Craigslist?

[wildturkey44]

On Friday I posted a 'wanted' ad on Craigslist asking to buy people's loose change. I've had one response so far; someone offered a 5 gallon bucket full of pennies. He apparently has yet to find my response in his spam box. Anyhoo, does anyone have any success stories doing something similar, or do you have any better ideas on how to get those old buckets of change that have been sitting around for a while? I figured this would be a better way of getting large quantities of coins. The only hard part seems to be in estimating the value of a bucket full of mixed coins.

 

[SilverForBrains]

I don't think you need to bother with a magnet or a scale. Just get out some clad coins and some silver coins and compare how they look, feel and sound. after awhile you can spot silver from a mile away and all the fakes look very obvious

 

[jeff of pa]

On Friday I posted a 'wanted' ad on Craigslist asking to buy people's loose change. I've had one response so far; someone offered a 5 gallon bucket full of pennies. He apparently has yet to find my response in his spam box. Anyhoo, does anyone have any success stories doing something similar, or do you have any better ideas on how to get those old buckets of change that have been sitting around for a while? I figured this would be a better way of getting large quantities of coins. The only hard part seems to be in estimating the value of a bucket full of mixed coins.

or do what the pros do.

get a full size counter and find a store to accept it.

Charge 5% .

Or 0% if used in the store.

either way you get all the people cashing in change in Desperation
for Smokes, gas & Food

 

[Dodeskaden]

Good points, fellas. I didn't think about other CR hunters pawning their coins off on me. I guess I was thinking that the old man with the precious old change would be more willing to sell me their coins rather than cart them to the coinstar. I suppose I will abandon the idea; thanks everyone for posting your insight. Back to the bank I go!

In the past, when friends mentioned that they had a load of coins to take to the bank, I occasionally offered to take them off their hands and give them cash after I counted and rolled them (I actually enjoy rolling the coins as I go through them, rather than accumulating a lot of free coins to dump at a bank machine). Those friends were happy to give me their sacks and jars of change, and they trusted me to count accurately of course. (I rounded up to the nearest dollar since their goal was to get rid of coins.)

I did this maybe a dozen times, but quit after the hit ratio was no better than with the MWRs I got at that bank. I realize my sample size wasn't large enough to definitely conclude that my friends' change offered no hunting advantage over bank rolls, and my friends definitely weren't elderly people who were turning in coins they might have held onto or decades. But for what worth...