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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
 Posted - 02/27/2009 : 15:30:53
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hecko everyone! I am new to this forum though I have been browsing it for sometime. I have recently joined the ranks of the obsessive penny hoarders:-D However, because I have just started this I was wondering if there is any major advice some veterans could give me....Specifically, how to deal with banks. It seems that every time I attempt to obtain pennies I get and attitude and feel as if im being a nusance...Perhaps I am just going about it wrong? Any help would be much appreciated...Thanks in advance.
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SANITARIUM_INMATE
Penny Pincher Member
211 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 15:38:41
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| First off don't just ask them for $500 in pennies which will take a forklift to get to the teller station. These are fragile women you are dealing with. Be very courteous and like some will tell you buy some chocolates for your teller for doing this favor for you. It is their job but nobody wants to deal with a rude customer demanding such a large HEAVY transaction, they will just tell you they are out without even looking in the vault. And welcome to the club. |
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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 15:48:08
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| Thanks for the reply....at most I ask for a box of $25....I am very kind and I ask if they have any I could purchase. I hand sort all of the pennies so if I was buying alot more I might have a good bit of copper value on my fingers! lol Ironically, the bank I have accounts with is the worst! |
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 15:48:49
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AS I am kinda new myself. The top advise is to be confident when you walk up to the counter. First thing is to try at the bank you normally deal with. Always go inside. To cash a check or make a deposit. Go on a slow day. Find out who the head teller is. They usually do the ordering. Ask if they can order pennies for you. If they say yes ask them to order a few boxes. Maybe 4 at the most. Find out what day they come in and be there that day. This is very important. I like to have the cash in hand. After you have established a relationship with the head teller you can start asking for more. I usually bring chocolate. ( the foil wrapped chocolate coins).
Some on here order 20+ boxes at a time. Every week.
You could also ask for customer wrapped pennies. They LOVE to get rid of those.
If you want more you can do drivebys. Stopping at any bank you see and asking for a box or for their CWR pennies. You might get an attitude or you might get a wheel barrel full.
Once you know which banks will work with you and which won't then you can plan your day around that.
One other thing. Carry a bucket or something to carry the CRW's if they have some. I don't know how many times I went to a bank and they had $50 + in CRW's and I had nothing to put them in. They usually find something to put them in but it is easier if you have something already. I try making things as easy as I can on the tellers. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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kieblera5
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 16:16:28
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Don't lick your fingers, you might contract the Wild Indian pathogen... |
Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.
Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you mercilessly with experience.
Caller number seven gets the Peace Prize!
Get coding tips, tricks, and more at: http://codingmonday.blogspot.com |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 17:02:00
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First and foremost, welcome to the show. Boxes are good, but if you can gain access to their penny bags, that is better. Having an account can help, but it doesn't always matter. Having weekly orders and a routine help as well, but always be there to pick them up on the pre-arranged day. ALWAYS take ALL the pennies they offer. Remember, the more you sort the more you must dump. Finding a bank that accepts loose coin is a tremendous help. As mentioned above bribes, such as chocolate coins, go a long way. I buy the chocolate pennies. They cost more than the gold foil ones, but they fit better. Hope this helps. Remember, there are tons of banks, don't let a negative experience put you off. Now your madness begins....
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 17:35:33
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quote:
Originally posted by NotABigDeal
First and foremost, welcome to the show. Boxes are good, but if you can gain access to their penny bags, that is better. Having an account can help, but it doesn't always matter. Having weekly orders and a routine help as well, but always be there to pick them up on the pre-arranged day. ALWAYS take ALL the pennies they offer. Remember, the more you sort the more you must dump. Finding a bank that accepts loose coin is a tremendous help. As mentioned above bribes, such as chocolate coins, go a long way. I buy the chocolate pennies. They cost more than the gold foil ones, but they fit better. Hope this helps. Remember, there are tons of banks, don't let a negative experience put you off. Now your madness begins....
Deal
I dont know much about penny bags...how many cents are in them and how easy or available are they to acquire? |
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146 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 17:58:45
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Hi JP_007! Welcome to the forum
I'm in a rural area, I also hand sort and I find that I never have problems getting less than $25.00 worth of pennies at a time. Most every roll I get is paper wrapped and not by machine. Out here I think tellers do a lot of wrapping because so few bank branches have sorting machines. In urban places the tellers might not be so friendly or leisurely, I just don't have any experience with them.
Consider asking for a smaller amount to start with the first time you deal with a bank or credit union, maybe $20 or even just $10. When they get to know you better you can ask for more than $25 at a time.
