Back when I was a kid, my mom and dad tossed their unspent pennies into a piggy bank shaped like a monkey. Three times during my childhood, they emptied the monkey, put the coins into rolls and took them to the bank. Each time, they had about $40. The first time, they bought my sister and me a swing set. (Can you believe swing sets used to cost about $40?) I don’t remember what they used the money for the other times, probably because it wasn’t something for me.
Because I had seen my parents do so, the first time I went to cash in my penny stash back in 2006, I spent money on coin rolls, divided the pennies into stacks of 10, then put five stacks into each roll -- a very time-consuming process. I then took the rolls in a shoebox to the branch closest to my house.
Once I got there, I learned that neither the closest nor second-closest branch to my home would accept that many pennies because they didn’t have a coin-counting machine. Upon arrival at the branch that does, I learned that the time I spent rolling the pennies was wasted, because the staff cannot put rolls into the coin counter. (In retrospect, I probably should’ve figured that out sooner.) As the teller waited and a customer waited behind me, I ripped open each roll and dumped its contents into the shoebox.
So this time, I drove directly to the branch that has a counter and walked into the bank with the pennies still in the jar. I felt a little silly at first, but the teller didn’t bat an eye, which tells me he’s probably seen people walk in with a boatload of coins in all types of containers. I didn’t waste any money on coin rolls, either. (I did count the pennies ahead of time, though, just because my curiosity got the best of me.)
While my experience in 2006 was neither all that frustrating nor even slightly earth shattering, I tell the story so that I can pass along a tiny tidbit of advice to other first-timers planning to turn their piggy banks into a bank balance: It might save you a little time and frustration if you call your bank first to find out what its policies are, whether you need to go to a specific branch, etc.
My penny jar looks awfully empty now. Maybe in another six years, I’ll have another $12.70 to cash in.
I think nowadays banks are incorporating coin counting machines so that it would be easier for them to count the money. This way, it’ll make the transaction faster, more efficient and more accurate. Some public places also have a coin counting machine. Your advice of asking the bank about their policies is a great idea, because not all banks do have a coin counting machine or accept coins in rolls. ->Harriett Faulks
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