Man cashes in $13,000 in pennies at coinstar.

[A_C_Slater]

I came across this while trying to find out how much juice coinstar takes.


New World Record Penny Cash-in

FLOMATON, Ala. - June 22, 2005
Coinstar, Inc. customer, Edmond Knowles, today broke the world’s record for the largest ever personal penny collection with a cash-in of 1,308,459 pennies (or $13,084.59) at Escambia County Bank’s Coinstar machine in Flomaton, Alabama.

The pennies, which Knowles stored in four 55-gallon and three 20-gallon oil barrels in his garage, weighed more than 4.5 tons. The collection set a new world record as well as broke Coinstar’s existing record for the most pennies cashed-in by a customer. The previous Coinstar record was 1,048,013 pennies (or $10,480.13) set in November 2004 in Barberton, Ohio.


I have 53 pounds in mixed change.

Anyone have more than that?

[mike l.]

i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[miajag81]

I Coinstarred about $350 in various change a couple months ago. Not sure how much it weighed.

[MarkL444]

wouldnt the machine fill up?

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]
i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

If we're talking about $13,000 in pennies, I'd imagine that the 8% is worth substantially less than the amount of time it would take to roll 1.3 million pennies by hand.

[A_C_Slater]

[ QUOTE ]
i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you offer an alternative?

Besides rolling the coins myself.

[Jman28]

[ QUOTE ]
The pennies, which Knowles stored in four 55-gallon and three 20-gallon oil barrels in his garage, weighed more than 4.5 tons.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I have 53 pounds in mixed change.
Anyone have more than that?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's like some weird quiz where he reveals the answer first.

[astroglide]

i would think it would be pretty easy to negotiate a better rate someplace

[A_C_Slater]

[ QUOTE ]
i would think it would be pretty easy to negotiate a better rate someplace

[/ QUOTE ]

I called a few banks and some of them told me they used to have machines that took no percentage on change. But no longer....

[moondogg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you offer an alternative?

Besides rolling the coins myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

Go to Commerce Bank in PA, NJ, DE, etc. They have free coin-counting machines. Just dump the coins in, it spits out a receipt, take it to the counter, they give you cash.

I don't think you even need to be a customer, but I may be wrong.

Edit: 8% is rape, no matter how much or how little your coinage is.

[astroglide]

someplace with a rolling machine (such things must exist) would probably do it, or even coinstar themselves

[SamIAm]

[ QUOTE ]
Edit: 8% is rape, no matter how much or how little your coinage is.

[/ QUOTE ]Right. That's how % works. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
-Sam

[Thythe]

I don't understand all this rolling talk. I went to the my bank to cash in some coins, and the few that were in rolls they told me to unroll and dump into the bins that I had brought in (also full of coins).

[kipin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you offer an alternative?

Besides rolling the coins myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lots of banks provide this service free of charge.

[A_C_Slater]

Commerce, thanks.

I tried Standard Federal and 5th 3rd but they didn't have these machines.

If banks have these machines then why the hell would coinstar exist? They'll take 53 pounds of change?

[kipin]

[ QUOTE ]
If banks have these machines then why the hell would coinstar exist? They'll take 53 pounds of change?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do check cashing places exist? Because people are dumb and lazy.

[smb394]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If banks have these machines then why the hell would coinstar exist? They'll take 53 pounds of change?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do check cashing places exist? Because people are dumb and lazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure if their reporting requirements are as stringent as most banks either. Additionally, they could be taking on more risk with their customers than most traditional banks. Both of these are guesses, so I could be wrong. But agreed on the dumb/lazy point.

[David04]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The pennies, which Knowles stored in four 55-gallon and three 20-gallon oil barrels in his garage, weighed more than 4.5 tons.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I have 53 pounds in mixed change.
Anyone have more than that?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's like some weird quiz where he reveals the answer first.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nice.




I've seen a lot of Mitch Hedberg quotes on OOT lately, did people just disvoer him or something?

[rusty JEDI]

Illegal

But with the cost of copper it might be better to take it to a scrap and salvage place.

rJ

[tdp]

[ QUOTE ]
Illegal

But with the cost of copper it might be better to take it to a scrap and salvage place.

rJ

[/ QUOTE ]
Pennies are made from zinc with a micro thin copper coating.

[rusty JEDI]

Interesting. Maybe thats an American thing because in Canada they were calling for people hoarding pennies to bring them in because they were actually worth 1.4 cents in copper.

rJ

[BZ_Zorro]

[ QUOTE ]
wouldnt the machine fill up?

[/ QUOTE ]

[MrTrik]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
wouldnt the machine fill up?

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

I would bet coinstar took this as a marketing opportunity and had their goons there to unload periodically.

[TheTROLL]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
wouldnt the machine fill up?

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

I would bet coinstar took this as a marketing opportunity and had their goons there to unload periodically.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having your goons unloading all over your customers doesn't sound like very good marketing at all.

[Reef]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think they take like 8%! i cringe at the thought of anyone ever using one of those machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you offer an alternative?

Besides rolling the coins myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

for ~$1150, I'd buy one of those home machines that counts and puts them in rolls automatically. It would probably take the whole day.. but it'd be worth it IMO.

[Maulik]

my bank does what coinstar does for free

[Bulldog]

Actually, they take 8.9%, or from this guy, they took $1,164.53.

