Where have the coin counters gone? Long time passing

August 7, 2023 11:17 AM

I find myself with a large cache (pun intended) of coins. Once upon a time, I was able to take this into my local bank branch for counting and exchanging into paper money. It seems that banks no longer offer this. Where can I take my coins?

I've called my local branch of Big National Bank, and they don't offer coin counting (only accepting rolled coins) anymore. I've called my local credit union who has a machine, but will charge 15% surcharge to non-members. Is CoinStar my only option anymore? I can get gift cards with no fee, but is that my only option? If you have any Portland-specific advice (Oregon, not Maine), I'd love it.

posted by hydra77 to Work & Money (21 answers total)

My local credit union also charges for using their coin counting machine however, they will give me the paper rolls for free and then I can deposit my coins without penalty.
posted by Ochre,Hugh at 11:20 AM on August 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

near me, grocery stores have a CoinStar machine. You dump the coins in, it counts it, and gives you an option about how to receive the money. there's usually an option that doesn't skim a percentage.
posted by entropone at 11:33 AM on August 7, 2023 [13 favorites]

I realize this is not helpful for Portland, but in case someone in the Chicago area stumbles across this thread looking for the same advice, I'll mention that Wintrust banks have no-surcharge coin-counting machines in the lobby. (I don't know whether they're limited to Wintrust account holders.)
posted by likedoomsday at 11:36 AM on August 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

Would it be worth opening an account with your credit union so you can have the coin counting done for free?
posted by dawkins_7 at 12:12 PM on August 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

Where can I take my coins?

I take mine to the living room coffee table with a vodka tonic, put on a new album I've been meaning to listen to, and use the free paper rolls my bank is happy to give me so they don't have to waste time counting my change. It's a repetitive task, sure, but also quiet and kind of nice and easy to do. It helps that I usually take the total and use it for a nice dinner out. But if you have a very large batch and don't feel like breaking it up into smaller batches over the course of a few days, say, then maybe just pull out the quarters and roll those, and then eat the 12-15% Coinstar fee on the rest?
posted by mediareport at 12:14 PM on August 7, 2023 [7 favorites]

I use self-serve grocery checkouts that automatically count coins to pay for groceries.
posted by grouse at 12:21 PM on August 7, 2023 [16 favorites]

"Who needs a Coinstar machine when you have self-checkout" hack (which doesn't always work, per comments): [Dan] then drops his change into the self-checkout, hits cancel, and has his money returned to him in bills.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:24 PM on August 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

Around the holidays my credit union was accepting coins as charitable donations for the local food shelf (I think). It was super quick because you didn't even have to have them counted -- just drop them in a bin. If you have a charity budget already this can be a convenient way to dispose of coins.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:14 PM on August 7, 2023

Just in case a Seattleite is looking for a similar answer: I rolled all my coins in paper rolls at home, took them to the WSECU (Washington State Employees Credit Union - I once worked at UW) office on Fairview after somehow finding out they took coins, and was then told I should dump them in the free coin counter machine right there in the lobby. There was a trash can right next to it to throw all your paper in after you broke apart all your lovingly rolled coins. Lesson learned. Anyway, no fee, and money was deposited to my account. Turns out you can collect about $243 since the 1990s. I doubt I'll ever amass that much again given how little I use cash now.
posted by kiblinger at 1:25 PM on August 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

Yeah I Coinstar and get amazon code for no fee.
posted by greta simone at 1:36 PM on August 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Try a different bank/credit union?
My daughter took some into her bank just a couple months back.
posted by stormyteal at 1:50 PM on August 7, 2023

I love my credit union and this is one reason. I would turn in a friend's coins if they needed me to do so.
posted by soelo at 1:54 PM on August 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'll mention that [Chicago-area] Wintrust banks have no-surcharge coin-counting machines in the lobby. (I don't know whether they're limited to Wintrust account holders.)

Amazingly, they're not. Anyone can take the machine printout to the cashier and receive paper money in return.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:07 PM on August 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I work at a small local bank. Our branch has a coin machine, many others at our bank do not. It takes time and effort to run, clean, maintain, etc, especially because most coin people bring in is dirty, has other stuff interspersed with it,etc. I think it is very appropriate that we charge non-customers a fee. If you don’t want to pay a fee, join the credit union—you might like it.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:13 PM on August 7, 2023 [7 favorites]

Do you have an 8-12 year old niece/nephew? Could you borrow one for a day? If you find the right elementary-schooler, you can get your coins rolled for the low low price of a pint of Ben & Jerry's, or possibly even just "you can keep any cool old coins you find." Your mileage (and elementary-schooler) may vary, but they definitely won't take 15%.
posted by Mayor West at 3:39 PM on August 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

My local Onpoint CU has a coin machine you can use then print out a receipt to get cash. It's free for Onpoint members.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:17 PM on August 7, 2023

If you roll them yourself, wear gloves, coins are filthy and your hands will turn black rolling hundreds of coins. I learned from experience.
posted by TheAdamist at 6:14 PM on August 7, 2023

If you use Coinstar or any other counting machine, be sure to check the coin reject bin at the bottom of the machine. I've found bent coins, foreign coins, tokens, even a few old silver dollars.

I let my paranoia override my sense once, and counted all my coins before I put them in the machine. The machine was right, but I thought later, "What would I do if it was wrong? The grocery store manager won't care, and probably couldn't do anything about it anyway."
posted by Marky at 7:04 PM on August 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

There are these stacking coin-sorting trays that you can get, with holes that match the sizes of coin types which will sort the change for you (shaking is required). It makes counting and rolling much less onerous, I’ve found.
posted by inkytea at 7:53 PM on August 7, 2023

If you roll them yourself, wear gloves, coins are filthy and your hands will turn black rolling hundreds of coins. I learned from experience.

And if your name is Abehammerb, touching coins enough to roll them leads to your oral fixation making you NEED to put some of them into your mouth, even knowing how filthy they are!

I should talk to a psych professional about this, but then I might not get the mouth feels that I cherish. Jesus, I just realized I'm scanning my desk area looking for coins while typing this.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:07 PM on August 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

I definitely recommend the CoinStar e-gift card route. I just redeemed over $100 in change from a jar with a built-in electronic counter; the kiosk was completely accurate (good reputation there) and the voucher redeemed with no problems. Just make sure to check their site beforehand to see which vendors your local kiosks support -- it varies from unit to unit.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:50 PM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]