I love coin sorters . the sound conjures up memories of winning on slot machines when they use to spit out coins.

I hardly ever use coins any more. Or, for that matter, actual cash of any kind. Covid put the nail in the coffin of cash transactions in a lot of places where I live, even our weekly farmer's market, so it's debit cards or credit cards for pretty much everything these days. I have a small stock of one and two dollar coins, and a few $10 and $20 bills for the mower man, and that's about it. Haven't dealt with an actual bank teller in a couple of years: they seem to be a disappearing breed. My bank branch downsized from 5 or 6 to 2. How times have changed.

I have an inactive TD bank account, couple thousand in it, inactive because they stopped counting coins for free. If you’ve got a Coinstar machine somewhere they’ll grab 10% off the top unless you opt for Amazon credit in which case it’s all yours.

Wow. That is surprising. We have Coinstar in the grocery stores here.

Remember this commercial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsOaTEouwpA

Love the Coinstar machines with the Amazon gift card option. Get 100% of my money and I can get just about anything zI want at Amazon. Highly recommended.

Coinstar is the way to go, just as sushipup and others describe. Dollar for dollar credit for Amazon gift cards, likely the same for others too. The machines are all over. Last time I used one, I collected all the coins in the house and dumped them into a plastic bucket. There was no need to count them, that's what the machines are for.

I remember some years ago - maybe five - when I was at a bank branch (that I don't otherwise need to go to) to put something into my safe deposit box. I noticed the coin counter in the lobby was no longer there and I asked about it. The response was it had been removed because customers complained about the noise and, after all, "Don't most people use the machines in grocery stores these days?" or something to that effect.

Theres a Republic bank near me with a coin machine, free to anyone as i understand. I need to go in there. i have so many coins! Im sure there’s easily $300. In fact, i think there is a $100 bill buried in one of the containers. I buy plenty at Amazon, so I could try Coinstar at the grocery store. It’s just a little embarrassing to stand there pouring heaps of coins in while shoppers walk by. The last time i did it, the readout on the machine said ” my you have a lot of coins.”

I also have a bag of coins from other countries. I hope i can eventually use the euros and pounds but some are from countries inwill never visit again. Probably not worth much anyway.

My DH goes to a grocery store that doesn’t take credit cards, only debit or cash. He loves gathering up all the loose change and goes to the self-checkout lane. He once had about $30 in change! He goes early in the morning when there’re fewer people in the store, so that he won’t hold up the line. (And, if people do line up, he forgoes the change and uses the debit card.)

I still have a Pringles can of pennies. I mentioned that to the teller today, and I swore I saw his eyes light up. He said, "Bring them in!". Then, "Remember, if you have an account with us, the fee is waived". lol I took a business card, and said, "I just might, that'll show 'em making me roll my money". He thought that was funny. All in all a good experience for a change. (no pun intended)

Our bank has you roll them also. I have used these for well over 10 years. Easy to use.

Amazon.com : Nadex Easy Wrap 5 Coin Tube Set with 110 Wrappers Included - Funnel Shaped Color Coded Coin Counting Tubes for Dollar Coins, Pennies, Nickles, Dimes, and Quarters : Office Products

I only bank at credit unions; the main one has coin counter in the lobby. Many of the services have no charge to members of other credit unions; not sure about the coin machine. I know I can use the cash machine from any credit union and there is no fee, even if I don't have an account there. I try my best to not buy from Amazon, so coinstar wouldn't be an option for me. I try to use my coins in tip jars for drive up coffee and other places. I seem to be better able to keep a stash in my car than dollar bills.

I save space at home by leaving my pennies behind on checkout counters.

I use a credit card whenever possible. That's almost always.

Cindy - I don't remember ever seeing that commercial. It's very clever, but the quarter on the floor with the hair was kind of gross. 😅

Never seen a coin sorter in a bank and never needed one. I rarely handle cash these days and many places won’t even accept it. I mostly just use a touch card but even using a physical card is getting a bit old hat.

Coinstar is in the UK and some countries in Europe.

Coinstar locations in the UK

DH used to travel monthly to Europe when he worked on a NATO project, and before the Euro each country had their own currency. On flights back to the States, cabin crew would come through and collect bags of miscellaneous coinage for donation to charities. He usually kept the paper bills, since he knew he'd be back.

In the pre-Euro days on the Continent, a trick a friend told me about when travelling by car is to get gas just before crossing a border (there are always gas stations so located) and buy an amount that will use up your coins and smaller denomination bills. When travelling by air, a stop at an airport newsstand for a Toblerone or two, or something to read. Or, into the bin on the plane.

We still have envelopes of pre-Euro bills. Each country had a period of a year or two following their changeover when old bills could be exchanged at a bank for Euros but we always forgot to bring them along.

Of the few bank branches that I use, one had a coin counter, a few years ago, that charged no fee - haven't lived in that area recently so seldom visit it, don't know if the machine may be still there. I do have some surplus coins.

Some time ago at a grocery, when a man with a son about six was pouring a number of coins into a machine, I asked him whether he knew the percentage that the machine took, and he didn't, but he didn't think it to be large.

