mind international shipping, but it needs to be UK currency (GBP). I've looked online, but I can only find the electric versions. Not really practical for me, because I don't work in a bank. :D

What is this beautiful weird thing?

LadyBonita — Tue, 15 May 2007 13:44:17 -0800

Weird thing I found. Any idea what it is? Possibly a coin or button or.... Has some bird on one side... the other side has a ??? I found this in my Grandmother's jewelry box, though I don't believe it's from any sort of jewelry. Could have been my Grandfather's... or belonged to their parents, etc.

It's the circumference of a penny, almost exactly. About 2.5 - 3 x the thickness of a penny. And it's heavy. Maybe iron.

Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

What is this mystery coin?

deadfather — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:57:21 -0800

One day about six years ago I was headed out to lunch when I found something in the parking lot. What is it? It looks like a coin, and is about the size and weight of a dime. There is an eagle within a crest on one side, and on the other an inscription reading "Brother, you're the best / OT&T".

Side 1
Side 2

Every once in awhile I run across it and it bugs me that I still don't know what it is. The parking lot in question was in Houston, Tex.

Identify this gold coin

DarkForest — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:53:26 -0800

NumismaticFilter: Can you help me identify this gold coin? The front looks like a Large Indian Head gold dollar. But I can't find anything about the design on the back, where the date should be. It looks like someone tried to turn it into a pendant, but didn't do a very good job. This leads me to believe that it was originally a coin, not just a piece of jewelry made to look like one.

Any ideas? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Unified duality?

Korou — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:00:43 -0800

Is there a word which describes a state where "importance" and "non-importance" happen at the same time? A word describing the unity of duality, the oneness of paradox, and "two sides of the same coin"?

What to do with an old coin collection?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:14:20 -0800

Should I sell my COIN COLLECTION, and how would I go about it? I have a large collection of old American coins. I'd purchased many as a kid, but the majority of them that hold any significant value are a large number of silver Morgan Dollars and Peace Dollars that I'd found in a cigar box after my grandmother died in 1989. My question is in two parts....

(1) Should I sell the coin collection? With interest rates at, say, ING Direct, now at 4.25%, and with other invesements types out there too (like mutual funds), it seems to me that I could make better money those ways instead. The value of old coins don't go up more than 4% annually, do they?

(2) How would I go about selling them? Not only do I not have the expertise, but I have so many of those silver dollars too that it'd be much too time-consuming for me to look up and estimate each one's value myself. But, if I take them to a dealer, how I do I know if he or she will be suggesting the proper price for each piece? I don't want to get conned, of course. What would you recommend?

Thank you!

Where do I sell a silver coin?

solistrato — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 11:43:29 -0800

I have a silver coin. I would like to sell it. Where would I do so, and what should I be aware of?

Found in thrift store: Coin from 300 B.C.

spock — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:03:55 -0800

My sister-in-law found a 2300 year old Greek Drachma coin at a thrift store for $4.00. She knew what it was because they found one just like it at an archeological dig in Bethsaida, Israel that she was on a while back. It had been made into a pin (jewelry) but in a way that didn't damage the coin at all. The Director of Antiquities at the university has told her that it was authentic and valued it at $2500.00. (She describes it as having Athena on the front and an owl on the reverse. I have the feeling that she will want to sell it, but how does one get the best price for something such as this? I'd be scared to death of getting ripped off selling it on eBay. Suggestions anyone?