[-Skeme-]

Someone should just go to banks with $20,000 and get change in pennies. That'd be grimey.

[sekrah]

Are you kidding, you could get a machine for $15 that'll do it for you.

It would take some time, but not $1000 worth of time.

[TheIrishThug]

as long as u r not doing a [censored] load at once, u can easily roll coins when u r watching tv or something.

[slamdunkpro]

One of the Washington DC local new channels did an expose on Coinstar about a year ago after one of their reporters dumped a bunch of change at one then got a bill from the store saying that the Coinstar paid him $200 too much and they’d like it back please, right now.

They took $500 in $100 batches (hand counted) of mixed change to 5 different Coinstar machines. The results were that none of the machines counted the change correctly. They all shorted the person by as much as 20% (on top of the 8.9% fee)

[Cased Heel]

Get your lil' sis to help. Or whatever. Pay family members to help you. You should be able to save up to 50% by doing this (and you get to 'spend time' together while doing it).

Don't pay CoinFu.ckingStar. To think, some a$$wipe makes 8% off of adding coins? Biggest rip-off in the nation.

I'd rather use elbow grease and keep from donating to a jerk-off than be lazy and pay for a new pair of shoes for some jerk-off.

[BruinEric]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If banks have these machines then why the hell would coinstar exist? They'll take 53 pounds of change?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do check cashing places exist? Because people are dumb and lazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

From my understanding, the primary market for check-cashing places is people who don't have a bank account and live essentially on a cash basis.

This does not contradict your "dumb and lazy" conclusion, but it's more than just these things. The majority customer for these here in my area of the country are the significant number of illegal workers (who often fear a paper trail and/or have limited ID.)

Here's an intersting twist on check cashing: One day I drove to a local manufacturer or outdoor bricks (faux stone facings) to buy some material for our hardscaping project.

All at one time, a 100 workers came out on break all dusty and grimy from work holding their paychecks. They lined up in queue to a white truck with bars on it. Some left the truck with ice cream bars and others left stuffing cash into their pocket.

Finally, I figured out that this entrepeneur was running a combination mobile check-cashing service and ice cream truck business. He obviously stops at this site at the same breaktime every payday. I have no idea his vig, but it was a fascinating business idea -- except for the side bonus of being a huge robbery target of one of your customers or customer-accomplices.

[astroglide]

that is one sweet idea

[Lottery Larry]

That probably cost him about $400-600

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
Illegal

But with the cost of copper it might be better to take it to a scrap and salvage place.

rJ

[/ QUOTE ]

Pennies have been made out of copper plated zinc since 1980-something. This was done precisely because the value of the metal was more than the value of the coin.

[Lottery Larry]

why doesn't this surprise me?

[A_C_Slater]

There are no Commerce banks in southeast Michigan. I've contacted five different bank branches and they've all told me that they don't have change converting machines.

Those damn coinstar rip off artists!

[lapoker17]

Sounds like a pretty high-level negotiation.

[A_C_Slater]

The have the change conversion market cornered!

There must have been a hostile takeover by the coinstar people in the last few months and that's why there's no "rake free" machines around anymore. /images/graemlins/mad.gif

20%!!

I kill them before I give 20 friggin percent!! /images/graemlins/mad.gif

And I kill whole world before I roll 53 pounds of change!

[STLantny]

Id just use the pennies to buy myself a coinstar machine.

[spamuell]

I don't understand, why do you need to count them? If you take them to your bank and say you'd like to deposit them into your account, the teller is going to have to count them anyway so won't they just do it for you?

[A_C_Slater]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand, why do you need to count them? If you take them to your bank and say you'd like to deposit them into your account, the teller is going to have to count them anyway so won't they just do it for you?

[/ QUOTE ]


53 pounds of change the teller will count? It would take hours. I'll ask, but I doubt they'll do it.

[dblgutshot]

Try some casinos. Obviously not for shitloads of change but I had a good bucket of dimes/pennies/nickels and brought it to the casino one time when i went to play poker. dropped them into a bucket and gave it to the slot cashier. The cashier gave me a feel strange looks but just dumped the money into a machine and gave me my money.

BTW, what is this coinstar? Never heard of it, from this thread I can figure out what they do, but are they stores or machines scattered all over the place?

[evans075]

HAHA, this is a guy In town right beside mine. I would never have thought it would make it to 2+2. BTW I live in Brewton Al if yall don't belive me.

[Pocket Trips]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i would think it would be pretty easy to negotiate a better rate someplace

[/ QUOTE ]

I called a few banks and some of them told me they used to have machines that took no percentage on change. But no longer....

[/ QUOTE ]

commerce banks here in NJ all have change machines free for account holders

[Cased Heel]

It's a stand-alone machine fould in grocery stores in which you dump your coinage into a hole and it calculates the value almost as quick as you can dump it.

It prints a receipt stating the value, which is redeemable at the cashier check-out or courtesy booth. It's a neat thing, but they charge like 8.9 cents for every dollar you put in.

Once when I was a cashier this guy came through my line "to be funny". he handed me a coinstar certificate that said $.43 So i gave him 43 cents, shortly after I realized he'd put about 47 cents into the machine and got back 43. He walked away laughing and I shook my head and that night I went home and enrolled in College.