# Do businesses pay a premium on rolls of coins?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 17, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438 "2004-12-17T23:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/1 "2004-12-17T23:16:40Z")
I was having an argument with my brother, and I was under the impression that when businesses buy rolls of coins from the bank, they pay a small premium over the actual legal value of the coins. My brother disagreed, saying that people go to the bank and ask for rolls of quarters all the time, and the bank gives them without a surcharge. But I say that one person asking for a roll of quarters is far, far different than a business asking for hundreds of rolls a month.
I suspect that this may vary by location, or by individual banks or businesses purchasing them (e.g., Wal-Mart is probably in a whole 'nother ball-game), but who is right?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/2 "2004-12-17T23:28:11Z")
I have never heard of a bank charging a customer to get money from their account in rolled coin. I would suspect that such a charge would cost the bank its business customers in short order.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/3 "2004-12-17T23:34:06Z")
The bank would lose a lot of customers that way.
Once in a while, there’ll be a shortage of a certain coin and the _bank_ will pay a premium.
This happened locally a few years ago with nickels. The bank was paying $2.25 a roll until it built up a supply.
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### Author:  [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/4 "2004-12-18T00:04:14Z")
Sorry **alanak** , but your brother appears to be right on this one. I used to make the occasional “change run” to the bank for my father’s business. In order to get $200 worth of rolled change in various denominations, I had to pay the bank… $200.
Perhaps you’re thinking about the US Mint, which _does_ charge a premium (and a healthy one at that) for selling rolls of change to collectors. Some coin shops and collectors value getting a roll of, say, just the “Maine” state quarters or Sacagawea dollars with the Denver mint mark\* in uncirculated condition, so there’s a perceived value in this.
\*\* = Living on the east coast, it’s fairly rare to see D-stamped coins in any condition - much less in a collectable one - in your change.\*
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### Author:  [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/5 "2004-12-18T00:08:28Z")
The store I used to work for didn’t have to pay for it. But then again, we were a small store and rarely had to make change runs.
Now when I lived in Chicago, there were places called Currency Exchanges where you could get rolls of change for a price. It wasn’t their only function, it’s also where you got license plates and where you could pay utility bills.
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### Author:  [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/6 "2004-12-18T00:09:18Z")
Slightly different, but I have seen business accounts that had fees based on the amount of rolled coins you got. Not a premium in terms of a percentage tacked on when you got change, but a service charge added to your monthly statement if you went over your allotment.
But then again, I’ve seen fees for each individual cash deposit, each check deposited, each check written, each electronic debit and credit… banks will charge a fee for anything if they can get away with it.
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### Author:  [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/7 "2004-12-18T00:29:37Z")
I used to work at a bank, and we never charged above the dollar value of the coins when _anyone_ changed cash for coins. I’m sure that had we tried to, we would have lost commercial customers in droves.
Of course, we charged 5% when customers converted large amounts of coin to cash. I thought this was a huge ripoff, and I usually waived the fee if any customer made a fuss (or if I liked the customer).
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### Author:  [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/8 "2004-12-18T02:31:53Z")
> [@alanak](#):
>
> But I say that one person asking for a roll of quarters is far, far different than a business asking for hundreds of rolls a month.
This is the very reason why I would expect that banks would NOT charge for a business obtaining rolls of coins. A business withdrawing hundreds of rolls of coins a month is a business likely holding not insignificant deposits with said bank, and probably purchasing other financial services. Add in the fact that changing banks can be done with a phone call, and I can’t imagine that any bank looking to hold on to it’s business clients would contemplate such a fee.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/9 "2004-12-18T02:41:36Z")
The [First Citiwide Change Bank](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/88/88achangebank2.phtml) claim that they don’t charge a premium. However, if we examine their own adverts carefully we see where their profit comes from. They changed a five-pound note into four guineas, two crowns, four shillings, and ten pence, thus making one shilling two pence profit.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/10 "2004-12-18T03:47:15Z")
Mom’s a bank teller here in the PA USA and she says no, no premium.
HOWEVER, as a coin collector I can tell you that if you purchase a roll of uncirculated coins from the mint, you will pay a premium.
