[Old Goat Racer]

I heard the banks needed some change, so I gathered up a few pennies I had laying around. 50 + lbs.

[dataway]

Actually .... thank you, that was a good deed, helpful to you, helpful to keep things working smoothly.

[OG68]

My credit union has a change machine in the lobby. You enter your account number, throw the change in the chute and its applied to the account.
So much for all the change wrappers we used to use

[Stuart]

There was a guy on the local news the other day who had been saving change for 30 years, and he decided to bring it to the bank. It ended up being about $5,000 worth; of course it was earning him zero interest for all those years it was hanging around his house taking up space.

[GT182]

When I was hauling car a guy we worked with saved his change, and had been from before I started working there. He carried his own meals in the truck with him and never bought a meal out on the road. He retired and passed away in the early 90s. His kids got everything. Even the all of the milk cans full of change. We heard the cellar was full of them and it wasn't a small house. We never heard how much change was in them, but I bet it was more than 5 grand.

Some place around here won't even let you pay with cash if you don't have the correct change in coins.

Now they want to do away with them. There goes prices going up again.

[poncho-mike]

I have several of the big prezel jars (roughly two gallon sizes) full of change I've accumulated over the years. I used to turn convert my loose change to cash regularly at my credit union, but they took out the coin sorting machines. I'm not going to pay coinstar 10% or whatever their fee is to sort it for me, so it has accumulated.

In the later 60s and 70s, my dad was saving all of the pre-1964 silver coins. Then in the 1990s, dad started saving all of the pre-1981 copper pennies. Pennies made after 1981 are mostly zince. My mom would go to the bank and get dad several dollars of wrapped pennies. He would pick out the older pennies and re-wrap the newer pennies and take them back to the bank. Mom didn't mind, it kept him occupied after he retired. I now have two five gallon buckets full of older pennies.

I think coins will be made obsolete within my lifetime. What do you guys think?

[carbking]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I think coins will be made obsolete within my lifetime. What do you guys think?

If they do, it will be because of the stupidity of the American public!

The Presidential dollars were issued for two reasons: (1) to sell to collectors, (2) to significantly reduce the cost of printing dollar bills.

There were not well accepted by the public. Supposedly, there is a warehouse with well over a billion (with a "b") that were never released.

There have been several articles on how much money would be saved each year in printing costs, as the coins are cheaper to produce, and last significantly longer. Plus, the government would have less cost in shipping dog-eared bills to a destruction site, and burning them.

Of course, you didn't state your age, and how long you expect to live

Jon.

[Radman]

Originally Posted by carbking

If they do, it will be because of the stupidity of the American public!

The Presidential dollars were issued for two reasons: (1) to sell to collectors, (2) to significantly reduce the cost of printing dollar bills.

There were not well accepted by the public. Supposedly, there is a warehouse with well over a billion (with a "b") that were never released.

There have been several articles on how much money would be saved each year in printing costs, as the coins are cheaper to produce, and last significantly longer. Plus, the government would have less cost in shipping dog-eared bills to a destruction site, and burning them.

Of course, you didn't state your age, and how long you expect to live

Jon.

The big problem with the dollar coins was the physical size. They were almost an exact match for the quarter. If they were a different size, I think that the acceptance would be much greater.

[GTOnly70]

Originally Posted by Radman

The big problem with the dollar coins was the physical size. They were almost an exact match for the quarter. If they were a different size, I think that the acceptance would be much greater.

The main reason they went with the smaller coin was the resounding failure of the big Eisenhower dollar in the '70's.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by Radman

The big problem with the dollar coins was the physical size. They were almost an exact match for the quarter. If they were a different size, I think that the acceptance would be much greater.

my opinion;
they have seemed to fail, because this wasn't a forced acceptance.
they are the same size as the dollar coin which preceeded it, but a different colour/composition;
they are the same size as our dollar coin, and the size tends to them not being a nusiance to pile up in your pocket.

When out $1 bill was phased out for the coin, the bills were being sent to be de-minted, and banks were only giving out the coins - so we had no choice...
The same thing was done when our $2 bill was replaced in 1996.

What I don't get, is why the $2 bill is still an oddity in the 'states;
it makes sense, and reduces wallet thickness.

[The Champ]

Some banks will no longer take coin rolls because of fraud. They want to use the coin machines as they are almost foolproof.

[Old Goat Racer]

My bank just called me with the amount.
Anybody want to take a guess ?
NO, ya don't win a penny

[dataway]

$82.63

[Old Goat Racer]

Originally Posted by dataway

$82.63

Well dataway had the right numbers, but in the wrong order.
The amount was $86.32.
Pretty scary .

No xtra charge for the entertainment.

[dataway]

Originally Posted by Old Goat Racer

Well dataway had the right numbers, but in the wrong order.
The amount was $86.32.
Pretty scary .

No xtra charge for the entertainment.

Jeez, my dyslexia strikes again!

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Old Goat Racer

Well dataway had the right numbers, but in the wrong order.
The amount was $86.32.
Pretty scary .

No xtra charge for the entertainment.

So you didn't even have 50 pounds (50 pounds would have been $90.00...

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Originally Posted by The Champ

So you didn't even have 50 pounds (50 pounds would have been $90.00...

Check this page for the weight of copper vs. zinc pennies.

https://coincollectingenterprises.co...pennies-pound/

He obviously had some of both
50 lbs zinc $91
50 lbs copper $73.50
Clay

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by "QUICK-SILVER"

Check this page for the weight of copper vs. zinc pennies.

https://coincollectingenterprises.co...pennies-pound/

He obviously had some of both
50 lbs zinc $91
50 lbs copper $73.50
Clay

Clay

I had already posted that face value per pound earlier in this thread (in round numbers - $1.80 per pound vs $1.45 per pound).

Seeing as how the copper coins haven't been minted in nearly 40 years, I suspect that the number of pre zinc coins doesn't account for the loss of $4.68 in the total payout.

Maybe the 50+ pounds claimed included the weight of the jar they were in.

[PontiacJim1959]

The shortages seem to be random, even within the same town. I drive on the road during the day and hit a number of stores for drinks, snacks, food. Some have no problems while other will have a sign out that they either are short on change and prefer debit/credit cards, or that they flat out have no change.

I don't have a debit card, and won't use a credit card for $3.23. I now keep change on me just in case I hit a store having no change available.

I have not done this yet, but the store has to accept cash. If they cannot provide change, make then give you an IOU for it signed/dated, then come back later for it. It's OK for me to use my credit card, well, it should be OK for them to give me credit back in the form of an IOU - or make them pull up the store's debit/credit card and deposit the change into your bank account. Why do things always seem 1-sided?

[400 4spd.]

I have my doubts about this whole "national change shortage" situation, you know, the shortage that followed the "meat shortage"? I saw a suggestion posted online that I think is a great idea. If a store claims you must pay either by card or exact change, combine both and do this. Pay the dollar amount with cash and make them put the change on your debit card.
And I personally will not shop at a local business that won't accept cash.