A post on another thread on this forum got me to thinking about Coinstar machines and demographics. You have many variables when it comes to each Coinstar machine. Is the machine in a wealthy or poor part of town? Is it in a big city or a small town? Rural or urban? College town or military town? What parts of the country are the machines in? Age? The Coinstar machine that I usually check is in a neighborhood of upper middle class homes and a neighborhood of wealthy homes. This particular store is always cleaner and a much more pleasant place to shop than many stores owned by the same company. I live in a medium sized city in the lower midwestern United States. I usually end up checking the Coinstar machine anywhere from 3 times a week to up to as many as 10 a month. I've been checking the Coinstar machines for about 2 1/2 years. Over the last 6 months or so I've found several silver coins in this machine. Most of them have been FDR dimes but one was a 1966 80% Canadian quarter. I found a 1905-O dime not too long after I started looking. And the very first time I ever checked the bin, I pulled out a French 50 Centimes 83% silver coin. I've found a few other interesting coins, mostly foreign, and a couple of tokens. I wonder how many silver coins I would have found in another city in another state where everything else was equal or how many I would have found if I lived in a retirement town or a college town. I wonder if I had been in the poorer part of town, if I would have found any silver. What demographic do you see that are mostly responsible for accidentally selling silver quarters for 22.5 cents? What demographic would be in possession of silver coins, but didn't know that they were anything special? Would 40 year old dads be more apt to look through their change for silver than 45 year old dads? Would a rich person not care enough to go through his change? Are there big jugs of change that are suddenly being dumped? The musings are endless.
My biggest coinstar finds have been in the city. I live near a large city and check a few machines when I have time while in the city. I wonder why large amounts of regular and, sometimes, silver coins would be left in the reject bin? Possibly stolen coins? I don't know. My large finds have been "in the city" and smaller finds in the suburbs.
How do you check coinstar machines? Do you check the tray, for coins that did not go in, or do you have a way to get to all the coins people put in there?
Servicing food stores in neighborhoods that span just about every demographic you can imagine , I find all sorts of items. More so in lower to lower middle class neighborhoods. One must remember that most people be they rich ,poor or in between people always generate change. More so in middle to lower class areas,people keep jars,piggy banks, etc..... I find when times are hard people resource these resources of cash when they are in need of money for an emergency situation . Most of the time the money sits as it's to much trouble to count it or roll it etc. As for the upper middle or upper classes what I see is mostly cashless. Meaning debit cards and credit cards for their purchases . No change to deal with using the plastic . Though most all classes do have a catch all around the house for change I find that in up middle and middle class areas you're more likely to find coins from foreign countries . As most end up in that change catch all that everyone seems to have around your house. I recall myself digging out my back pack in a small pocket a mess of coins from several countries I've visited. What really gets me I have found upwards of 3-$4 in the coin star tray. Coffee money for a day or two.
I just found 55 cents in the kick out tray the other day. Over the years I've found silver dimes, casino slot tokens & foreign coins mostly. It is a real thrill when you look down and find coins in the reject tray. My heart races and I get a huge rush between the time I find the coins, grab them and open up my hand to reveal my new treasure. I check the dump-in tray too because I've found coins there up again the guard
Uh, if you really want to be daring and get some people staring - look under the machine! I have found three silver dimes over the last year by looking under the machine. Must have gotten dropped while being pulled from the reject slot.
There really is no shame on my part for getting down and peering under the machine, off course the kids all walk away in embarrassment. But silver is such a draw I cannot resist.
I would say women are more likely to unknowingly spend silver coins than men. I would also venture to say people who can't control their urges, whether cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. The state of the economy could also be a large influence.
Probably people who don't know that the coins could potentially be silver or may not even care. I'd also be willing to bet theft plays a role also coin star is faster and more anonymous than a bank. Many collections I bet enter circulation via theft. My younger brothers GF worked in a gas station a couple years ago in a not so great area of a large city and she saved all sorts of coins, bills, etc that people would just spend at face value. Often times these people will initially try to sell to coin dealers or pawn shops, etc but are usually extremely low balled and don't want to leave a paper trail or show id so they just spend whatever they have.
