sorting coins and wrapping them

So, after my in depth examination of US culture I discovered that a:no-one uses coins (apart from crazy slot-ladies) and b:everyone has a gajillion coins in boxes and stuff, just waiting to be sorted and counted and put into wrappers.

But sorting and counting coins sucks, especialy cents, because they are effectivly worthless. Unless you're making a sap to whack someone with. One metric buttload of cents will buy you about one Milky Way (bluergh) and a Hershey's bar ( ) and you'll also get looked at funny because you're using coins to buy stuff.

I tried to be helpful to my American chums by sorting and counting their coins but it was incredibly frustrating. They had this noisy electric thing that made a lot of noise, but spat most coins into a reject chute, before jamming.

So: Does anyone have suggestions for coins sorting / counting / wrapping devices? or is it always hellish?

I don't know how it is the UK, but in at least some parts of the states we have this thing called Coinstar. It's at grocery stores and you pour your assload of change into it, get a receipt, and cash it at the register. I'm sure they have something like that over there. It's actually kind of stimulating, I got over $100 on one large jar of coins, it strangely seemed like I won some kind of prize or something. Oh yeah, there is also a small fee, but there should be a notice on the machine stating the rates per dollar or pound or whatever.

Okay, we have the huge machines in the UK, and over here they only charge 7.5%, which isn't so bad. I like them, but my american pal refuses to pay the commision, so he can't use them.

I know someone that wraps coins by hand and takes them to the bank just to avoid the fees, but he's crazy, and nobody ever hangs out with him because he is always rolling change in his basement.

priceless!

i work in a shop. it's awesome, i can change all my coins on a daily basis if need be

Ahhhh, I like to laugh. Thanks!

I use coins in vending machines at work on lunch....And I try to get rid of pennies or stick them in the ash tray of my car.....Problem solved (for me)!

I miss my small town bank from where I grew up. They have had a giant sorting machine for years and don't charge you to use it.

dont know about your local bank but most banks i know of around me will take your change and run it through a big counting machine for you and deposit it right into your bank account

These things are awesome when the bank won't take loose change.

There are "piggy" banks that automatically sort your change by size when you drop it in...although I don't think they do that thankless task of wrapping it for you....

beggars. endless supply.

at the stop on the freeway off ramp there's always someone to give it to

If your friend doesn't want to pay the machine commission, there is really no other way than counting them yourself. When you are desperate enough for money you will eventually sit down and count/wrap them all.

Change is needed when you live in a place with seemingly more parking meters then parking spots.

At just about any dollar store you can these plastic tubes that hold exactly $10 worth of quarters, $5 worth of dimes, $2 worth of nickles, etc ...

You just fill them up to the top, you have the exact amount, and then put it in the wrapper. If you have a lot of coins, you'll be done in no time. Its a dollar well spent.

Sorting and wrapping coins is a nice chill activity when you don't feel up to anything else... quiet hungover afternoons and the like.

But better is always making sure you have ten or so pennies in your pocket and making the goal of every transaction walking away with fewer pennies than you came in with. Do this until your stupid penny jar is empty, then don't do it until it's full again. It becomes part of the cycle of life.

my bank has that thing for free

I refuse to offer my valuable insight.

Nobody that hates Milky Way deserves to know.

I hear they're trying to figure out how to make us pay for stopping at red lights.

I go the Coinstar route when they accumulate, otherwise I usually give the change in my pockets to homeless people.
We were rolling a friend of mine's coins inside Wachovia one day, and an older man came over and bought all of his pennies for some reason. It was so random; the guy said he just likes pennies.

[Edited on Jan 09, 2005 by BillHaverchuck]

Here in the northeast, Commerce bank has free automatic coin counters. Coinstar machines are in almost every supermarket, and charge less than 10 cents on the dollar.

I use the free machines once a year for pennies, all of my other change goes in city parking meters now that they take dimes, nickels and quarters. At $1/hour, it adds up.