If the tellers look at you funny, just be polite. If they're curious (they are in rural areas) you can say you collect coins or my favorite for the nosy Nellies is that you're starting or helping a kid in coin collecting...they tend to be less grumpy if they think it's for a kid (and even though I'm 40 I still think of myself as a big kid...for the people here with kids & grandkids they may well be leaving their kids with a 'coin collection' someday).
FYI Occasionally I do give a kid coins...one of the tellers occasionally gives me half dollars when I cash in my zincs and if they're not silver (I've only gotten one silver half in ~1 year or cashing zincs in) I like to give them to my neighbor's kids...they think they're really cool. I also like to give the kids X number of dollars in coins for they age they are (example: a 5 year old gets $5.00) to get them started on the concepts of making change, counting and oh yeah saving money. It's hard for a 5 year old to take $5 in pennies & blow it all on crap at Wal-Mart, but it's a great way to get rid of zincers and they're real money, though not my favorite form. And kids really dig money.
Turning in the zincers is harder...you need to look into the banks & credit unions you are going to be dealing with and see how much of a PITA they are going to be on either immediately cashing them in or depositing them. Since I don't have a Ryedale I don't worry about taking back more than $50.00 worth at a time, but you need to know who likes coin rolled and who doesn't, who has a free coin counter for account holders and who doesn't, etc. I am about ready to change my main dump bank (at which I have an account, they used to have free coin counting machines but they've been charging account holders now too and they make me drive to a farther branch to cash in rolled coin...they're becoming a real pain) and maybe get an account at a different primary dump bank. I deal with some other banks that I don't have an account with and they never have a problem with me cashing in $20 or less in rolled pennies at a time (I reuse the paper wrappers). Maybe when a bank offers a good bonus for opening an account I'll switch :)
Remember though I'm in a rural area where everybody is pretty laid back. In an urban or suburban bank or credit union you are probably going to have to have accounts for dumping and maybe even for buying coins :(
For hand sorting I find a scale for the 1982 cents invaluable. I am using a mechanical 0-50 gram scale given to me (I like free!) but one of these days, I'm going to buy me a digital scale or win one from Mr Bong here in one of his contests. I also have a mechanical (free from the same person) gram scale that measures 0-500 grams so I can be more accurate in weighing zincs I've rerolled. You can either get flat paper rolls free from the banks/credit unions that still use them or buy shotgun wrappers from Wal-Mart or a dollar store cheap (I reuse flat wrappers but keep a supply of Coin-Tainer shotgun wrappers on hand for my use).
Other cheap/free supplies are plastic baggies (handy for temporary sorting out of wheats, Canadian coppers, 1982s, etc and for storing coin wrappers) various recycled plastic or cardboard containers or maybe plastic shoeboxes you buy in dollar/discount stores. There's more you can buy but I suggest you try out the very basics first and see if you like sorting enough before you invest more.
I can actually sort coins sitting in my car and sometimes do (I don't think you can do that with a Ryedale!) when I'm waiting for people or running errands. I've got a plastic tray I salvaged from an old tackle box I use for that :)
I know everyone here is going to say 'buy a Ryedale' right off the bat but I'd say the Ryedale is only for you 1) if you discover you really dig sorting 2) you don't mind spending the money to get one (I can buy a *lot* of pennies with what it costs for a Ryedale) 3) if you have a Ryedale you actually need to order coins and in quantity to make it pay for itself 4) you better figure out how to get rid of big quantities of zinc pennies and 5) banks can change their policies and cut you off from buying and/or dumping coins whenever they feel like it (like my main dump bank became anal about the coin counting machines and cashing in or depositing rolled coin)
Hope this helps and that you really have fun doing this.
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146 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:03:27
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| JP_007 Penny bags have $50.00 in loose pennies in them. They are heavy and your tellers may not like hefting them around. |
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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:08:31
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| Thanks so much nomore, really appreciate all of the info....I thought about possibly trying to talk to a bank manager to arrange scheduled buys? im not that concerned about dumping due to the relatively low volume I deal with, but as a last resort (as bad as it sounds) i wouldnt mind using a coinstar or something. Thanks again! |
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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:10:57
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quote:
Originally posted by nomore
JP_007 Penny bags have $50.00 in loose pennies in them. They are heavy and your tellers may not like hefting them around.
Do all banks use bags for pennys? I would think that they would want to get rid of them as im sure they take up alot more space than what they are worth (to the nieve general public of course) hehe |
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:11:23
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NO NO NO do not use the coinstar....NEVER EVER
Almost 9% loss.
You would be better off not sorting than using that rip off machine |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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JP_007
Penny Sorter Member
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:16:38
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| Has anyone thought to try and get with someone who empites coinstar machines and/or handles all of the coins? |
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n/a
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146 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:22:37
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quote:
Originally posted by slickeast
NO NO NO do not use the coinstar....NEVER EVER
Almost 9% loss.
