Like many folks, I have lots of change hanging around the house. In my case, it’s about 75 lbs. worth. I’d like to turn it into paper, but I don’t want to sit down and count it, and I don’t want to pay the service charge that those machines in the grocery stores charge.
Now, I head off to Reno now and again to get my yayas out, and I was wondering if it would be bad form to bring in my change and dump it into the coin counters they have available on the floor. I don’t see it as taking advantage as I would most likely lose the money back to the casino before heading home. But how do you think the casino would see it?
I’ve come up with the same idea myself, though for never that amount. If you’re really worried about it, sort it out into denominations before hand and place them in bags, then transfer them to those cups they have for change from the slots and machine games. If you’re really worried, just change out one type per trip. For example, first do the quarters, then the dimes, then the nickels, then the pennies. Only way this wouldn’t work would be if the casino has completely gone to coinless machines.
Don’t you have a bank? Banks have coin counting machines, and if you have an account there, there’s usually not a charge. Just bring it in and tell 'em you want to deposit it.
Of course, the casino route works as well. I’ve worked in the Casino industry. Trust me, even if you do piss them off, it’s OK. Casinos are truly, truly evil places.
Have you considered going to a bank and having them count it for you? Commerce Bank constantly runs ads here that feature the free coin cointing incentive. Most likely, you’d have to open an account with them, but if you collect enough change, it might be worth it. Whatever you do, do not use Coinstar. They take almost 10% of your money! :eek:
Well, my bank doesn’t have a machine at my local branch, and I’m not interested in opening a new account. Sounds like the Peppermill in Reno will be my change heir.
Really? Did they tell you that you had to count it by hand if you wanted to deposit it?
I’ve had banks that didn’t have coin counters at every branch. What I’ve always been told is to leave the change, they’d send it to a bank that had a counter and let me know how much it was.
They were super-nice about it, too. In fact, they had me guess how much money I had in change, and if I was within a dollar in either direction, I’d win a prize! (It was a coffee mug, or some such.) I didn’t win the prize. Oh well. But it was a pleasant experience, and definitely made me think positively of Commerce Bank.
You’d lug 75lbs of coins to Reno, just to avoid counting it?
Go buy a bag of coin wrappers, and just roll 'em up. Do it on the floor while you watch a movie or something, and it’ll be done. Then you can just take the rolls in to any bank.
That’s how we handle a lot of my daughter’s college fund. I empty my pockets every night into the change jar, and when it gets full, we count it out, roll it, and take it to the bank. It works out to about $150-200 per month (we have two dollar coins in Canada, so it adds up pretty fast).
That’s great that you have the patience to do that. For me though, rolling coins is one of those tasks that make me want to scream. Then again, I’m a person of low character and questionable morals.
Also, it wouldn’t be my exclusive reason for heading to Reno, just one nicely aligned with my general hedonistic agenda when visiting Casino National Park.
Check with your financial institution. The last time I spent a few nights rolling coins, when I took them into my credit union branch, the teller ripped them all apart and dumped them into the coin counter.
The policy at my CU is that they’ll count up to $100 of change for you free. After that, they charge a fee (I don’t remember how much, and the effect of the policy on me is that I bring only $90 at a time in).
