Educating Bank Tellers

I had a fantastic experience with a teller in 1947 when I was 12. Our families knew each other. She called me and said there was a $5 gold piece just turned in that I could have for $5. I rushed down with my bank book. I couldn't take any money out because the account was in trust with my father. Dash home, get his signature and back to the bank to collect the coin. It was a 1906 D in pretty nice shape.
Thus it was 41 years old, 29 years older than me. I felt like I had a souvenir from the very ancient past. I have now owned it 63 years. Now it seems only slightly older than I am.

I asked the same teller to get me a large size $1 bill. The next thing I knew, her brother GAVE me a series 1899 one.

 

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That's awesome! I'd be amazed to find a gold piece at the bank.... even in 1947.

 

Seriously. I'll give you $6 for it. That's a dollar profit. I'll even go $10. $5 profit, double your money.

 

Adjusted for inflation, $5 in 1947 is $47.51 today. He'd be taking a bath to let you nab it for $10. I'll round up and give him $50.

 

I have often wondered how legal my transaction was. I was told it was discussed by senior management at the bank. They decided it was O K for me to have it since I was a known coin collector.
That is true, but I am not sure a bank was allowed to turn one back. This was a savings bank. Member banks of the Federal Reserve System were required to turn them in to the Fed which turned them in to the Treasury. In a few years (1950's I think), the Federal Reserve finally told member banks to direct anybody turning in gold coins to their local rare coin dealer.

 

Wow, that's pretty crazy!

 

You would have thought that gold piece would have seen the blast furnace a long time before it ever got into your hands.

Chris

 

The less my bank tellers know, the better off I am. As long as I don't get a bunch of baloney when I try to order coin, I'm happy. There is nothing more frustrating for a coin collector than to spot a silver half/quaret/dime in the tellers tray and then be told "I'm saving that for myself, or my husband or my boyfriend".

 

Three times already my local Chase banks that I dump at have miscounted how much I was dumping! One time the teller counted more than $50 in my favor and when I told her that she didn't even say thank you or crack a smile. The other time a teller counted my dime rolls as $10 rolls, which resulted in me dumping $500 instead of $250. She was counting out the cash when I told her. At least she said thank you to me.

 

I'd change banks or at least move to a different branch.

Chris

 

I don't think I would have told them. Their fault, not mine.

 

HAHA yea at my bank thatd be a fatal attraction. Be taking some girl out in hopes she'll collect valuable coins for you whilst shes thinking your out to get in her pants. NO JUST THE COINS BABY!!!! :hail:

 

Hmm, maybe I should date a teller... haha.

 

Right! She's thinking menage et trois, huh?

Nope! That's why you should always invite them in pairs or as a group. There is safety in numbers.

Chris

 

There were not. Once the gold came into their hands it was supposed to be returned to the government and not paid back out. Same as $500 and $1000 notes today. You may have a point though since it was a Savings Bank. They may have not been under the same strict obligation.

A lot of people didn't turn in their gold when directed to back in 1933. There was a legal loophole that allowed them to keep at least part of it. As time passed though te next generation, and some of the older one, came to believe that it was illegal for them to have the gold. Some people in order to try and get rid of it anonymously would do things like hide it in the middle of a roll of coins or in the case of half eagles use them in vending machines as nickels.

 

I don't think unfriendly bank tellers have anything to do with the customer's attitude, so much as it has to do with bank policy. I used to try to get rolls of change to look through at our only bank in town, which happens to be a multi-national bank I'll leave nameless. They would sometimes get me the rolls but act like it was a huge inconvenience for them. Later, after having met and gotten to know one of the managers, outside of banking business, I found out that their policy is not to hand out loads of change to customers unless they are buying for business purposes, as it ends up costing the bank money. Not only does the bank have to pay full face value for the coins it receives, it has to pay for armed transport of those coins, and storage fees and a whole slew of other fees. Banks are businesses and have to make money too. If the tellers seem less than receptive to your requests, instead of chalking it up to rudeness, do a little research into that bank's policies. It'll make life a little easier for both parties.
Guy~

 

There may be a time when we will pay a fee to even deal with a teller.
The large banks have had thoughts of this for some time.

 

...................................which would result in the biggest run on banks in the history of this country.

Chris

 

I fear this too. I read an article today that BOA is going to start charging fees to see a teller, which will pretty much put a stop to my roll searching. I've tried to be nice to the tellers that order for me. I have brought in doughnuts. I felt bad when they sold me a bag of halves where over 1600 of them were silver.

 

BAC is a pain in the ass compared to my other local banks, TD and Sun East. They'll never get more than 5% of my business.