Fed Banks charge for rolled coinage?

I went to our local main branch of Wells Fargo last Friday. I walked in and asked the teller if I could buy a bank box of $25 worth of pennies. Of course her first question was "are you a member". I said no, why does that matter, Im just coming in to buy rolled coinage why do I have to be a member. She proceeded to tell me that they charge non customers $5 to go into the vault to get coins out. I looked at her and asked her if they were a FED bank- she said yes but that is still their policy. I told her where they could stick their policy and went next door to the Valley Bank branch and they had no problem selling me the $25 in pennies. No questions asked.

I just thought the local FED bank couldnt deny a person from purchasing rolled coin. Is there something I need to do here or call the regional FED branch. I know the easy answer is to just open an account with a minimal balance but I dont want to have to do that. But I suppose if I want to order coinage I'll probably have to do that.

 

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Do all the banks have some of the new pennies now? Oh and will they all sell you a $25.00 box.
Bob

 

Im sure they do, but I was looking to just do some roll searching to see what I could find, I wasnt necessarily looking for new cents. I know that a lot of banks will tell you when they get new coins that you can only buy so many rolls. I just find if comical that a local fed bank for this region tells me I have to be a member to simply buy rolled coin at face value or pay a vault fee of $5- this stuff really upsets me. I realize a teller might have to walk a few feet to get to the vault but come on. This never happened when I was younger.

 

I would have told the bank fine, I'll take 4 boxes of them... made them go back to the vault for the coins, then when they asked for your $105 I'd say no thanks, I changed my mind about paying that silly $5 fee... then see if they'd let you have them for $100 since at that point they are already out of the vault

 

Oh yes I agree with you on that one. Can't believe it but whats new these days!!
Thanks
Bob

 

I guess I just find it strange that a fed bank would make you pay for the rolled coin and I actually didnt think it was legal. But I suppose a bank can set its own policies. I just refuse to bank at places like that, its rediculous if you ask me to charge more than face value for coins. Its a bank and part of their job is to sell coinage, whether it be out of their drawer or out of the vault... its like the tellers are lazy or something I guess.

 

i work for wachovia(soon to be wells fargo) we dont make it a habit of selling coin out to non account holders. reason we dont normally sell to non customers is we have a hard enough time keeping up with the demand of our actual customers. our regular business customers get upset if they cant get there coin and we tell them we just gave it to a non customer. dont get me wrong if you needed a roll or quarters or 2 or some dimes that wouldnt be an issue but boxes are another thing. even the customer bank rolled stuff goes out as fast as it comes in. JMHO

 

I hate to tell you this, but Wells-Fargo is not a Federal bank. There are 12 of them and they are not open to the public.

Secondly, banks are businesses. As such, they can accept or refuse any form of monetary transaction and charge any fee desired. They could choose to only accept 50¢ pieces for all transaction, they could choose only to work in charge cards, only $20's, etc. This was round discussed about a year ago (although I could not find it tonight).

 

I had a bank flat deny to sell me coins if I was not a customer.....and tell me it had to do with 9/11.

Of course, they are a business and it does cost to roll and transport the coins so I can perhaps see their point.

I've opened minimal checking accounts at a couple of different banks ($50) so that I don't get hassles.

B

 

Likewise, I have had a bank deny me any rolls. I did not bother to ask why and I will not go back to find out why.

 

WWSMDD: What would Scrooge McDuck do?

One. Perhaps you think that everyone in America should subsidize your hobby. You are not giving out change yourself, but searching rolls to find valuable coins.

Two. How do coins get from the Mint to you? They travel by truck, usually. Who pays for that? We, the ultimate users do not. How do banks make money by giving out change? (Do shoe stores give out shoe laces?) The cost must be borne by some other activity of the bank. In order for the bank to give out free change, other people pay more for loans and get less for deposits.

Three. As you note, it was not so in our younger days... before the Dot.Com Meltdown and all the rest. As Lou Mannheim said in Wall Street, "It's easy to look smart in a bull market." With times being tough right now, who can afford the extra burden of unpaid service?

Four. BTW, just asking, if you found a 55-DDO in a roll, would you split the take with the Bank in return for their goodwill toward you?

 

Logic is non-contradictory thinking.

The key concept there is sell. You said that it is the business of the bank to sell coinage. At what price? Do you mean sell for zero price?

