Until recently, TDBank branches had the best-named change-counting machines in the industry, the Penny Arcade. Now the bank is closer to settling a class action that customers filed over their allegedly miscounted change. [More]
coins
We Throw $62 Million Worth Of Coins In The Trash Every Year
By 10.13.16 — Updated: 12.29.16
The ash that’s left after incinerating garbage is not pleasant to look at or smell, but it’s still very valuable. How? The massive furnace leaves behind metal, including coins. It turns out that we throw away a lot of coins, as well as the occasional diamond ring or Chuck E. Cheese’s token. [More]
Ticked-Off NFL Player Pays $3,900 Car Shop Bill Entirely In Coins
By 9.29.16
Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert was apparently so displeased with the service he received from a car shop that he paid the business almost $4,000 using nothing but change. [More]
All Those Quarters You Lose In Your Car Go To China… And Then Get Sold Back To The U.S.
By 4.29.16
When Americans travel, our money goes with — and not just in a metaphorical sense. Where people go, coins get left behind. Meanwhile, the pennies we drop at home get swept into trash heaps and scrap yards, falling out of sight and out of mind. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist — and even if they’re beat up, it doesn’t mean they lose their value. [More]
Former Brink’s Worker Accused Of Stealing $200,000 In Quarters
By 3.8.16
When you think of the company Brink’s, you probably imagine their employees protecting money from bank robbers, bad guys, and other ne’er-do-wells. But according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one former Brink’s Company employee is on the other side of the equation, after allegedly stealing almost $200,000 worth of quarters while on the job. [More]
Man Will Pay Dentist Bill With 45 Years’ Worth Of Pennies
By 10.29.15
A 73-year-old man in Louisiana did not originally start saving all of his pennies as a fun personal finance hack. He says that he began the habit 45 years ago as a reminder to pray every day. His collection grew with the help of a friend who had a similar collection of nickels and by simply holding on to every penny that passed through his hands. [More]
Local Official Thinks It’s Uncool To Pay $25 Parking Ticket In Pennies, But Affirms Man’s Right To Do So
By 8.13.15
A Pennsylvania man who was rebuffed when he tried to pay a $25 parking ticket he owed to his borough entirely in pennies should’ve been able to use those coins, a local official said, but really, it was kind of rude for him to do so. [More]
Husband Hunts Down Special Coin For His Wife After She Uses It At Toll Booth
By 8.28.14
Finding one coin among all the others filling the coffers of toll booths is kind of like finding a needle in a haystack. Or really, it’s like finding one particular coin out of a bunch of others. But that’s just what one husband did after his wife had to use a coin with sentimental value to pay a toll. [More]
Treasure Trove Of Previously Buried Gold Coins Hit The Auction Block Tonight
By 5.27.14
Have a million dollars to spare? Then you might be able to get your hands on a coin from the mysterious $10 million buried treasure unearthed in California last year. [More]
Town Institutes Limits On Coin Payments After Woman Pays $200 Sewer Bill With Change
By 4.4.14
There is only one thing that happens when someone gets an affirmative reply to the question, “Do you accept change for payments?” You can be pretty darn sure the answer will be met with a whole lot of coins getting dumped on the counter, something one town wasn’t ready to deal with when a resident paid her $200 sewer bill almost entirely in loose coins. [More]
U.S. Mint: $10 Million Gold Coin Hoard Probably Not From 1901 Heist
By 3.5.14
When rusty cans filled with uncirculated gold coins show up seemingly out of nowhere, people are going to ask questions. Then they’ll come up with their own answers. When one amateur historian speculated that the massive hoard of gold coins found in California could have come from a 1901 inside theft at the United States Mint, it captured the public’s imagination. Mostly because that would mean the couple would have to surrender the entire find to the U.S. government. [More]
Would You Reject A Brown Nickel? Asking For A Friend (The U.S. Mint)
By 1.15.14
First of all, we’re not really friends with the U.S. Mint because it’s not a person and besides, we’ve never met it and thus have no idea if it would even laugh at all our jokes or if it likes a nice glass of wine. Everyone likes money though — unless that money looks funny. Say, a brown nickel? Would that throw you off, would you reject it as a currency? Because the Mint would like to know. [More]
Minnesota Hopes New Background Checks Will Deter Scammy Coin Dealers
By 7.29.13
As the prices of precious metals began to take off in recent years, so did the number of less-than-legitimate buyers and sellers of coins. These scammy individuals, often ex-cons, tarnished the industry by misleading people into selling their valuable coins for a fraction of what they were worth, along with instances of theft and fraud. This week, Minnesota begins implementing a new law that hopes to discourage these people from getting into the business by requiring criminal background checks. [More]
Coinstar Lets You Add Coins To Your PayPal Account, For A 10% Cut
By 6.10.13
Sure, after you check for silver quarters, you could roll up the coins in that jar you’ve got on the counter and deposit them in the bank. You could take them to a coin-counting machine at the bank and deposit them in your savings account. You could even dump them in a fountain, making hundreds of wishes in the process. But the folks behind Coinstar’s ubiquitous machines hope that you’ll take your spare change–and maybe a few bills–and deposit it in your PayPal account. [More]
Senators Continue Push To Ultimately Replace Dollar Bill With $1 Coin
By 6.6.13
In spite of decades of studies showing the long-term cost benefits of dollar coins over Federal Reserve Notes, and the fact that most of the world’s leading economies have already switched to coins for similar denominations, the U.S. has remained steadfast in its use of printed dollar bills. So once again, lawmakers in the Senate are making the push to gradually make the transition from print to mint. [More]
Trading That Old Quarter For An Ice Cream Cone May Not Be Such A Good Idea
By 5.9.13
You see this sign offering ice cream cones for only a quarter and it sounds like a pretty flippin’ awesome deal. But then you notice that the store is only looking for quarters from 1964 or earlier, and if you have one of those lying around, you might want to consider just how much you value ice cream. [More]
Sellers Of Imitation “Exclusively Authorized” 9/11 Commemorative Coins To Pay $750,000
By 1.17.13
Back in 2010, with the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the horizon, Congress authorized the U.S. Mint to produce and sell a commemorative medal. But that didn’t stop one company from advertising imitation versions it called “exclusively authorized” 9/11 commemorative dollar coins. [More]
New Zealanders Will Be Able To Buy Bilbo & Gandalf Stamps With ‘Hobbit’ Legal Tender
By 10.11.12
If there was a common currency* used in Middle Earth, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey would’ve totally been famous enough to have their faces grace coins all over the land. But back here on regular old boring Earth, they’re important enough in New Zealand to be featured on actual legal tender, as well as a new set of stamps to commemorate the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. [More]
