I have a ton of dimes and nickels that I want to convert to quarters. How best to do this?

It’s getting close to being laundry day. :wink: My bank said they don’t have coin counters in their lobbies anymore, and I’m not a fan of the big fee that coin star machines charge.

Any other options? I considered asking at the customer service counter at my local chain grocery store. Is that a service they might provide?

Check with other banks nearby, one of them may still have a coin counter.

Otherwise, you might get some nickle and dime paper rolls, and see if your bank will take them that way – deposit to your checking account, then write a check later and ask for it in quarters?

Cheapest way is to print wrappers and roll them yourself. http://www.instructables.com/id/Printable-coin-wrappers-1/

For less bother but a slight cost, purchase the wrappers.

To save time counting, stack and measure, or for a small cost, purchase a coin count tray.

Once rolled, take the rolls to your band and either deposit them into your account or trade them for other denominations.

To save time sorting, make a coin out of a piece of scrap wood with appropriate sized holes drilled in it, or for a small cost purchase a coin sieve.

If your bank will not accept rolled coins and does not have a coin counter, close your account and open one at a better bank.

Go to this Coinstar siteand enter your zip code. You can put your nickels and dimes in their machines and get cash for them. Many are located in grocery stores and they may be able to supply you with the quarters. If not take the cash to the bank to get quarters.

Coinstar doesn’t charge a fee if you get a gift card. Amazon is handy for me.

I don’t know what you mean by a ton but you can convert them at many soda and other vending machines. Put in 25 cents in dimes and nickles and then hit the coin return button. The newer machines usually don’t give you your original coins back. They just return 25 cents the best way possible (a quarter). Just make sure you find a machine in a non-busy place to try this. I have converted cups of coins that way pretty quickly.

Go to a casino.

In my experience, the bank will just given you coin wrappers. But I agree with the suggestion of using the Coinstar machine and getting a gift card. I’ve heard that sometimes you can get more than 100% of the value of your coins (a discounted gift card in other words).

Guys - she doesn’t want a gift card - she wants quarters for laundry.

purp - do you have a currency exchange near you? They might do it but I bet it will cost some type of a fee unfortunately. But it might be nominal.

And it can’t hurt to ask at the store’s customer service desk as you mentioned - especially if they aren’t busy.

I’ll ask if my bank gives away coin wrappers. If not, where would I buy them?

Any office supply place (Staples link here).

Oh, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to check an office supply place, thanks!

Just rooted through my wallet and a few assorted “hide money” spots and I am ONE quarter short of being able to run a load. Dammit!

That’s why my suggestion is to take the dimes and nickels to the Coinstar machine to exchange 1:1 for a gift card (one that she can use) and goes to the bank to exchange dollar bills for quarters.

BTW, I usually get $40-50 in quarters, every couple of months, or as necessary so that I always have enough for laundry.

Bring all your coins with you to the laundromat. When the person using the machine beside you is not looking, dump a handful of coins into it, call the police, have her arrested for money laundering, and collect the reward. Then rinse and repeat with other people using the laundromat until you are out of coins but rich with reward cheques. Deposit the reward cheques with your bank and buy a washer and dryer, but while you are at it, also withdrawal a roll or two of quarters in case your new machines break down. :wink:

I like this one.

Thanks for the LOL. :smiley:

My bank confirmed that it will accept rolled coins (so I guess phew! I don’t have to shut down my account!) but I still have to obtain the wrappers and roll 'em my dang self.

phs, if you get some stackable coin sorting trays and some rolling tubes, they’ll make the job less tedious. The trays have holes of different diameters that let each denomination of coin fall into its own tray and the tubes are calibrated to take exactly enough coins for a full roll so you don’t have to count them. They should be pretty inexpensive in a place like Staples.

For my loose change bucket, I use a bucket with nested sorting trays inside of it, along with a simple sorting tray and loader to make measuring and insertion easier. I go with pre-rolled wrappers for ease of use. If I didn’t have the loader, I’d useplastic tubesrather than paper wrappers (but they cost two and a half times as much as paper wrappers).

I do this with the soda machine at work sometimes. Good tip.

But go to a different laundromat after this.