Coin Guy

[wolfie]

For s & g's (s**** and giggles) I will occasionally send a penny through the coinstar machine. I'll get my penny back and the damnedest look from the cashier (always an old coworker who knows/gets my sense of humor) as they realize what they just cashed in.

Just curious, but what unexpected (from the cashier's viewpoint) result does this produce?

i would always run it through the coinscale to ensure the correct value was entered and that there weren't any slugs in it (happened on more than one occasion).

Why is it that rolls of coins wind up with slugs in them, but never snails?

[taxguykarl]

I usually send all my loose coin thru a self scan ....

My favorite way to rid that load on my pockets.

As far as buying loose or rolled coin

The last time I "sold" such change was at an indy dollar store--the manager noticed that I had a lot and gladly converted them to greenbacks and quarters.

[Jarlaxle]

I don't see a problem with ROLLED coins...honestly, I suspect most retail stores would be HAPPY to get them!

[Monterey Jack]

I don't see a problem with ROLLED coins...honestly, I suspect most retail stores would be HAPPY to get them!

How about if the store opens up a roll of "dimes" only to find pennies inside?

[Mytical]

Okay, Myt, with that buildup you HAVE to tell it!

I will create a new thread, don't want to hijack this one. I will give a bit of a hint. I have never facepalmed so hard..and stories hear make me do the facepalm quite often.

[bbbr]

Just curious, but what unexpected (from the cashier's viewpoint) result does this produce?

Brainlock is the usual result once they realize the value of the slip...

[Jarlaxle]

How about if the store opens up a roll of "dimes" only to find pennies inside?

Won't work...seen it tried, I can spot it every time.

[Chromatix]

FWIW, the definition of "legal tender" (in the UK, at least) is purely the method that is guaranteed to discharge a debt which is brought up in court. The rules are a bit fiddly, but boil down to:

- Exact change only - to the penny.
- Use Bank of England notes and Royal Mint coins, all in Sterling currency, if the debt is denominated in Sterling. No cheques or other financial instruments - only cash.
- Use the largest denominations possible to add up to the correct amount. So no, you can't do it in pennies out of spite. However, I believe there are some minor exceptions to a strict interpretation of this rule; certainly I suspect that any "reasonable" combination of currency would satisfy the court in practice.

If the debtor brings money satisfying those criteria to the court and states that he is willing to use that money to settle the debt then and there, then the creditor cannot legally claim that the debtor was unwilling to pay, and must accept that offer of payment, or else lose the right to enforce the debt by any other means.

[Seanette]

How about if the store opens up a roll of "dimes" only to find pennies inside?

Since there's a significant size difference between the two, I would expect a cashier with at least half a brain to notice the discrepancy.

[Jarlaxle]

That!^^^^^

[wolfie]

Since there's a significant size difference between the two, I would expect a cashier with at least half a brain to notice the discrepancy.

Back in the BBS days, one "dark side" file I saw gave instructions on how to file down pennies in order to make dime slugs (for use in vending machines). Even way back then, the fraudsters would be "earning" less than minimum wage.

[bankworking]

But you have to open and count the rolls too. Unless you get a roll of coins straight from the bank, there could be *anything* in there.

And don't think scammers won't do it.

Come to think of it, I've gotten canadian quarters in change from SCO that have their "change" bins filled from bank rolls, so even that isn't a guarantee.

Don't think bank rolls are safe. Many of the rolls we give out are rolls that our customers gave to us. And even honest customers will miss things. Though I had one woman who was so worried about shorting her rolls that she put an extra coin in every roll. Short or over, it still made our drawers off. HATED it when my drawer was off. Fortunately, my bank uses change counters now. No charge for our own customers either.

[Seanette]

Where I work, we normally get our coin rolls from the bank. I found a foreign coin in with my quarters a few days ago.

[raudf]

It's amazing how often a Canadian penny will get slipped into a roll of pennies. At both jobs I had, I'd open a bank roll of pennies and find at least one Canadian coin.. which I'd get if I were in one of the Northern states. Between that and the occasional slug people would try to pass off as a coin... yeah.

Arkansas requires that lenders accept legal tender (aka CASH) as payment for debts. Failure to do so will result in the debt being forgiven.. or so I have been told by both a nurse and a lawyer.

[Dreamstalker]

Is foreign coin (that's not valid in the business location) 'legal tender' though? A store can't do anything with it and I'd suspect that the bank doesn't want it either/won't credit the store.

We can't use it...usually it just ends up circulating until someone brings their stash to the Coinstar and it ends up in the reject tray. (now there's an experiment. Somehow mark a Canadian coin that's in the cash drawer and see if it eventually ends up in the Coinstar ten feet away...tracking the coin would probably require an RFID tag of sorts though and might get into all kinds of 'privacy' issues...while the coin could be tracked nobody would know who had it). Usually I can catch said coins before giving them as change, but I've had SCs demand that I open the drawer to "give them an American penny" (a couple have been ballsy enough to rifle through their change purse and try to give me all their strange coins to exchange...no. There are two banks within walking distance).