It’s just a guess, but I think more people save coins than don’t. I’m not talking about numismatists, but folks throwing coins in a jar. It’s an itch that’s been scratched with coin counting machines (taking an exorbitant percentage, in my opinion) at most grocery stores.
We are with the majority. Every night, as I’m getting changed, I reach into my pocket and put whatever comes out into a jar. I don’t consciously look to horde these coins, but I’m not always fishing to see if I’ve got exact change either.
If I go to Subway it’s always 50¢-60¢ in change. Later I might get a Diet Coke (the mere fact that I have stooped to buying diet sodas upsets me) which is 75¢ in the machine at the station. A medium coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts varies, but it’s around $1.60.
Over the last year and a half, or so, we have filled three good sized jars of coins. Today was the day to roll them.
Helaine spread an old towel on the bedroom floor and I dumped the jars, one at a time. Then we segregated the coins, putting all like denominations together. We also pulled out a few Canadian coins, half dollars, an old style nickel and one Sacagawea¹ gold colored (though containing no gold at all) dollar.
As soon as we began rolling the coins, we realized we wouldn’t have enough wrappers. So, I headed out to Staples while Helaine continued rolling.
I got back in time to help roll the last few nickels.
There was some spillover – not enough of a given value to complete a roll, and pennies that after a while didn’t seem worth the effort and weren’t rolled. But this was a worthwhile afternoon. Our grand total was $450! Not bad considering this had been a painless acquisition.
The lst time we did this, I asked a friend in the restaurant business (who is forced to ‘buy’ coin rolls at face value plus a percentage from his bank) if he would take them. I’ll call him tomorrow… and then start the collection cycle again.
¹ – Blogger’s note: The US Treasury Department uses the spelling “Sacagawea.” The spell checker I use, ieSpell, says “Sacajawea.” I’ll go with the government with apologies if I’m wrong.
$450 WOW !!!
And just think if you found a double die Penny or a 1943 copper penny , a buffalo nickel or complete set of US States Quarters that are only issued each 8 weeks.
Would be worth more.
You should have gone professional, and gotten a coin counting machine. You are surely going to do the same thing again some day. Or,doesn’t A&P have a coin counter for free customer use? The one in Scarsdale, anyway. The other day I was in Paris, France and I brought along a whole bag of coins I’d accumulated over decades — old French centimes and francs. The only place you can exchange them is the Banque de France, which has branches in major cities. After Feb. 17, 2005, old French coins won’t be exchangeable any more, although they will take banknotes for another 7 years. So they exchanged them (not $450 worth, I’m afraid: more like $45, which they gave me in euros). But I did have nearly 200 euros in CFP francs from a trip to French Polynesia, and they exchanged those too. French Polynesia is France (although in the recent elections an independence party won), but they don’t use euros. Now for all the rest of the foreign money I have around the place. And how about those US military payment certificates …