It is true that Francoise Velde, himself both a numismatist and an economist for the Federal Reserve wrote in The Big Problem of Small Change that our wonderful, modern system lets you exchange four quarters for one dollar at no cost to you. And back again at no cost, if you want, and again and again. In most of history, especially during the commercial revolution of the Middle Ages, four pennies were not equal to a groat. One had more utility than the other, and so carried a different market price.

I am constantly disappointed in the lacunae within the knowledge bases of numismatists. In our hobby, we buy and sell money, yet anti-capitalist errors persist.

 

Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.

CoinTalk is moderated or I would have even more to say.

The German sociologist and economist Max Weber opened his monumental book on The Protestant Work Ethic (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) with long quote from Benjamin Franklin's The Way to Wealth. Professor Dierdre McCloskey calls it The Bourgeois Virtues. Basically, capitalism succeeds because we do well by doing good. In other words, when you act ethically, you profit. More: in order to profit, you must act ethically. The questions remain: What is profit? What is ethics?

 

You are correct that Wells Fargo is not a FED Reserve Bank yes. But there are usually banks in every major city/metro area that get coinage direct from the Federal Reserve (Midwest I think is Chicago and KC). These banks are their areas direct Fed Bank (perhaps Im not using the right verbage because the teller at Wells Fargo told me they are a Fed Bank not a Federal Reserve Bank... I know there is a difference).

 

Definitions differentiate and integrate

Funny use of the word "sell" there, but the point is taken. You have customers. For them, you perform services.

We are members of the Ann Arbor Peoples' Food Coop. It can be a real chore being a customer in a store where all the clerks are communists. The fact remains that we are members because as a co-op "we own it." We share in the profits. The co-op sells to people off the street at the same prices as a community service, but other food coops operate differently, either giving members a discount or surcharging non-members. (We get dividend checks annually, though not this year: bad year; new freezers.)

We actually do the same thing in numismatics. Three thousand people will go to a coin show, but only 300 are "in with the in crowd." The public pays retail... even when they carry Greysheets...

 

Sorry if I am offending/upsetting you. But as it relates to the new Lincoln cents... how is it ethical for some folks to receive boxes upon boxes of them and make absolutely rediculous profits when the average joe collector cant get his hands on one roll because the said Joe doesnt own a coin shop or have a Brinks account? I have a big problem with that too, yet all I want to do is go to a bank and buy some coin and I cannot. I buy coin from the bank I belong to frequently but I like trying other banks as well. If Wells Fargo is a bank that deals directly with the Fed in my area and they dont want to sell to me without a charge thats fine, I just wont deal with them and I'll find other places to buy my coins its not a huge deal and its their loss not mine. Perhaps if this teller was a bit less snotty with me I would have considered opening an account but not the way she acted. This isnt the first time Ive heard about how Wells Fargo treats people and Im better off for not belonging to an institution like that in the long run anyway.

I didnt go to the bank just looking to get rolls of new lincoln cents, I have people I deal with to get me them... I roll search and try to complete empty holes in my collection and of course right now is a good time to buy coin since people are cashing in their loose stuff and you never know what you might find. I know Im not going to find a $100 coin... I dont believe so anyway.

 

wow you are either having a bad day and venting or are used to posting on collectors universe where it's rip butt 1st then actually discuss...or not discuss.

whatever happen to the keep it clean like a 50's TV show

I see no reason to give a crap about banks having to pay fees for boxes of coins from the Fed.

How many collections have a mortgage or car loan or loans that really pays those fees in the interest from said loans?

I wouldn't feel sorry for any bank. They get their money one way or another... I just wish I could get loan rates that banks get from the fed...

 

When asked if you have an acct. or not, just say "Not at this time but I am looking for a bank with friendly tellers who will allow me to get boxes from time to time for my business acct.". After that, ask about their rates on CD's or any other offers you see posted up. That makes you look like a potential customer and more than likely, you get what you want and you may well become a new customer/member.

 

Technically they did not deny you service, they just wanted to charge you $5 to provide it.

Anyhow, there are many banks like that, just find the friendly ones and stick with those.

 

Thats what I'll be doing, Valley Bank here in Davenport has been selling to me for awhile so I'll stick with them. My own bank often doesnt have the presidential dollars when they come out, by Valley Bank across the street does. I just think my credit union doesnt order a lot of stuff... they also dont carry a lot of rolled coin other than for the car washes and businesses.