Don't want to start an arguement but have a question..

I am listening (reading) what everyone has to say and taking a little from just about every post. I see no ones answer here as COMPLETLY right or wrong. I see everyones view on it and respect everyones thoughts. I still have mixed feelings myself depending on the customer or situation. I do feel it's probably best just to let them all run through into the bags then just go through the bags later out of the customers view. I guess it just bothers me the thought that a customer won't even try to go through coins and get out the not seen so often things themselves but expect me to get them out.

The things that I pick out anyone would know is a little different. I'm not that educated on coins so I mainly only see wheaties, buffalos (only picked a few of those) and 1 Indian head cent. In my opinion these are things that any person could see for themselves and then if they were to ask me about the value of one I would bring out my redbook and give them the best answer that I could.

I don't see how if they aren't going to take the time to pick out these OBVIOUS things how it's my responsibility to.

I also see how it could be good customer service to pick through them and give them to the customers but I assure you I go above and beyond for my customers in many ways and I think that most of them truly appreciate me. I can also assure any who think that I'm "cheating" my work of my time that I work my butt off and have been told by my manager personally how he notices all that I do and how appreciated I am at work.

I don't want to argue with anyone about how they are wrong and I am right in my thinking. I'm always open for opinions of others and don't ask for others opinions if I'm not willing to listen to them with an open mind. I respect EVERYONES opinion and appreciate all that have taken the time to share their thoughts on this with me.

By the way I also give back money when I'm handed too much in my change so please don't think that I'm less than an honest person.

 

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Don't want to start an arguement but have a question..
Okay I don't want to start an arguement or heated discussion so please answer this question pertaining to this situation only and just to let you know I won't respond to any other posts about other situations telling me that bank employees who buy bills or coins of value from unknowing customers are wrong.

Okay here is the situation that I'm talking about. At our bank we have a changer that we have to run for the customer. The way this one is we empty the coin onto the top and skim through it looking for things that will tear the machine up. You would be surprised what we find. Some examples are pocket lint, buttons, safety pins, washers, bolts, nails, nuts, earrings, a real gold ring once, rocks and so on. Well while going through it and while waiting on my old machine to count the money occasionally I will see a wheat cent or silver dime or nickel. I've actually found silver dimes, war nickels, a couple of buffalo nickels, one Indian head cent and lots of wheat cents. Well today a customer seen me skimming through it and said "If there are any good old coins in there they are mine" Well there lies my question. Shouldn't it be their responsiblity to go through their coin before they bring it in? If it were a teller running the change that wasn't knowlegable then their coins would be in a cloth bag heading to our downtown vault. Is it my responsibility to inform myself what is worth keeping and then also searching through coin for the customer?

I usually set aside what I find if I do and give the customer their money and then buy the coin from my drawer at the end of the day.

I don't see how if they aren't going to take the time to go through it that I should. Like I said I know that there are other situations and I don't want to get into a discussion about those but what about this situation?
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would any of you mind an englishman (living in australia) sticking his nose into this question, i'm trying to follow it as best i can, but is the above question anywhere different ethicly than coin collectors going into banks and buying rolls of coins hoping to find something that the bank had missed, just a thought. mike.

 

I see this as a completey different situation. If you are going thru bank rolls, there is no individual involved, the bank has sold you the rolls and they are now your property. You can use them for any purpose. If you later found an incredible rarity in the rolls, to whom would you try to return it?

However, if a teller counted the rolls incorrectly (not very likely, but this is a hypothetical) ... and gave you five rolls of dimes instead of four, you would return one roll because the teller, a person, would be held accountable for the shortage in her/his drawer at end of shift.

 

How is this different than the OP question where the bank employee gives the customer face value for a deposit then finds lets say a coin that is a rare veriety and worth a bunch of money? Like a 16D MD - It's the banks property at that point - yes?

Many times searching roll you will get rolls customers rolled and brought in to deposit. Hypothetically - What if Granny rolled a $5 gold piece into a Quater roll by accident and you are the lucky customer that gets this roll from the bank. If you went back to the bank the teller might remember who made the deposit by how the roll paper looks. There is no shortage - would you bring it back?

 

To me, the difference lies in the fact that the bank has sold you the roll prior to your inspection of it. You have purchased the roll under the assumption that it is a roll of like-value coins, and that is what the bank has also assumed. Therefore, the roll is now your property, even if it includes a secret compartment with a diamond inside. You have purchased the contents of the roll, whatever they are.

In my mind ... It is the same as if you go to an "abandoned storage locker" sale and buy the contents, sight unseen, of a box. Whatever is inside that box is yours. Just as you purchased the coil roll from the bank. That's the whole point of buying such a "surprise box" from abandoned storage. Maybe there's nothing in it ... or maybe there's a valuable antique watch inside.

It differs, to me, from the individual at the bank counter having his coins counted, in that the bank has not yet purchased the coins from the customer; they are still the customer's property until the bank accepts them as a deposit or pays the customer in like-value for them. Once the customer has accepted payment for the counted coins, they are the bank's property and the customer no longer has a claim to any of them. (However, this is a legal point -- not an ethical one. It still doesn't remove the question the OP asked about what she should do if the customer suspects there are valuable coins in the bunch.)

 

This is the key - once accepted by the bank and payed in face value - the customer has no claim. If the customer suspects there are valuable coins in the bunch then why would they turn them over to the bank? The customer in the OP was probably joking but if they came across as serious I would have asked if they wanted them all back to go through (on their time - not mine).

 

I've read this thread and it has become quite entertaining. It is almost as good as the book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. You have a bank customer asking a teller to sort through the change and give her back the good stuff. The first thing that comes to mind is this lady is extremely lazy. Oh, excuse me, motivationally challenged. You've got a teller, who is probably thinking, wow what a hag, why should I do anything for this witch? If I was the teller, my first instinct would be to say something sarcastic. On a good day though, I would look straight back at the "nice lady", smile, and say most certainly ma'm. Mean people like to ruin peoples' days. When you're really nice back, it makes them feel very uneasy and ruins the rest of their day. Of course, some people are so far gone that they don't even notice nice. In that case, they will get it when they meet their maker. Either way, I'm ahead of the game. On the other hand, many days, I'm not on the top of my game and say something sarcastic. On those days, the rude people win and I take one more strike that I must answer for on judgement day.