I have a dozen or so mixed denomination, general circulation euro coins that I don't want to keep until I happen to go to europe again. I was wondering if I could get anything for them at a local coin shop here in California. Does anyone have any experience trying to do this? Is there a place here in L.A. area that exchanges coins at current exchange rates?
I heard on another forum the other day that coin shops in CA that buy current coinage pay 50% of face, hardly worth the effort, save them until your next visit or give them to someone who is coming sooner.
I've seen this kind of thing on eBay. They're listed as "vacation coins", leftover coins from someone's holiday to a foreign country. Probably not worth selling on eBay though bdunnse because of the small number that you have. Take Davey's advice. Bruce
Give them to kids (nieces / nephews / neighborhood residents). You might inspire a new coin collector.
Here in NYC, they will not exchange coins. Only bills. You'll need to find someone that collects them otherwise you're stuck with them. When I came back from canada, before I was collecting coins, I came back with around $30 in $1 and $2 coins, and only when I went to exchange them did I find out that they will not take them. Luckily my boss was going to Canada in a few months and he took them off my hands.
There aren't too many banks around that will handle foreign coins. In Japan, banks won't exchange foreign coins, so a lot of those coins being brought into Japan from Japanese travelers returning from overseas end up in charity donation boxes.
Many airlines (assuming you're flying from another country) will pass a box up and down the aisles collecting pocket change. It all goes to charities for the various countries. I've seen lots of folks empty their pockets of foreign coins that way.
What I'd give for a trip to Europe! Then again, the hassles of passports and such. And then again being a suspect in a murder (Amanda Knox). Food's good I hear but I'll pass on the option.......
If you're just going over to Europe for sightseeing, I doubt that you would have much trouble with your passport. Your biggest concern would be losing it. And you can travel between most EU countries the same way you travel between states in the US.
Airline tickets are not that expensive; I fly to the US once or twice a year. What makes a trip pricy is accommodation, food, etc. But yes, if you do not have a passport, that may be a problem. At least the EU does not charge the "entry fee" that the US wants (ESTA) from us Europeans ... The last times I flew there (AA), the flight attendants would come along the aisle and collect "leftover change" for Unicef. On the flight to the US, I gave them some € coins; on the flight back, they got some $ coins. Seems somewhat silly to me to take such change home. Christian
I went to the coin shop the other day with some u.s. coins I wanted to trade in for coins he had. He gave me a fair price, then I showed him a handfull of odd european coins (austria, poland, czech, etc. - total in US$ would have been maybe $2 or $3) and asked him to please take them off my hands even if he couldn't give me anything for them. He added a dollar to my trade in value, and took the coins and threw them in his box of foreign coins that he had. I didn't try to give/trade/sell him the euro coins I had because I have enough of them so it is worth saving them for my next trip to the zone. Never have seen the flight crew collecting coins before though - interesting idea, as long as it is legitimate.
