We have gotten pretty good at saving loose change at our house, using a change sorter then rolling the coins. This adds up to not only a nice chunk of change, but also a heavy one - thus the desire to transform change into dollar bills.
The last time we did this, I opened an account at a local bank and would make periodic deposits. Which worked fine, but I’m just curious if anyone has other ways of doing this. Will a bank I don’t have an account at do the swap? That’s why I opened the account last time - when I asked about swapping coin for paper, there was quite a bit of himming and hawing and reluctance to do so. Um, you’re a bank. Why is this hard.
The Coinstar machines are fine, except they charge a bunch, and in the interest of keeping as much of our hard earned cash as possible, we choose not to use those.
Most banks do not want you to roll your coins anyway. They dump them into a coin sorter/counter in the back room and get the count that way. If the coins are rolled, they have to take the time to unroll them.
TD Bank branches (mostly in the Northeastern US) have a self-service machine called a Penny Arcade in the lobby that can be used for this. I don’t even think you need to be an account holder to use them. Also, I think Coinstar runs promotions in which you can get full value for your coins in the form of gift cards. Sometimes the gift cards are even worth more than the value of the coins, depending on the promotion being run.
Personally, I just roll my coins and bring them to my bank, which never complains about letting me deposit them. (And don’t pay for the paper rolls. My bank at least never charges for them.)
Another vote for Coinstar. Get a gift card, and it doesn’t cost you a dime. Most grocery stores have the machines now, and you can usually get a card for that store.
Banks will convert coins pre-wrapped and marked with your name, address, and most of the time unfortunately, your account number. So if you don’t have an account they may not help you. Some groceries and delis will do it for you if they have a scale they can use to compare the weight of your rolls with ones they got from the bank. But these days you may not find anyone willing to convert more than a couple of rolls of coins. Just use the Coinstar. It’s easier, and at many locations there are work arounds to avoid charges. I don’t know if it’s still available, but for a while at the Stop & Shop the Coinstar machine gave a receipt that you take to the service desk and get full cash value.
My credit union has a coin sorting machine for customer self-service. It prints out a little receipt, I take the receipt to the teller, she either deposits or cashes me out.
My mom had about $1500 in rolled bicentennial quarters a while back that she was stunned to find her bank wouldn’t accept. She had to unroll them all. She was livid.
Probably a little, indirectly, for all the time she wasted over the years writing “for deposit only, account #” so-and-so on the wrappers and wrapping them. But overtly, no, just at the bank for its ridiculous change in policy at the expense of good customer relations.
For deposit? How can a bank refuse money for deposit? Rolled coins have never been a problem at my bank. It does require going inside because they are too heavy for the drive up tubes.
My local supermarket self-service checkout is a little like the coinstar machines in the you just dump your coins in rather than inserting in a slot.
I took a large number of low value coins and shoved them all in to pay for my shopping. The amount I added was way more than that required, but it accepted all the coins then dispensed the change conveniently in notes and a few coins.
Most “civilians” don’t deal with cash in enough volume to really understand how much banks don’t like it. Just try running a retail store or a restaurant and you’ll find out the real story. They’ll charge you to deposit cash over certain amounts, and they’ll charge you again to restock the change in your cash drawers.
Still, if dealing in lots of change and cash is important, a bank is your best bet. There are plenty that still do the work for free. Just make sure to ask about all of the rules and terms before you open an account, and don’t be surprised if the rules change over time.
I keep the quarters for vending machines and the rest goes into the change receptacle in the self check lane of the grocery store. The slot is big enough to take more than one coin at a time. I can basically funnel them in.