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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
 Posted - 01/08/2008 : 11:12:43
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I took 29k zincers back to the Credit Union today, but in the mix there are always a few that are in so bad of shape that the machine keeps spitting them out no matter how many times you shove them in there.
I usually throw these sad pennies back into an empty bucket and take them home to be run through a different Credit Union's machine at a later date. But sometimes even that doesn't help and the same pennies keep showing up and traveling around back and forth between Credit Union's and the house.
So every so often I take a few rejects and give them to a teller and ask for new ones. Well today, I had three such pennies and a funny teller and manager.
I say "Can you do me a favor and exchange these pennies for good ones. You can send mine in to the mint for a proper burial if you want"
He says "I know we do that for bills, but I'm not sure about coins. Just a minute I'll go ask someone."
He leaves and I hear him and another person discussing the three pennies and bouncing them around a desk.
I think to myself "Maybe they think I am some sort of penny counterfeiter who made three pennies (for a cost of over 1 cent each) and now I am here to cash in on my ill gotten gains?"
After a few minutes, he comes back and says "I was able to exchange two of them, but this other one just doesn't seem right and we can't take it." He clunks it done on the counter in explanation.
I pick it up and give it a look-see and clunk on the counter of my own and say "Pennies are filled with zinc. Zinc corrodes faster than copper. So, this penny has had all the zinc eaten out of the middle leaving it mostly hollow (really alot of zinc oxide in it). That is why the clink as turned to a clunk."
He wasn't impressed and I was forced to leave with my sad hollow penny to take to a different bank on a different day. So all in all that was 10 minutes spent debating about 1 penny out of 29,000 pennies by three people...now that is an efficient use of time.
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Epaphras
Penny Collector Member
USA
382 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 13:31:25
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| The rejects I find, I just put a couple in a roll and send them to the bank. 'They'll never know' :). If bent badly, I'll get my hammer and try to get them back into shape. |
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Miser-stro
Penny Sorter Member
74 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 14:22:20
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| Yes, I used my hammer and anvil last night on 3 cents. Heck that could even be a new art, "penny-smithing". I might have to get out my soldering iron while I'm at it. |
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 15:06:20
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The Philadelphia Mint will take back the bad coins in exchange for new coins, the drawback is you have to send the coins to the mint yourself and pay for the insured postage.
Not really worth the bother unless you have over $100 in coins to send back.
(I can't find the address for the mint's coin exchange, sorry.) |
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 15:13:28
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No worries...I'm sure my other credit union branch will take it. They have taken several in the past. I just thought it was a funny banking story. I've never been accused of trying to pass fake pennies before.  |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 19:07:53
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| That's the advantage of bagging your own. I took in 60,000 zincs yesterday. The really nasty ones are hidden in with the shiny ones. For bent ones I have a heavy duty vise bolted to my workbench.. straightens 'em right out. For some nasty ones I put them in my hand roll pile and roll them up manually. Then I swap them out for virgin rolls at work. Of course you could always just spend it. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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aloneibreak
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
672 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2008 : 20:14:22
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| glad to see there are other hammer and anvil people here. and also glad to see no one answered "i just throw them away". ive actually seen cashiers do that with corroded cents. |
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
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starwarsgeek171
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
651 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 09:44:11
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I still believe that we have a legal right to experiment with unrecognizable currency. If it is already defaced/damaged beyond recognition. As I mentioned in my unpopular thread re: categorizing, I save heavily damaged coins (heavy patinas, bent, cut, ground, etc.) in a seperate area for future trade or use.
It is funny that people can be so petty (wouldn't you have just given the stupid penny out?). I need to get a part-time job at a bank!!! I would always be in the vault. Where's Jason?!? |
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cyberdan
Penny Collector Member
USA
289 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 11:02:35
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That reminds me of an episode of CHIPS from the late 70's.
In one of the side plots Poncherello was having trouble with a bank teller and something about a bad deposit. He had to keep going back to the bank throughout the episode and the teller gave him problems. In the last bit of the show, when he was at the teller window, the teller had to go away for a minute and left his cash drawer open. Ponch took out some change and dropped it in the drawer to throw off this teller's count.  |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 13:44:04
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I have an extremely corroded 1943 steel penny that I don't know what to do with. It's almost unrecognizeable except for the date and parts of the Lincoln Memorial. Coin machines won't accept it, and bank tellers won't take it because "Pennies don't rust! It's obviously counterfeit!" or "Everyone knows pennies are made of copper, not steel." (sigh) I'm tired of trying to explain that pennies can be made of copper, zinc, or in 1943, steel. I've tried spending it, but it's so mutilated and damaged that no one wants it.
I've only had it for a few weeks, so I'm sure I'll find it a home. The poor thing simply doesn't look like a penny. It's a little bent, too. I'm afraid that after I let it go, it'll end up in a trash can somewhere. I would never throw away a penny, but I'm afraid this poor penny's days are numbered. I may have to simply roll it up and cash it in at a bank and hope that it still circulates at least for a little while longer. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 14:30:36
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| Straighten it out with a vise or hammer. Then coat it with brown shoe polish to make it look like a normal penny. Then slip it in a roll of pennies and deposit. Maybe you will give some collector a wild thrill thinking they have found a 1943 copper in circulation.. at least until they figure it out. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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El Dee
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
547 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 14:48:07
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Slip it in a roll of pennies and buy some gasoline!
You know what they say about bad pennies - they always come back. |
Trust the government? Ask an Indian. |
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NiBullionCu
Penny Pincher Member
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 19:59:34
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quote:
The Philadelphia Mint will take back the bad coins in exchange for new coins, the drawback is you have to send the coins to the mint yourself and pay for the insured postage.
Not really worth the bother unless you have over $100 in coins to send back.
(I can't find the address for the mint's coin exchange, sorry.)
I just came across an article I kept from the 4/11/2005 Coin World that answers this question:
Mutilated coins are sent to:
ATTN: Coin redemption Section
Box 400
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Interestingly,
" Coins can also be delivered in person to the loading dock at the Philadelphia Mint located on Fourth Street, between Race and Arch.
Receiving hours are 6 AM to 1 PM, Monday through Friday.
All persons delivering coins to the Mint must first schedule a drop-off date and be cleared by Mint security at least 24 hours in advance. Call (215) 408-0203 for more information"
You must be logged in to see this link. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2008 : 01:32:54
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| I gotta get to Philly with my bag of culls and trade them in on nice new shiny ones. Not sure if I can get cleared by Mint security though.. I am a known penny hoarder. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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The Penny That Nobody Wanted (a zinc of course)
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