How to not piss off banks

[Wes_]

Hello everyone, totally new to this hobby. I've got my first box of halves on order from my bank. They seemed happy to do it for me, as they know me there. I also found a credit union in town with a coin counter (the only one in town that I know of), and I intend to join and bring my coins in there. I'm wondering, how much is a bank or credit union willing to take (e.g. how much, how often) before you get "banned"? I'd hate to screw it up with this CU, since as I say I think it's the only counter in town.

Other interesting note- this particular CU has one (real) branch in town, and couple store branches, one of which is in the Wal-Mart near my home. I stopped and asked for halves and dollars the other day, and they were very nice about it, didn't even ask if I was a member. I sat and talked for some time with one of the tellers, who was a bit of a collector himself. He buys noticeably interesting things that come through his drawer (SBAs, Ikes, United States notes, etc.) but did not know anything about silver halves. Sounded like they don't get much of that stuff as an "in-store" branch. Real nice guy though.

I've gone through perhaps 10-15 rolls of halves I've found at banks so far. No silver yet, but I did find a 2004-P.

 

[fiatboy]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[coolpix9]

Take the dump bank/credit union a dozen donuts when you go cash in the first time. You will be considered for sainthood by the tellers. You don't have to do it everytime, but it sure goes a long way. They will start saving coins for you if you grease the wheels first. Cheers and welcome to our nightmare. Jim

 

[fiatboy]

You've been warned: Once you start coin hunting, you will not stop.

 

[Wes_]

Cheers and welcome to our nightmare.

Ha, well put- I've hardly looked through any so far and I confess to being quite obsessed with it.

 

[waseeker]

I take the tellers at my dump bank some sort of treat about once a month. sometimes it's home made or seasonal (valentine candy, easter eggs, etc). They are great to me. I go through some 5-10 bags of cents a week and when I take them in, I just leave them and the tellers run them through the coin counter during their slow time. They do this for me even though it is a self service coin counter.

they also are on the lookout for odd/unusual things for me. They let me know when another branch has a full bag of half dollars, and they refer customers to me who mention they have old coins to get rid of.

I love those girls.

 

[prizm II]

I use a credit union for my dump, I alternate two branches. I search 6 boxes a week and so far have dumped about 80,000 coins there. At first I asked is it OK to bring in my coins and how much is too much? They said no problem, bring them in! After the first couple of weeks when everything was going smooth I brought each branch a can of Almond Roca and at Easter a bad of candy. I'm always all smiles and very thankful for the service that I get from them. Just let them know that you appreciate them for helping you as a coin collector. Coin counting machines is the only way to go.

 

[Cgardner]

yea I am kind of new as well and I would like to ask the question... when you ask for rolls what do you say... "hey can you find me the oldest coin rolls in the vault?" lol

I'm not really sure how to go about asking to trade my newer change for something that might have older coins in it? and I am also not too sure about what to do with the change I dont keep... I know everyone says coin counters are the way to go, but is it not eventually cheaper to roll them and return them if you dont have access to a free coin counter? And is it likely that a local Wachovia branch would have a free coin counter?

 

[scotto]

Welcome to ther addiction!!!

 

[prizm II]

yea I am kind of new as well and I would like to ask the question... when you ask for rolls what do you say... "hey can you find me the oldest coin rolls in the vault?" lol

I'm not really sure how to go about asking to trade my newer change for something that might have older coins in it? and I am also not too sure about what to do with the change I dont keep... I know everyone says coin counters are the way to go, but is it not eventually cheaper to roll them and return them if you dont have access to a free coin counter? And is it likely that a local Wachovia branch would have a free coin counter?

Wes, Cgardner and any others looking for tips--- I just take with me any money that I have in savings, it can be $10 or $2,000, just take what you can into the bank and ask for half dollar coins and if they ask how much just say all of them please The more you can buy the better your chances on finding silver. $500 is a good amount because they may have a full bag from the coin counting machine and these can be very good, very good indeed! Plan a little route of say 10 banks and buy every half you can find, search them and find a place to dump them. Keep reading here and you will be an expert in no time Good Luck to all and happy hunting.

 

[cyberdan]

I'm not really sure how to go about asking to trade my newer change for something that might have older coins in it?

and I am also not too sure about what to do with the change I dont keep...

I would suggest bring in folding money to trade for coins. I don't think any teller would appreciate exchanging coins for coins.

I would also suggest never bringing the rejects back to the same bank where you bought them. First it will wear out your welcome and 2nd you will start buying back your own coins. Join another bank (or 2 or 3) and use them only as "dump" banks.

 

[TxTim]

Wes, Cgardner and any others looking for tips--- I just take with me any money that I have in savings, it can be $10 or $2,000, just take what you can into the bank and ask for half dollar coins and if they ask how much just say all of them please The more you can buy the better your chances on finding silver. $500 is a good amount because they may have a full bag from the coin counting machine and these can be very good, very good indeed! Plan a little route of say 10 banks and buy every half you can find, search them and find a place to dump them. Keep reading here and you will be an expert in no time Good Luck to all and happy hunting.

Good advice but I try to limit my first purchase to $100.
If you don't find something in the first $100, chances are that you found someone elses dump bank.
if you do find anything, go back and buy the balance.

 

[Wes_]

Picked up 7 rolls today from my bank, where my first box is on order. Didn't find any keepers, but I did find two with ink on the 2nd digit of the date. I'm guessing this is a CRHer marking their coins? I know this isn't a dump bank though, since none of the branches has a coin counter and when they do have halves they are always machine rolled. Still, bad news if someone is searching in my area, since it's not exactly heavily populated.