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I've been kicking around the idea of buying a sorter/counter for a while and I'd appreciate any input.
I buy pennies by the bag and they often contain random non-penny items like dimes, foreign coins, gummy/doubled pennies, plastic, etc. So what I would like is a machine that is able to sort all the crap out (without getting jammed itself) so that I can run the pennies without jamming the ryedale. Secondarily, I'd like it to have the ability to count so I can accurately sell/store/etc. If anyone has info on machines and/or prices that'd be greatly appreciated.

I have a Downey Johnson hand crank model. I can count $25 of pennies in just over 3 minutes. If I get a bent one or 2 stuck together I just crank it backwards a little and can usually see the coin and remove it. I did use a scan coin 313 for a couple days and just could not get it adjusted correctly. I prefer the manual one just because it is simple to adjust. I got mine on eBay for under $50 including shipping ( the guy had one lousy picture and I took a chance that his description was accurate)
They usually go for around $100 to $150 which seems to be a bit less than the scan coin models. The klopp counters come in manual and electric models and appear to operate similarly to the Downey Johnson one I have. Klopp counters seem to go for more than the Downey Johnson ones. Mine is over 30 years old but is built like a tank.

I also have a Downey Johnson handcrank and really like it, as duane1966 said if it does jam I just crank it backwards. It is well built and is very heavy. You can also get plastic tubes that you attach to the output of the machine and then put your wrappers into and it fills your wrapper, it has an auto stop when you reach the set number of coins you want in a roll. I got mine on craigslist for 35.00

Like we say in dragracing.. "Speed is just a matter of money. How fast do you want to go?"

I have a Downey Johnson electric. I don't have any hand crank machines in the hoard. Pretty much any machine will work.. just depends on if you can get a decent deal on it. Most good machines are kind of heavy, so be sure to take shipping cost into account if you are not buying locally.

I bought Duane's Scan Coin 313, and with the auto-feed hopper it works great for batch counts...but it did need some work to get that way. The counter is very lucky that I still live in city limits where it's illegal to kill a coin counter with a 12 gauge, but it all worked out in the end.

I don't like it for pulling out bent coins, however. Because of the hopper you can't reach into the feed disc to extract the bent or doubled coins. A 303 would be much better for that purpose.

If you're on a budget, you could always use a cookie sheet with a gate to catch the thicker coins which are likely to jam the Ryedale. Just use a couple full thickness cents as spacers, and C-clamps to hold the bar in place. The Ryedale will spit out the dimes (along with the old wheats) on the second run if you do a double sort with zinc/copper accept.

And here I thought everyone just used Ryedales...

scyther wrote:And here I thought everyone just used Ryedales...

Nah, some of us use IGT 2000 auxilary hoppers just to feed the Ryedales.

Get several.. it's nice to have a few machines in the hoard.

I have 2 Scan Coin 313's. If I have a bent coin I adjust the the width of the coin first to make sure it gets rejected when I open the thickness. A large handful will go into the reject cup. I find the problem coins and rerun the others. It takes time and some experimenting to get familiar with the machine.