What to do with copper coins ?

WasBorntoBoo

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I have been living in the same house now for the last four years and have been collecting all my copper coins in that time.
I have literally a whole drawer full of them at this stage. I am off in my travels now and don’t fancy lugging the coins to South East Asia with them.
I have heard rumours of coin counting machines in shops but have not seen one myself. Anyone know if there are any in Central Dublin or the Raithmines area ?
Also if I took the coins into a bank , would they count them for me and lodge them in my account ?
 
The bank will charge you for handling them.

Those machines in Tesco will charge 10% for converting them.

How much in money are we talking about?
 
you would have to have them bagged for a bank - i used to use one in a shop near dromcondra station....long way from rathmines though sorry
 
If you have an accurate weighing scale you could weigh instead of counting:

Coin value|€2.00|€1.00|€0.50|€0.20|€0.10|€0.05|€0.02|€0.01
Coin Weight (g)|8.5|7.5|7.8|5.7|4.1|3.9|3|2.3
Bagged Value|€50|€25|€25|€10|€10|€5|€2|€1
Bagged Weight (g)|212.5|187.5|390|285|410|390|300|230
Or a good balance would mean counting a bag of each denomination and balance against each subsequent bag of the same denomination.

Weight of coins from http://europa.eu/legislation_summar...roducing_euro_practical_aspects/l25028_en.htm

Pubs and other retail outlets buy coins from banks... Maybe you local would do a deal - fair exchange is no robbery!
Or you could pay for your shopping anywhere they have self service tills (most large supermarkets). Just load coins until you reach the bill value! Not sure what the machine does if you overload by €10 - it may just dump your coins back - but at least you would have them "counted" without paying the 10% fee! And there is always the possibility that they will refund you in notes - happy days!
 
Indeed, Brendan. :D

Those self service tills are not able to handle that much coinage in any event.
 
Tesco in Rathmines has a coin counting machine behind the tills.It charges 9.9% commission.
 
In my house sharing days, one of the guys was notorious at hoarding coins and literally threw them out every few months.

I managed to retrieve them before the bin collector got them, brought them to the bank (after bagging them properly) and got the €100 or so in crisp notes.

Recently, I had a few euro worth of 1c and 2c and I got rid of them in the Tesco self-service machine over a few visits. It is slow but eminently satisfying.

I tried to use 5c coins in a vending machine somewhere recently but they rejected.

Only last Saturday, I used a good few 10c and 20c coins in a local shop and the lady serving was only too delighted. She said she'd take any amount of even coppers off me in exchange for euro coins or notes. Shops are only delighted to get change.

Hopefully, the 1c, 2c and 5c coins will be withdrawn soon if the Wexford experiment was as good as they say.
 
I would just bag them and bring them one at a time to the supermarket, local shop when you are buying something. That's what I do. I also collect coins from garage forecourts and the like. Got 10 cent yesterday on the street.
 
As Crugers has said above, pubs have to pay dearly for change from the bank.

They will gladly take all the coins from you and may even throw in a free pint. :)
 
Use them.
Local businesses will love you.
The Central Bank will love you.
(The people in the queue behind you might lynch you)
 
I save them on purpose and donate to charities. Perhaps I'll donate to AAM the next time I meet the boss :D
 
Coins

I have dumped several collections of coins such as foreign and old style pennies at the airport. You will find large glass collection jars near the security queues. Proceeds go to charity.... we hope. Part of ongoing decluttering.

When kids were small it was an annual chore for them to sort coins but it was never a huge amount and seemed a lot of effort. The local sweetshop was not appreciative as he said he got too many and bank charged him to take in the coins. Meanwhile the butcher was delighted as he had to pay bank to get coins!
 
Funny, we also had sorting and counting, as part of the holiday experience.
The last time my grown up daughter complained that she had no money, I suggested that she count the coins and bag them. After a few weeks she asked me to count them for her.
I did one day bag them. When I mentioned that they were ready for her she asked me to give her the money instead.
I thought I would give them to my grandchildren instead. They had a similar reaction
when they had spent the larger donominations
Seems no body wants them, except the charities.
Browtal
 
Indeed, Brendan. :D

Those self service tills are not able to handle that much coinage in any event.

Find these great for getting rid of small change. If it's the more up to date tills, then it doesn't really inconvenience anyone behind you. Simply empty your pockets! - and the machine sorts them out. I try and visit tescos every so often to get rid of the coppers. If they don't make the complete bill, I just pay the difference with visa debit card.
 
The NRA will love me....Toll booths are a great way of getting rid of the really small change. However you may cause a major traffic tailback waiting for all your lovely 1 cent pieces to go through the machine. Also don't spill them all on the road first :eek:.
 
Maybe it's different where you live, but none of the toll booth machines I've ever used take small denomination coins.
 
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