Beginning Coin Roll Hunting

Being a beginner coin collector and having gone through my largest source of coins already and am at the mercy of pocket change, I thought I maight venture into the realm of Roll Hunting. My question is this: how do I approach a teller at a bank for this? Do I just go up to them and say "Can i have a roll of X" or do i have to be specific on the kind of roll or what? Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I just want to make sure.T

Also, I apologize if this is in the wrong section or place and please place it accordingly if it is.

Thanks in advance.

 

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just say "Can I get x rolls of (denomination)s?"

 

I'm new to this too, and basically yes, you just go in and ask for the number of rolls you want of which coins you want. You will get mixed emotions about this, some banks will ask if it is for a business, or if you have an account with them, some banks will tell you they don't give out more than a certain amount, I have run into this quite a bit. I have found 1 bank here that has been very receptive of my requests. I bank with Bank of America and one location near my house has worked with me very well. It DOES pay to be nice and friendly, maybe bring the tellers in some donuts one morning or something.

Usually I am asking for a box of pennies, which is $25, and they have never questioned me or acted like they did not want to give it to me. I DO suggest that you try to use a bank you have an account at.

Welcome to roll hunting. Pace yourself, personally, 2500 pennies is my limit before I need to take a break for an hour or 2.

 

Like I did today:

Teller: "How can I help you?"

Me: "I want to take out 300.00 from my checking account."

Teller: "How do you want that?"

Me: "One hundred in 5's and 200 in quarters"

See.....it's that easy. I went home from the bank with 20 5's and 20 rolls of quarters.

Now I can look through them.

Then either to the other bank next week to put them in the machine, or off to the local liquor store to see if the owner wants quarters (he uses a lot) and will exchange them for 20.00 bills.

 

Thanks for the advice guys ^^ Looks like you all have a system. I plan to cash in the coins I dont want that I've accrued recently and then buy some rolls, so I needed to see how to go about that lol

Are there any reason, legal or otherwise, why they would refuse to allow you to buy rolls?

 

There ARE reasons, and unfortunately sometimes it will be as simple as the fact that you asked for a box of quarters and they do not want to pick up the box and carry it to the counter. If you begin ordering too much, some banks will get upset due to the fact that they do get charged sometimes for coins. If you are doing bulk coins very often, you may want to consider offering to pay part of the charge associated with ordering coins. From what i have been told, those typically come if you are ordering and asking for new coins, which you might not get even if you do order them.

 

Well thats good to know. I dont think I'd buy boxes of rolls at this point and i think I wouldnt buy any more than four at a time at this point either considering I'm just starting out. Do you think there would be an issue with me buying up to four at a time?

 

Most likely you'll have no issues with only 4 rolls at a time.

 

yeah, boxes of rolls are pretty heavy. Even a box of cents weighs almost 15 lbs.

 

No one will bat an eye if you ask for a few rolls of anything. Just today when I was standing in line at the bank nearly everyone in front of me asked for a few rolls of quarters after they finished their deposit/transfer/whatever.

 

Dude, please hook me up with a roll of blah blah blah. All there is to it.

 

Thanks guys lol. Im probably over thinking all of this lol

 

I would definitely start out slow with just a few rolls from a bank you're unfamiliar with. I start with just 2-3 rolls from a new bank and then gradually work my way up until I feel comfortable ordering a whole box. As mentioned earlier it really depends on the branch/chain, some banks and some tellers are happy to provide you with whatever change you ask for, but some are very stingy.

Part of this has to do with the costs incurred by banks just to keep rolled coins in stock. Banks have to pay the fed/armored car company to provide them with coins, so a lot of smaller banks are only willing to provide change as a courtesy to businesses (or individuals with a lot of money/account activity). It's been mentioned in a few other threads that eventually banks are probably going to start cutting CRHers off, especially considering how gung-ho some of the corporate banks are these days when it comes to passing along fees to the customer.

Just remember to be courteous to the tellers. Ask them how they're doing and say hello before you tell them you want change.

Oh, and once you start getting boxes and large quantities of change, it's customary to call first. Part of the reason some tellers are stingy with change is just because they don't want to have to replenish their personal stores from the vault, so they may remember you in a bad way if you clean them out every time. I've had tellers give me a hard time about change just because they didn't feel like bending down and getting it out of their mini-safes (I think she was pregnant).

 

You'll be guaranteed to successfully score as many boxes as you need if you call ahead and place a change order. Just call up the bank a couple hours before you come in and ask if they can give you X boxes, they will let you know if they even have the boxes to fill your order, and they will be able to get it out of the vault on their own time. In my experience, if the teller hasn't got the change right there in front of them, they won't get more. But if you call ahead they will get it out of the vault supply for you. Just make sure there is no fee for doing this.

 

I've been at this for about a year now. Here's a few tips I've learned.
I think everyone has said it well. Its a little different at every bank and every teller, but generally, they are helpful. Being polite and showing your appreciation go a long way and help volumes.
Also, I think we send off signals that we don't realize too. If you enter with a reasonable expectation that they will help you, they usually do. If you start off kind of "if-y" and apologizing and saying "is it ok if..." then you leave the door open to 2 answers, yes or no, and they may choose no. Simply ask for what you want, in a polite way, with a confidant (NOT cocky) expectation that they will fulfill your request. It really leaves only one door open for them; to fill your request.
In my experience, it helps if you deposit your left over coins, instead of cashing them in.
Ask for your paper roll sleeves where you deposit, not where you get the coins.
It probably doesn't make any difference, but I also always ask for more than one denomination, something that a business would do. Collectors often ask for only one denomination.
So there's my 2c worth, good hunting!

 

When you say "deposit" and "cash in", what do you mean?

 

You're not over thinking it, there are right and wrong ways to go about it. For instance, never say:

"How much cash do you guys keep in the back?!"

or

"Put all the coin rolls in this bag!"

These types of things can lead to unpleasant misunderstandings.

Kidding aside, I think I've landed in a pretty lucky situation. I bank at Fifth-Third, and the tellers at the bank near my apartment are willing to order $100 worth of pennies for me each month as long as I do not bring the coins back to them when I'm finished. There happens to be another Fifth-Third across town that has an automated coin counter that does not charge fees for members when cashing in $100 or less. So each month I pick up pennies from the one bank, then return them to the other with no fees. Everyone is happy, especially me! :smile

 

You can take the coins you don't want back to bank and either "deposit" them into you account or "cash them in" for bills, i.e. exchange the coins for an equal amount of paper money.

Either way, make sure you return the coins at a different bank than you pick up coins from, otherwise you will likely keep get back the very same coins you already searched and returned!

 

Oh gotcha. Sorry lol My mind wasnt quite grasping that.

 

I know theres only one bank here who will sell you any at all unless you have an account with them. "peace"