I have a Fed res bank within 5-6 mi's of my home. The building is huge and intimidating, with those concrete car bomb barriers & surveillance cameras surrounding it. Can anyone can just go inside (like a regular bank) and ask for half dollar rolls? I'm going to try doing that next time I’m in that part of town and will post the results. It's very difficult to find half dollar rolls at branch banks, getting them directly from FRB would be the way to go.
If you don't get a gun put in your face.....be sure to let us know I hear that you can't just do business with them like any other bank and I would say that you would be stopped before getting far on the land. Speedy
Been inside the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia once. My Dad mistakingly beleived that's where the paper money was printed (nope, that happens at the Bureau of Engraving and Pinting in Washington D.C.) and wanted to take me on a tour. They didn't give tours (nothing much interesting to see anyway); the lobby at the time had the world's largest mobile, computer programs that taught what the Federal Reserve did, and a small gift shop that sold things like uncut sheets of bills and such. Didn't see a counter where you could ask for change, but wasn't looking either. Since 9/11 security is probably tighter and they probably have less public access. Can always go up to one and ask... if you can't get in will become obvious quickly, and as long as you don't look threatening the worst that will happen is the outermost layer of security will just politely ask you to leave. Not sure if you can just go up and ask for change or not. But learned an amusing fact at the Denver Mint today when trying to get Washington quarters that should have been out yesterday... Apparently after the coins are minted at the Denver Mint, thet get shipped in huge canvas sacks to the Federal Reserve, that waits for banks and armored car companies to order them, then they have private companies bag and/or roll them. Then the Denver Mint gift shop can order them to fill up the machine that dispenses them. This takes about two weeks from the time the Mint releases the coins. The quarters you get from the dispensers in the gift shop, only a few feet from where they were minted, have traveled several hundred miles over the course of two weeks to end up there, lol... government efficiency at work...