You would be better off not sorting than using that rip off machine
I totally agree with slickeast
Do not use the Coinstar unless you have the option to get a voucher for 100% of what you turn in for groceries from a grocery store you shop in or for gift cards from a place you would shop at (one place is Amazon.com another is Circuit City but they're toast as of March 31st) It would be better to use a bank coin counter that charges you (my bank charges 2% to account holders and 8% to non account holders) than Coinstar unless you fit into the 2 cases I mentioned above. |
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146 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:23:37
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quote:
Originally posted by JP_007
Has anyone thought to try and get with someone who empites coinstar machines and/or handles all of the coins?
Some here have asked...they've always been turned down. |
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146 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 18:30:25
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quote:
Originally posted by JP_007
quote:
Originally posted by nomore
JP_007 Penny bags have $50.00 in loose pennies in them. They are heavy and your tellers may not like hefting them around.
Do all banks use bags for pennies? I would think that they would want to get rid of them as im sure they take up a lot more space than what they are worth (to the naive general public of course) hehe
Where I am $50.00 bags of pennies are not common. They may be more common in branches in more populated areas. You really don't see them here.
Some of the coin operated businesses in my area (vending machine routes, laundromats, etc) deal in bags of quarters and other coins but not pennies. The bags the banks give them to package their coins are now a heavy plastic (they used to be canvas). I occasionally use one to take rolled coins to and from my car...tellers occasionally give them to me. Brinks-type trucks usually pick up and drop off the $50.00 bags as needed.
The only places around here where you see Brinks type trucks often are the big chain stores like Wal-Mart, Lowes and Tractor Supply. They rarely go to the bank branches for pickups or drop offs (I don't think a lot of coins come into or disappear from here).
There are some coin rolls that are wrapped in plastic (a machine wraps them in a kind of heavy shrink wrap kind of plastic...you have to tear them up to open them which means you can't reroll them back into the plastic...they are tough and people with arthritis can't use their bare hands to open them easily and without hurting their hands...elderly tellers here don't like them much).
Many people here hate plastic wrapped rolls because they find they get fewer copper coins than paper wrapped rolls. I find no significant differences where I am. I think one or two branches in my area have access to a machine that uses plastic to roll coins. In other areas though the plastic rolls come from a service like Brinks and for whatever reasons they have fewer copper pennies in them. |
Edited by - n/a on 02/27/2009 18:41:23 |
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chris6084
Penny Collector Member
303 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 22:34:12
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I am new here, but not new to sorting, so I will give some of my tips:
I typically do drive by's since I am a hand sorter. I run into plenty of grouchy tellers, but the nosy ones are more annoying to me than the grouchy ones. An interesting thing I have found to reduce the nosy ones is to ask for a box of pennies and not $25 in pennies. I seem to get a lot less questions that way, maybe because it sounds like a routine thing when you ask for a box.
When dumping, I have to re-roll. I have yet to find a coin counter. I just re-use the boxes and bring them back to my dump banks. I suggest to bring back no more than $50 at a time. If I bring in $75, I always get a lot of questions, and a lot of attention, I have had bank managers come over to see what is going on, and even had a bank refuse to take them from me when I brought in that much. $50 seems to be much more low key. |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2009 : 23:01:12
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Man, you guys are having problems returning less than $50 at a time? As long as I keep my returns under $1000 at a time, my main dump bank is okay with it. It took some time, like a year or so, but they are used to me and my dolly at 9:00 am sharp. You just need to find the right person in the bank to win over. I don't use the machine. They run them then pay me cash. I have an account, but it has only $40 in at and it has never been used.
Next time you are in a bank, and you already have a dump bank, ask them if they have a coin sorter/counter. If they do, offer to take the pennies off of their hands. You can get all kinds of goodies in those penny bags. It never hurts to ask.
Deal
p.s. Get a Ryedale, they are great. (Couldn't resist.) |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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n/a
deleted
146 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2009 : 09:39:56
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quote:
Originally posted by NotABigDeal
Man, you guys are having problems returning less than $50 at a time? As long as I keep my returns under $1000 at a time, my main dump bank is okay with it. It took some time, like a year or so, but they are used to me and my dolly at 9:00 am sharp. You just need to find the right person in the bank to win over. I don't use the machine. They run them then pay me cash. I have an account, but it has only $40 in at and it has never been used.
Next time you are in a bank, and you already have a dump bank, ask them if they have a coin sorter/counter. If they do, offer to take the pennies off of their hands. You can get all kinds of goodies in those penny bags. It never hurts to ask.
Deal
p.s. Get a Ryedale, they are great. (Couldn't resist.)
