Will bank/CU coin services go away with steel US coins?

[henrysmedford]

As you may know my son Franklin get all kinds of free coins off the magnet on coin counters and I told him that the US was going to steel coins. He then said asked about the coin counters and what would happen as that most counters will not take steel coins. I have been told at the banks and CU when they send the bags of coins to the Feds they are short paid if the have tokens in the bag. So I emailed Coinstar and Cummins to ask what there plans are for the change and if all there counter can be reworked . Also I have been ask at the banks and the CU they had any thoughts and they said coin counting is not a money maker and if it cost to much to change out the counters they may go away. I will post back if I get a email back from the counter co. Also how does the counter work in Canada as that there must not be a magnet?

[avidbrandy]

Wow thank you for this.

I was just thinking, Coinstar is listed on the NASDAQ as CSTR. They're stock has been doing really well. Wouldn't this be a big hit for them, and an excellent opportunity to short the stock? It would probably take 1-2 years from now, as I don't think they stock would take a hit though until they start posting quarterly losses or something of that nature.

[JadeDragon]

counters in Canada just lack the magnets - have to for both nickel and steel - IE all post silver Quarters and Dimes, most nickels and pennies . I'd think the magnets could be detached with little effort since the same equipment is used in Canada. I think there are other ways to sort out non-coins.

[henrysmedford]

I got a call back from Cummins today and the sales rep. said that taking the magnets of of some of there lower cost counters could be a problem. As the lower cost counters do not use a discriminator and go by size and weight. So im a still thinking if the new coins are steel some bank might dump there coin counting.

[highroller4321]

The U.S has not announced they are going to steel yet....

Also most coinstar machines do not have magnets in them.

[henrysmedford]

The U.S has not announced they are going to steel yet....

Also most coinstar machines do not have magnets in them.

From http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Philly+Deals%3A+Geithner+sees+cash+in+coins%27+metal&urlID=474351681&action=cpt&partnerID=165801&cid=144738675&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fbusiness%2F20120329_Philly_Deals__Geithner_sees_cash_in_coins__metal.htmlPosted: Thu, Mar. 29, 2012, 3:

Posted: Thu, Mar. 29, 2012, 3:00 AM
Philly Deals: Geithner sees cash in coins' metal


Joseph N. DiStefano
Email Joseph N. DiStefano
Like an old man with a cart picking up junk on Ridge Avenue, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is trying to turn scraps of metal into cash.

Geithner wants to strip copper and other valuable metals from the Philadelphia and Denver coining lines that mint America's small change. "Currently, the costs of making the penny and the nickel are more than twice the face value of each of those coins," he told a House Appropriations Committee panel Wednesday.

Treasury wants a law that would give it the freedom "to change the composition of coins to utilize more cost-effective materials" without having to ask Congress for permission every time it dilutes the content of the national coinage.

Geithner didn't specify in his testimony whether that means using plastic, aluminum, or other materials associated with carnival tokens. Or the old proverbial wooden nickel.

The U.S. Mint is researching alternative materials for all small change, said spokesman Mike White. "We're in the early stages, with a variety of metallic materials," he told me. Research on nonmetals would need congressional permission. "We have to deliver a report to Congress by the end of this year," White said.

The Mint says nickels are currently 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel. Pennies are copper-covered zinc. Metals prices are volatile, but they have been generally rising in U.S.-dollar terms as China, India, and other fast-growing countries use more, drawing speculators who bid prices still higher.

Geithner hopes that Mint manufacturing and administrative changes "will save more than $75 million" a year, starting next year. That follows December's decision to stop making dollar coins after 1.4 billion of them piled up, unused, in Federal Reserve vaults.

The Mint employs 1,800 people, including 385 in Philadelphia, down from previous years. Philadelphia and Denver together produced about seven billion coins last year, down from a peak of 27 billion in 2000, due partly to lower demand for pocket change as more Americans use debit cards and other virtual Money.

Contact Joseph N. DiStefano at 215-854-5194, JoeD@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @PhillyJoeD.