I know this has probably happened to many of you so I thought I'd share my experience this week. I picked up some quarter rolls from the bank to search for anything to keep. One roll had a nickel in it (either I was shorted twenty cents or made five cents...whatever), and another roll had a 'yuan' in it. I didn't realize how similar to a quarter it was (1997). So, I ended up being shorted about 10 cents on that one according to the latest exchange rates. O well, I will keep it...don't run across too many of them.
I was givin a $1 dollar mexican peso at the local jack in the box, they are the same size as quarters but with no edge like the quarter.
Works both ways. I've gotten several foreign coins in bankrolls but then I've also gotten a few dimes in cent rolls.
Well, look at it like this, sometimes you get other nations coins that are not worth an equivalent in your money and you're never going to visit, say, Panama to spend that clad Balboa... but then, say you are searching rolls and you find a 'war nickel' or a 40% or 90% half, maybe you even hit it with an old silver half dollar commemorative! It happens... and when it does, those coins you are pulling out for yourself are worth far more in their intrinsic metals value, so you are not shorted. Is the bank shorted? or is some other customer who turned them in for face value getting shorted? You have to look at the balance of what you feel you're getting shorted over the long run and consider that you are likely coming out far, far ahead more often than you are coming across someone's vacation loot they couldn't get rid of at the cambio and decided to dump on the bank and its customers upon their return.
When the local Alberston's would get coin rolls in the check out lane, the clerk would weigh the individual rolls. They had a small chart of what should weigh what, and I actually seen the clerk reject some nickel rolls from a lady. The lady said she personally rolled and counted each roll, stacking them against one another the rolls matched in length, so the clerk opened one and a washer was mixed into the roll. The lady was embarassed and paid with a check. I get aggravated when people write out a check and balance their account in the ledger, but this time it was different...I enjoyed waiting for a change. Happy Collecting
Back in 1980 when I used to shoot a lot of pool, I stopped by the bank drive thru after work one night and got a roll of quarters before heading to the bar to shoot pool. when I busted open the roll I realized I had a whole roll of Susan B. Anthony dollars rolled up as quarters!!!!!
None of the banks around here will even accept rolled coins, they will take them loose and run them thru their counting machine, but if you bring in rolls they will ask you to open them all and dump them in a bucket. I hate the rolling machines our banks have, they kick out any silver or old coins in a seperate tray and therefore we don't ever find any goodies in our rolls.
The 10 baht coins from Thailand, and the Turkish 1 lira coin, are very similar to our €2 coins: pretty much the same size, the same bimetallic look. But they are worth less: 10 baht is about 25 cent, and 1 lira is roughly 50 cent. Once in a while I come across such pieces. I don't check rolls though, and usually notice the wrong piece ... Christian