When I reported that it was about 11%, I think he may have been a bit surprised.

When I suggested that maybe it would be a good idea to get some rollers, let his son do the rolling, give him about half of the saving and keep the other half, I don't remember how he responded (or how his son did).

Could there have been some in-family discussions that developed, later?

I first learned just now that if you use an Amazon card the changing machine company waives the fee.

ole joyful

I needed some extra cash (bills) for tips to the garbage man, etc. for Christmas.

The coin sorting machine must have been self serve at one time, because there was a sign on it that read, "As of September (?), the coin sorter will no longer be self-serve". I forget what else it said i.e. the reason. The bank teller poured the coins in for me.

So far I've never had a store clerk refuse to take my cash, however I normally use my debit card anyway. At the drive-thru I use cash when buying a Coke or a bag of chips simply because it's a small amount of money plus the drive-thru charges $.25 fee if you use a debit card.

I hear casinos will pay extra in exchange for coins these days.

Back when I used cash I did not accumulate coins, but applied them to a purchase asap.

I have heard that some casinos have an option in their ticket redemption machines to only give you the paper money and ask if you want to donate the cents to a charity. There are a couple of mainstream charities to choose from or you can elect to split you change among them.

I used to save quarters, roll them and turn them into the bank. Not worth it to me now. I use credit cards for everything. Rewards add up. No fees.

We have our own private coin depository. It is our 2 granddaughters. Any change gets thrown in a small box in our bedroom and when it is filled it is handed off to them. I keep a small amount of change in my wallet for parking meters, honor system farm stands, and of course the Aldi quarter. Most of my purchases are done with CC except we pay with cash for drinks/food at the club, some bars that only take cash, small purchases, and we always tip for service with cash. Then there is the raffle tickets, community events, etc that are cash only. Paying with cash also sometime gets you a cheaper price.

When I lived in NV I used to just take my coins to the local casino. Now I put in rolls and take to my bank. I haven't done that in a while because I don't use cash a lot these days but I do have some coins in a metal smiley face bank.

I was very surprised to discover Coinstar is in the UK after reading this thread and Googling. I was referring to coin sorters in banks. However, I’ve never seen either a coin sorter or Coinstar and don’t know anyone who uses them. I just asked DH and he’s never heard of Coinstar either.

Maybe it’s the lack of a tipping culture here which means coins are practically extinct, although we were caught out by a car park in the summer. The machine needed pound coins. Of the six adults in our party no one had any coins. Eventually another visitor gave us some. They had them after being caught out on a previous visit.

I would be surprised at a bank NOT having a coin sorter. I used one weekly at the school concessions stand. Ours didn't pack them in the rolls but it counted coins lickety split.

Oh, they probably have them, but they must be behind the scenes. I’ve never, ever seen one in a public area. To pay in coins you must bag them up in counted amounts of one denomination, no more than 10 bags per day. The bank will check them by weight, not by sorting. Even charity stalls, school fairs and street vendors, including the sellers of the homeless magazine, have card readers.

function, my late mom used to save her change for the same reason. She'd wait until a holiday and then distribute the containers of change, one each, to her three great grand children.

I discovered this while cleaning out her house after she passed that October. There were Pringle cans (the same ones I'm using today) full of change up in a cupboard. The following Christmas I took them along to my brother's home where we had all gathered and gave the cans to the kids, now pretty much adults. They said, "Grandma used to do this!" They poured the change over the dining room table to count it, and altho there were different denominations of coins in each can, the total came out almost the same amount for each person.

Meijer has Coinstar where you get your money back in store credit.

We rarely need cash, but keep a few small bills on hand. I've had the same two bills in my purse forever, along with a couple of quarters. IDK why anyone *needs* ATM machines. Is it so hard to anticipate needing cash? Will you miss the teeny profit not invested? Even with inflation, the convenience is worth it.

Everything goes on one or two CC's at our house. The bank issuing one card refunds a percentage on charges. This month we were owed something like $99.78, and the bank rounded it up (for their convenience) before applying it to our next statement.

I see that banks are calling a halt to overdraft fees after federal regulators cracked down. The story I read said Wells Fargo made a million dollars on these last year! Are people daft, not to know how much they have in a checking account? Evidently banks would charge a flat amount (like $30) on each overdraft, so banks would process large amounts first, resulting in overdraft fees on each of several smaller checks. (That would happen to me ONCE.)

Post Brexit, can I cash two old travelers checks for twenty pounds each?

Chisue - Brexit isn't relevant to your question about travellers cheques:  the UK never adopted the Euro so their currency has always been pounds.

I didn't quite understand your point about ATMs:  I always get my cash from them.  Haven't dealt with a bank teller to withdraw money in years.

"Post Brexit, can I cash two old travelers checks for twenty pounds each?"

The UK never changed its currency with its entry and exit from the EU. It's been pounds sterling there all along.

More likely the issue may be that the checks have expired. Contact the issuer (whether a bank or Amex) to find out.