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/11 "2004-12-18T06:02:45Z")
Banks are free to charge or not to charge for any services they provide for customers or non-customers.
Charging a fee for providing change for non-customers (those who do not have an account with the bank) is not unheard of.
Charging a fee for a business that has a high demand for services for change and expects the bank to guarantee that service is also not unheard of.
But mostly, for customers, banks regularly make change without charging for the service. But, then, a business shouldn’t complain if the bank happens to be running low on quarters, e.g., and isn’t able to make change once in a while. That business isn’t paying for that service.
Peace.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/12 "2004-12-18T11:24:37Z")
IAASBCG (I Am A Small Business Change Getter (and do a lot of the other finacial work there). You guys are making me feel like a real sucker. Well not compleatly, while I do do the financial work, I’m not a negotiator, I don’t make the deals, just enter them into the computer…and get the change. Anyways, we DO get charged a premium on change. We get charged 13¢ per roll of coin or $4.00 per box of coin (50 rolls). We also get charged for currency we buy from the bank. We also get charged for checks we write, checks we cash, currency we deposit [yul]etc etc etc[/yul]. When I get to work in a little while I’ll look up the numbers and find out what they are. I should also mention that we don’t always get charged if I walk in and ask for some change, but they don’t like it when I do that with larger amounts. (IE if I walk in and ask for $50 in singles, they’ll have no problem, but if I surprise them with…$300 in singles, $25 in pennies (one box), $50 in nickles, $120 in dimes and $300 in quarters (a rather large, but typical order for me)…please, they wouldn’t be to happy, especially if there are long lines.
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### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/13 "2004-12-18T14:05:08Z")
I don’t know about banks, but it is common practice to buy 95 coins for a note of 100. I’m not sure about the legality of doing this, but due to the shortage of change here, many businesses indulge in this practice.
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### Author:  [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/14 "2004-12-18T14:23:38Z")
In the UK change usually comes in change bags - usually 20 GBP at a time for the larger coins… banks can charge businesses for the service but often don’t…
Other business charges include:
a fixed charge per pay-in envelope
a variable charge depending on the amount of cash paid in
a charge for each cheque paid in
a fee for each transfer of funds (usually daily) from the card service provider
The card service provider also charges either a flat fee per card transaction or a percentage of the transaction value - it depends on the type of card
a monthly rental for the actual swipe machine, etc. - 15 GBP pcm, soon to rise to 20 pcm with the newly introduced chip&pin technology
the machine’s till rolls used to be free (some Banks may still give you them, I don’t know for sure) but I have to pay for mine.
And (back almost on topic!) it’s been years since I’ve seen change given in rolls here…
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/15 "2004-12-18T14:26:44Z")
It’s been a long time since I was a bank teller, but the bank I worked at charged a fee for rolled coins. There was also a fee for payroll check cashing services.
But- it was a large commercial bank, and the average business that needed change wasn’t one of its larger customers. Only certain businesses need rolled coins- those that are paid in cash and don’t price entirely in even dollar amounts amounts. Businesses that are paid mostly by check or credit card don’t need change. A business needing hundreds of rolls of quarters per month ( like the fast fod restaurant I worked at in college) might be an insignificant account if the bank’s other acount holders include state agencies, hospitals, IBM and Allstate.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/16 "2004-12-18T15:06:46Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#):
>
> The [First Citiwide Change Bank](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/88/88achangebank2.phtml) claim that they don’t charge a premium. However, if we examine their own adverts carefully we see where their profit comes from. They changed a five-pound note into four guineas, two crowns, four shillings, and ten pence, thus making one shilling two pence profit.
I’m assuming we are talking in decimal currency terms here, though there are no longer guinea or crown coins (they weren’t in circulation for many years before the conversion to decimal cuirrency either):
four guineas = 4 x £1.05 = £4.20
two crowns = 2 x £0.25 = £0.50
four shillings = 4 x £0.05 = £0.20
ten pence = 10 x £0.01 = £0.10
Total of £5.00
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/17 "2004-12-18T15:19:38Z")
> [@moriah](#):
>
> Banks are free to charge or not to charge for any services they provide for customers or non-customers.