Deal aren't you in a bigger city area (or the suburbs?)?
My whole county has only 40,000 people in it. The biggest town (there are only 7 incorporated towns in the whole county. the rest are farms) has maybe 5,000 living in it. Country people all know each other and talk and while many eccentricities are tolerated, when your eccentricities inconvenience other people then you have problems on your hands. They would likely not be cool with dumps of $1000.00 at a time...you would be smarter in this area to drive to a bank branch in the next county over where the small college town is almost as big as my whole county to do dumps of that size. I'm just not hot to do 60 mile round trip drives like that, lay all the social groundwork to let me sort on a mass scale plus invest in a Ryedale and then have the banks change up their policies they way my primary dump bank has so that one day I'm stuck with a lot of zincs. What I sort I turn the zincs back in fast (2-3 days tops) with no problems and I stay more under the radar
The good news is that I see higher copper percentages (including wheats) than most people living in more urban or suburban areas do even if my overall volume of pennies sorted is lower.
Oh and the only bank in my county that uses a sorter I can get to is -- you guessed it -- my problem child primary dump bank. They ship the bags which are mixed coin off to a company that then machine rerolls coin for them (they get paper NF String rolls back when they order coin) The copper percentages are somewhat lower in those, those machine rolled String rolls are hard to reuse and frankly I feel sorry for the people working in that bank because the people above them are so corporate, impersonal & anal. Their bank ratings for soundness are above average but they're becoming increasingly miserable to deal with. I don't mind sticking that company with my zincs for as long as I am able to but I do feel sorry for the tellers who are mostly younger women and have to put up with a lot of crap. The older banks with older tellers are just cooler to deal with.
Everyone's mileage varies though. |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2009 : 11:12:11
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Yep, bigger metro area. (Kansas City, Missouri area). If the bags are mixes, like at most Commerce banks around here, that's no good. Being that you are in a rural area it strikes me as odd that a 60 mile round trip is a long trip for you. True, banks can change their policy against you, BUT they can also get more friendly over time. I average about 30-35% in my bags, with 20-30% in my boxes. I do sort quite a few though....
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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n/a
deleted
146 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2009 : 13:38:48
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Deal in a 60 mile round trip just within my county I can hit many more banks & pick up and/or dump a variety of pennies...the more suburban county with the college town where maybe they could handle $50.00 at a time dumps does not have as many banks and branches as my county...I actually think my county has too many different banks & branches for its size (more than 20 locations about 12 different banks and no that's not counting the credit unions). It's also got some shuttered banks from the S&L failures in the 1980s :(
I literally have one small town where I pick up pennies, pick up lunch sort them and dump them at a dump bank across the street. How's that for fast turnaround (2 hrs or less for $20 sorted plus I get fed)? |
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PennehChaos.
Penny Collector Member
USA
269 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2009 : 12:11:01
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Yeah, I'd suggest just talking to the head teller at one of the friendlier banks. Ask to put in an order for, say, 2 boxes a week. Ask when would be convenient for you to pick them up. The banks I deal with usually get coins in once a week, so I come in the following morning to do my pickup.
For a while I was collecting pennies just from drive-bys, and when I looked at how much time and gas I was using (this was in the $4/gallon days), it was just ridiculous. |
Considering Verizon Business service? Perhaps you'd like to consider a nice drain cleaner enema instead? |
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Cody8404
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2009 : 12:28:42
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Always be overly nice.
Remember this is the banking area.
There is nothing illegal about saving coins at home, but you don't want a grumpy teller to tell the law you are acting oddly. |
Awake, O kings of the earth! Come ye, O, come ye, with your gold and your silver, to the help of my people, to the house of the daughters of Zion, to the help of the people of the God of this Land even Jesus Christ. |
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jadedragon
Administrator
Canada
3788 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2009 : 21:25:04
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you might ask what the minimum coin order is. It might be easier to get 4 or 5 boxes then two.
For dumping, some have success spending rolls of coin in moderation. I find that C-stores and resturants often do not mind taking a few coin rolls as they often need coin anyway. Owner run shops are usually happy for the business regardless of how you pay.
You could also try paying your taxes in pennies, though I've heard that can go badly. Also consider road tolls, the coffee tin at work etc. Anywhere you spend a few bucks in a opprotunity to dump coin.
I've considered donating boxes of coin to my church (take to office and get a receipt not place into the plate!) - easy for a charity to deposit large amounts of coin and often charities get free accounts so no chance of a service charge. I've bought up the results of several school penny drives from banks. Get creative and have fun :) |
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw.
Why Copper Bullion ~~~ Interview with Silver Bullion Producer Market Harmony
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New, need some advice.....
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