May 27
Tip for using coin-counters
Do you have piles of loose coins at home? If you do, you might consider taking them to your local Commerce Bank and using its free coin-counting service, "Penny Arcade". If your local bank doesn't have a coin counter you might find a Coinstar machine in your area - though with Coinstar you are assessed a fee based on the value of your transaction. In either case, you must definitely keep the following in mind:
In 2004, a Wall Street Journal reporter tested coin-counting machines at a couple of local banks. The reporter began with equal piles of $87.26 worth of
pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. After inserting the coins the reporter witnessed some astonishing results. The machines at both Commerce Bank and
Coinstar calculated less than the amounts the reporter had provided. Commerce Bank's Penny Arcade missed by $7.02, and Coinstar by $0.57. Go figure!
Comments
I think these services also charge 6% to 8% -- a mighty hefty fee (plus the extra they make by counting the change incorrectly).
mCom Financial Solutions (mcomfs.com) provides the software that banks use to provide free self service coin counting for customers. Bob Davis at mCom will provide you with a list of Banks in your area that provide coin counting for free. He can be reached at (215) 274-7070
mCom Financial Solutions (mcomfs.com) provides the software that banks use to provide free self service coin counting for customers. Bob Davis at mCom will provide you with a list of Banks in your area that provide coin counting for free. He can be reached at (215) 247-7070
If your local bank doesn't have a coin counter, find another bank.
I drop off a plastic margarine tub full of change every other month or so, and they mail me a receipt so I don't have to wait for it to be counted. I trust them with the rest of my money, so a bunch of change is no big deal.
I've never understood the appeal of these coinstar machines.
Here's my tip for Coinstar machines. Do only your pennies. Pennies are essentially valueless, so getting 91% of their face value in Safeway scrip is a fair deal. Get full value for all your other coins by using them to buy stamps from the stamp machine at the post office.
I know that here in Seattle you can get a Starbucks card for the FULL value of your coins (i.e. no counting fee) from Coinstar machines.
Although I'm not a big fan of stored value cards, this seems like a better deal than forfeiting 6% (or whatever it is) to Coinstar. Obviously, it's only a good deal if you would likely buy from Starbucks anyway.
As for myself, I take my coins to my credit union, which charges no fee. However, in light of the WSJ findings I may have to pre-count my next batch to see just how accurate their machine is.
Why have them counted in a machine?
I love counting them myself. Counting money is one of my favrite pastimes :)
These machines charge a lot of money for this counting "service". Apart from counting incorrectly, the ones around here (CoinStar) charge $13 for every $100 worth of coins counted. If you'd like to do that, that's up to you. I usually have about $300 worth of coins when I finally cart them in, and it's nice to have the bank do the counting. I mean, $39 is $39.... It's certainly not worth that to have the machine count it.
Gotta give credit to Coinstar though. They must be rolling in money because of this.
I generally try to find a bank that will take rolled-up coins.
Been with Citibank for 8 years now and am angered and insulted each time they charge me to accept my loose coin deposits (large amounts of coin, albeit).
I hadn't realized other banks offer this service for free. If I find a bank in the Chicago area that does, Citibank loses me.
Lasalle Bank offers FREE coin counting.
My credit union takes them for free, either loose or rolled up. Try locating an all inclusive credit union.
Cash in your pocket change
Weblog Sound Money Tips recommends cashing in that growing mound of change on your dresser at a coin-counting service like Coinstar or Commerce Bank's penny arcade before it takes over your apartment. There seems to be some discrepancy between...
Cash in your pocket change
Weblog Sound Money Tips recommends cashing in that growing mound of change on your dresser at a coin-counting service like Coinstar or Commerce Bank's penny arcade before it takes over your apartment. There seems to be some discrepancy between...
my life becomes slightly more dickensian
Over the years, we've collected several large jars of small change. While they're handy for weight training, I'd prefer to trade the pennies and nickels and things for actual, usable money. I refuse to pay the 20% surcharge that those...
I agree that 9% is pretty steep, but my time is worth more than that. I usually just put it on an iTunes or Borders Books gift card and don't have to pay any fee. I'm going to spend money there anyway.
ummm... yeah i have loose change and since i am a 15 year old girl w/o a job i usually need money. i round up loose change and bring it to coinstar i always fing that i loose to much money but i also wanted to bring ir to commerce bank but you have to be a member to use it.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OR HAVE ANY ACCOUNT AT COMMERCE TO USE THE PENNY ARCADE ( I CALED AND ASKED BEFORE I WENT). DUMP THE CHANGE, GET THE RECEIPT GET THE CASH AND GO. THEY DON'T EVEN ASK YOUR NAME.
The missing coins usually are actually rejected coins. If you ask the tellers at the banks (not sure about places with coin star) they can usually give you the full value of your coins. The machines keep track of when they reject coins so there is an easy track. Also I have a sneaking suspicion that the error was more than likely human due to the fact that i have put thousands of dollars of coins through those same machines(De La Rue) and only when they rejected (dirty, chipped, fake) are the number inconsistant. Also the other free coin counting banks that were mentioned are actually all mCom Financial Solution products (LaSalle, Nova[not free], Commerce) I believe taht a chicago bank offering the same type of service is CFB but they might be just based in that area because I have only seen branches in NC. Also Coin Star sucks they charge 6% but then they also charge the business (bank, super market, etc.) a fee as well so if you see that is more than 6% that is probably why. I don't like commerce in Philly though there is always a security guard standing by the coin machines grillin' you as you try to pour coins. I am not going to try and run out of thier with 50+ lbs of coins LAY OFF.
I went to Commerce Bank and put approximately $240 in change in the machine. I got a receipt for $20.
No mattter how may times I count the change, Commerce Bank has a different total, and I went to different locations. I have put in as little as $.59 cents that was left over from a previous depositer, and the machine counted $.25.
And they love to tell you they check them 3x/day.
What kind of machines is teh Commerce using?
I took my change to my local coinstar,not a single penny in the jar,and it counted all of my dimes as pennys.32.80. I called the # that the store gave me,and i have been getting the run-a round from the people at coinstar for almost 3 weeks.I will never use their machines again!
Reading all these comments made me realize that it is better to count your money at home in rolls and deposit it to your bank account rather than taking it to those machines because at the end, every extra cent that you see from the total amount puts a smile on your face.