# Florida Man Steals Rare Coins, Puts Them Through Coinstar machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 23, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063 "2024-12-23T14:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/1 "2024-12-23T14:51:46Z")
Ten thousand years (and more) of human evolution, and we end up like this. > **[Florida Man Steals Rare Coins, Puts Them Through Grocery Store Change...](https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-change-machines/)** > > Florida man arrested in Palm Beach County after police say he stole collectible coins worth tens of thousands of dollars, then ran them through grocery store change machines that returned just a fraction of their value. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/2 "2024-12-23T14:59:02Z")
Drug addicts are not known for getting fair value when reselling stolen goods. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/3 "2024-12-23T15:12:25Z")
I inherited my dad’s Mercury Dime collection from the 1940’s. He spent years collecting. He would buy rolls of dimes at the bank and go through them. Turn them in and buy another roll. Dad did the same thing decades letter collecting bicentennial quarters They were mounted in a book with cardboard sleeves labeled by year. He left it at his parents when he joined the Navy. Some relatives kids found it and bought candy bars. I look at the gaps in the collection now and shake my head. Mercury dimes are hard to find today. It’s the work and passion my dad put into collecting that matters. Not the dollar value. > **[Mercury Dimes 1916 - 1945 NEAR Set Whitman Coin Folder 73 COINS 90% SILVER |...](https://www.ebay.com/itm/284906532166?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=284906532166&targetid=4580977774332569&device=m&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=603678871&mkgroupid=1238051137002508&rlsatarget=pla-4580977774332569&abcId=9375682&merchantid=51291&msclkid=508eb17ca2c811c0ec3fd615dce8de30)** > > The following coins are missing to complete this set: 1916 D, 1926 S, 1930 S, 1931 D and 1942 Over 41. (It may not if we had originally scanned the cards in a set but then added quantity.). This is from a family collection. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/4 "2024-12-23T15:27:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s the work and passion my dad put into collecting that matters. Not the dollar value. You might feel differently about that if you were addicted to crack. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/5 "2024-12-23T15:36:36Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Drug addicts are not known for getting fair value when reselling stolen goods. In one of the more extreme instances of this, John Mulaney bought a watch for $12,000 on his credit card and immediately sold it for $6,000 cash to support his habit (and also misplaced half of that cash). > **[John Mulaney’s Rolex Story Is Even Worse Than We Thought](https://www.vulture.com/article/john-mulaney-rolex-story-gets-worse.html)** > > It involves … well, $3,000 getting lost in the garbage. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/6 "2024-12-23T16:06:35Z")
It’s not just the druggies to blame. The scrapyards are much too happy for the business. You can imagine the cost to repair a car after the catalytic convertor is sliced off. [https://www.cars.com/articles/whats-a-catalytic-converter-and-why-do-people-steal-them-446861/](https://www.cars.com/articles/whats-a-catalytic-converter-and-why-do-people-steal-them-446861/) > [@](#): > > Money is the main reason catalytic converters are often stolen. They contain three metals that aid in the chemical reaction that makes exhaust pollutants less harmful: platinum, palladium and rhodium. The prices of these metals have risen dramatically during the early 21st century. > > Priced by the ounce, platinum went from an average of about $530 per ounce in 2001 to about $1,100 in 2021 after it reached a high of $1,700 in 2011. Palladium went from an average price of $600 per ounce in 2001 to a high of nearly $2,400 in 2021. > > But it’s rhodium that’s been the most volatile. After averaging roughly $1,600 per ounce in 2001, it jumped to an average of about $18,000 in 2021, with a high that year of nearly $26,000. By contrast, gold went from about $300 per ounce in 2001 to roughly $1,800 in 2021, a sixfold increase. It takes longer to steal the wheels off a car. Link [Catalytic Converter Theft Is Still Big Business. Here’s How To Prevent It](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshmax/2024/12/14/catalytic-converter-theft-is-still-big-business-heres-how-to-prevent-it/) > [@](#): > > Thieves are quick, too. **In less than five minutes, they can duck under your car, saw through parts, and escape with your catalytic converter.** In the process, they might damage fuel lines or wiring, leading to costly repairs beyond the converter itself. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/7 "2024-12-23T18:31:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You can imagine the cost to repair a car after the catalytic convertor is sliced off. Much, much worse is the cost of a human life. Remember the death of actor Johnny Wactor? > **[4 arrested in killing of former 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor](https://apnews.com/article/johnny-wactor-general-hospital-shooting-death-arrests-ecf5119619a1031ed1e860c371704abd)** > > Wactor was shot and killed in Los Angeles when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/8 "2024-12-23T23:05:40Z")
This story is from 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/9 "2024-12-23T23:56:54Z")
Is there a chance the coins can be recovered? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/10 "2024-12-24T00:19:08Z")
Maybe, if the Coinstar machines hadn’t been emptied. I’ve seen a Tech servicing the machine when I was shopping. It would be a chore sorting through all those coins. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/11 "2024-12-24T00:27:49Z")
As @ekedolphin mentioned this story was from 2019–so it is much too late to recover any coins. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/12 "2024-12-24T00:39:19Z")
I didn’t notice the date. Maybe something was recovered right after the man was arrested. But, it’s unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/13 "2024-12-24T14:55:00Z")
Here’s a modification to the coin machines that might be useful. Improve the imaging or detection facilities in the machine (or at a post-gathering facility) to detect specific coins from a supplied list of valuable ones. I wonder how many would have to be checked to be profitable. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-steals-rare-coins-puts-them-through-coinstar-machine/1012063/14 "2024-12-24T20:27:51Z")
My sister worked for a while, in high school, at a popular local cafeteria. Part of one person’s payment was a roll of nickels. Later she went to open it and found they were those steel nickels from the forties. She kept the roll and put her own two bucks in the register.