OK, here's hoping to keep this thread focused.
I have a proposal that doesn't require anyone to give up their trade secrets and can only help us all.
First, a little background.
The Federal Reserve has finally admitted to performing no verification what-so-ever on the fitness of coins it receives. All they do is weigh the bag. http://www.frbservices.org/operations/currency/coin.html
"Unlike currency, there is no need to sort the coins for fitness since coins are damaged very rarely. The average life of a coin is estimated to be 30 years. Generally, all coin accepted by the Federal Reserve System is weighed (at a Reserve Bank Office or by armored carriers) and redistributed to depository institutions when they place orders. "
But....
Here is the Federal Reserve Bank's Operating Circular #2 http://www.frbservices.org/files/regulations/pdf/operating_circular_2.pdf
On page 7 (section 4.7 UNCURRENT COIN) you will notice "Prepare uncurrent coin for deposit in the same manner as current coin. Each denomination of uncurrent coin must be in a separate bag with a tag clearly marked “UNCURRENT COIN.”
The mint defines uncurrent as
UNCURRENT: U.S. coins which are merely worn or reduced in weight by natural abrasion,
readily and clearly recognizable and machine countable, are classified as Uncurrent Coins.
And as a side note, the Mint has interestingly started paying almost face value for mutilated coins.
http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/faqs/mutilated.pdf
You will note that they are paying $20 per pound for dimes, quarters, Halves, and IKES. $1000 of halves is less than ½ pound shy of 50 pounds. 20x50 = $1000. But shipping kills this deal. Even for those in Philadelphia, the worn coins would clearly have a reduced weight resulting in significantly less than face value payout.
========================
Now, here's my proposal and I admit it would only work for those that search several thousand a week and have $1000 to tie up, but I think there is a potential payoff in the long run.
As we search coins, keep a bag/bucket handy and separate anything that fits the description of "Uncurrent" such as the "casino" coins we frequently come across. I personally would also put in this category any half that has been "defaced" or "damaged" but is still machine countable.
Now, to try to get the bank to go along with this, we need to do it with a little involvement from the bank as possible.
When we have a $1000 in uncurrent coins, take them with the rest of our coins to the bank, but when we cash out, put enough normal halves into the counter to fill the current bag. Then with the next bag, fill it up solely with the uncurrent coins. When that bag is full, we could provide a big gaping Red sticker that clearly and unmistakably states "UNCURRENT" (use a Tag for banks that use canvas bags).
Thus the bank could ship the bag out as they normally do, but then (hopefully) the bag would get routed to the mint rather than recirculated.
Doing this would mostly benefit those doing it as their source would start to dwindle and they would reduce the number of coins that they recirculate to themselves. It would also help those in rural areas who are even more likely to get their own coins back.
========================
Something I have not been able to get a decent answer on is what is the best way to label the bags to help ensure that they don't just get recirculated. I've seen plenty of instances where the FRB has recirculated $2 bills that were clearly unfit. It may be that these depository institutions have not dealt with uncurrent coin yet and this may be a new thing for many of them. If anyone else decides to try this or has a really good relationship with a bank to getter better answers, would be nice to post here for all to read. I plan on doing the same.
I have a proposal that doesn't require anyone to give up their trade secrets and can only help us all.
First, a little background.
The Federal Reserve has finally admitted to performing no verification what-so-ever on the fitness of coins it receives. All they do is weigh the bag. http://www.frbservices.org/operations/currency/coin.html
"Unlike currency, there is no need to sort the coins for fitness since coins are damaged very rarely. The average life of a coin is estimated to be 30 years. Generally, all coin accepted by the Federal Reserve System is weighed (at a Reserve Bank Office or by armored carriers) and redistributed to depository institutions when they place orders. "
But....
Here is the Federal Reserve Bank's Operating Circular #2 http://www.frbservices.org/files/regulations/pdf/operating_circular_2.pdf
On page 7 (section 4.7 UNCURRENT COIN) you will notice "Prepare uncurrent coin for deposit in the same manner as current coin. Each denomination of uncurrent coin must be in a separate bag with a tag clearly marked “UNCURRENT COIN.”
The mint defines uncurrent as
UNCURRENT: U.S. coins which are merely worn or reduced in weight by natural abrasion,
readily and clearly recognizable and machine countable, are classified as Uncurrent Coins.
And as a side note, the Mint has interestingly started paying almost face value for mutilated coins.
http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/faqs/mutilated.pdf
You will note that they are paying $20 per pound for dimes, quarters, Halves, and IKES. $1000 of halves is less than ½ pound shy of 50 pounds. 20x50 = $1000. But shipping kills this deal. Even for those in Philadelphia, the worn coins would clearly have a reduced weight resulting in significantly less than face value payout.
========================
Now, here's my proposal and I admit it would only work for those that search several thousand a week and have $1000 to tie up, but I think there is a potential payoff in the long run.
As we search coins, keep a bag/bucket handy and separate anything that fits the description of "Uncurrent" such as the "casino" coins we frequently come across. I personally would also put in this category any half that has been "defaced" or "damaged" but is still machine countable.
Now, to try to get the bank to go along with this, we need to do it with a little involvement from the bank as possible.
When we have a $1000 in uncurrent coins, take them with the rest of our coins to the bank, but when we cash out, put enough normal halves into the counter to fill the current bag. Then with the next bag, fill it up solely with the uncurrent coins. When that bag is full, we could provide a big gaping Red sticker that clearly and unmistakably states "UNCURRENT" (use a Tag for banks that use canvas bags).
Thus the bank could ship the bag out as they normally do, but then (hopefully) the bag would get routed to the mint rather than recirculated.
Doing this would mostly benefit those doing it as their source would start to dwindle and they would reduce the number of coins that they recirculate to themselves. It would also help those in rural areas who are even more likely to get their own coins back.
========================
Something I have not been able to get a decent answer on is what is the best way to label the bags to help ensure that they don't just get recirculated. I've seen plenty of instances where the FRB has recirculated $2 bills that were clearly unfit. It may be that these depository institutions have not dealt with uncurrent coin yet and this may be a new thing for many of them. If anyone else decides to try this or has a really good relationship with a bank to getter better answers, would be nice to post here for all to read. I plan on doing the same.
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