>
> Charging a fee for providing change for non-customers (those who do not have an account with the bank) is not unheard of.
>
> Charging a fee for a business that has a high demand for services for change and expects the bank to guarantee that service is also not unheard of.
>
> But mostly, for customers, banks regularly make change without charging for the service. But, then, a business shouldn’t complain if the bank happens to be running low on quarters, e.g., and isn’t able to make change once in a while. That business isn’t paying for that service.
>
> Peace.
I think **Moriah** has a handle on it. The Mint charges for supplying rolls of uncirculated coins to individuals (presumably for collections) because it can, because there is a ready market there for it. A business may obtain rolled change free of charge from a bank willing to provide it as a customer service, or a bank may charge and the business be willing to pay that charge for the convenience. And certainly any “currency exchange” is entitled to charge what it wishes for its services – they are a profit-making business, after all.
Moral: you can charge what the traffic will bear, provided that you bring enough convenience to the situation (or have a natural monopoly) to warrant your customers being willing to pay the extra charge for the service and convenience.
Our local supermarket used to stock stamps – it would charge .40 for a .37 first-class stamp. With the location and odd hours of the local post office, the convenience of buying a needed stamp at a 24-hour supermarket outweighed the surcharge for most people. Then they changed their policy, and you can buy stamps at the checkout for face value along with your grocery purchase – I have no idea what their policy is if you simply need a stamp at 2:00 AM and nothing else.
Moderator **samclem** makes a living buying and selling items of currency for significantly more than their face value – or, for that matter, their inherent specie value (what’s an ounce of silver going for?). He can do this because people who collect coins, currency, etc., are willing to pay him the premium for a (relative) rarity to complete their collection. If it’s handy for you to drive a half mile to the currency exchange or branch bank and pay a given amount including a surcharge for the particular denominations of money you need in the values you specify, and it is worth the surcharge to avoid driving ten miles to a bank that doesn’t charge a seignorage fee, then they’ll make money doing so.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/18 "2004-12-18T18:59:30Z")
Okay, I’ve got a pamphlet from the bank in front of me:
Roll of coins ordered - $0.13
Box of coins ordered - $4.00
Currency Ordered Per Strap - $0.65
What’s really interesting is that there is also a charge for making a deposit
Depending on which type of account you have the charge is $0.10 per $100 over $2500 per month (or $5000 or $10,000 depending on account) or $0.12 per $100 deposited. Also there is a charge per transaction (debit, credit and deposit) of $0.25 after a certain number of free transactions (either 75, 150 or 300).
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/19 "2004-12-18T20:43:02Z")
> [@Giles](#):
>
> I’m assuming we are talking in decimal currency terms here, though there are no longer guinea or crown coins (they weren’t in circulation for many years before the conversion to decimal cuirrency either):
> four guineas = 4 x £1.05 = £4.20
> two crowns = 2 x £0.25 = £0.50
> four shillings = 4 x £0.05 = £0.20
> ten pence = 10 x £0.01 = £0.10
> Total of £5.00
Two problems with that assumption. First, you are correct to point out that guineas and crowns don’t exist in post-decimal currency. Secondly, the reference to ten pence would be “two shillings” or “a florin.” It has to be the old money, really.
therefore :
four guineas = 4 x £1. 1/- = £4 4/-
two crowns = 2 x 5/-
four shillings = 4/-
ten pence = 10d
total of £4 18/- 10d
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-businesses-pay-a-premium-on-rolls-of-coins/280438/20 "2004-12-18T22:06:34Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#):
>
> Two problems with that assumption. First, you are correct to point out that guineas and crowns don’t exist in post-decimal currency. Secondly, the reference to ten pence would be “two shillings” or “a florin.” It has to be the old money, really.
>
> therefore :
>
> four guineas = 4 x £1. 1/- = £4 4/-
> two crowns = 2 x 5/-
> four shillings = 4/-
> ten pence = 10d
>
> total of £4 18/- 10d
Or maybe the bank made all it’s profit in volume.
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