How do you guys get so many coins?

[scyther]

I heard in the other thread that some of you often get hundreds of dollars of pennies or more every week. How do you get banks to get you so many coins? Do have to have a lot of money deposited at the bank? I don't have very much. I only ever get $25-$50 at a time, but they're starting to get colder and more suspicious... asking me if I have a business... I'm gonna get cut off before I can even get $100 FV

What can I do to get them to give me tons of coins?

[Metals Mogul]

Be polite, try other banks, ask them to order extra so you can buy some. And yes, your balance does help quite a bit.

[Rosco]

Also dump at only one location hopefully with coin counter so you need not roll your coin

[Rob72830]

I heard in the other thread that some of you often get hundreds of dollars of pennies or more every week. How do you get banks to get you so many coins? Do have to have a lot of money deposited at the bank? I don't have very much. I only ever get $25-$50 at a time, but they're starting to get colder and more suspicious... asking me if I have a business... I'm gonna get cut off before I can even get $100 FV

What can I do to get them to give me tons of coins?

Give them tons of FRN's!

Seriously, though, how often are you picking up? More than once a week? Do yo have an account there? If you don't, open one up. I have an account and my small town bank doesn't mind me picking up $50 or $100 in pennies as long as I go in on Monday and order them. That way I don't run them short on coin. I also explained that I am disabled (which I am and my account proves it) and I am collecting wheat pennies for my grandson. Which is true too except I am saving the copper memorials for me. They don't mind me returning all my zincs because I have an account there. Now, I don't know how old you are but if you are like me older with grandkids, just tell them you are saving wheaties for the grandkids. I think you will see them warm up to you. And lastly, when you pick up, take the tellers a box of donuts or candy and let them know how much you appreciate them. Good luck.

[GTOJohn]

+1 on candy, cookies, etc. Let the tellers get to know you, be polite, etc. Yes, telling them you are working with kids to get them collecting helps.

[newton7]

Most banks I only ask for one box and bring them photos on my phone of my son (8 years old) sorting pennies. A couple of pictures with a kid smiling and working a Whitman Book just gets the ladies going. (Ahhhh how sweet!) They all think I’m a great dad.

On my $100 pickup spot I arranged it with the bank manager (kid photos at the ready) and she said to just go through the drive thru tellers who have tons of coin because that is what they do all day. Take in, sort and hand out coins. I did what she said and followed up with the tellers and the managers name and it was set up no problem. I took my son a couple of times to the drive thru and gave chocolates on Valentine’s and cookies on other holidays.

The other thing is to find out which day the truck comes to the bank to drop off and pick so the following day you pick up and the pennies dont sit very long with the bank.

Remember:
IF YOUR GOING TO MISS A PICKUP DATE LET THEM KNOW AHEAD OF TIME. Don’t leave them holding a lot of coin they have to keep track of and count against their vault totals.

I have done all of the above and can pull $100 pennies, $250 in dime and $200 in nickels right now if I wanted from just one bank. Good relations are the way to get the coin.

I would also add that I have 4 bank brands (BOA, Chase etc...) I have money in. Some are there for the free counting machine. Some are there because I can get bags instead of boxes of coin. And some are there for large dumps (coins not the other thing ) and some are for just buying coin.

Good luck, every penny counts!

[BamaJoe]

I take a teller to bed each night.

[Dave]

Be nice is the most important. Never dump where you pick up and some candy once in awhile helps. I don't believe your balance matters to most tellers. My favorite bank is where my balance is the lowest.

[penny pretty]

dont know where you are from, but Im in a large city in new york, and my credit union has about 15 branches. Im a little skittish, and it was hard for me to start asking for pennies a year or so ago. It got easier each time. now I ask for $20 or however much they can spare, and with all those branches I can rotate my pickups. I get THANKED sometimes for taking them off their hands when they have a lot. I get asked for my account number about 60 percent of the time( when that happens, they go out of their way to stock me up..I have a rather large account) Since I dont get asked if I have an account sometimes, Ive been thinking of trying to buy at banks I DONT have an accout at... not enough nerve yet.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Give them tons of FRN's!

That's what I do!!!

When they ask you how many you want.. just tell them your normal order is 24 boxes. Act like you do this all the time. What, 24 boxes is too many? 8 boxes is ok then.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I take a teller to bed each night.

Yeah, but it is the same one. To get serious volume you have to play the field. You must be the Don Juan of copper.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

And of course all that other stuff everybody mentioned is important too. I do candies, bake cookies etc. Your best banking experiences are where you develop a relationship with the tellers. They know I will always take all their coin so they don't have to ship it. I even take their baby dollars so they can get rid of them. I even once delfivered 8 boxes of rolled pennies to BofA when they didn't get a shipment in. Tellers remember who treats them right. After a few years you will run into tellers at other branches that have transferred and remember you fondly.

[GGerrands]

Hoard is just a prince among men! I'm working up to getting $1000 f.v. a week by September. To squirrel away $200 ish f.v. a week from the Cu cull. = ) =) =)

[mtldealer]

I take a teller to bed each night.

Your the realcent version of a Kennedy (its a compliment.) I have been flirting with is one teller and just don't have the kajones to mix business with pleasure. Every Friday when I pick up coin she asks me what I am doing for the weekend. I always give her some lame story about resting or something. I'm pretty sure she's waiting for me to ask her out. Oh great one whaT is your advice for a young man?

[BamaJoe]

I take a teller to bed each night.

Yeah, but it is the same one. To get serious volume you have to play the field. You must be the Don Juan of copper.

I'll have to run this by the little island girl. I'll tell her it's all in the interest of our financial future and see how that flys.

[BamaJoe]

I take a teller to bed each night.

Your the realcent version of a Kennedy (its a compliment.) I have been flirting with is one teller and just don't have the kajones to mix business with pleasure. Every Friday when I pick up coin she asks me what I am doing for the weekend. I always give her some lame story about resting or something. I'm pretty sure she's waiting for me to ask her out. Oh great one whaT is your advice for a young man?

It sounds like you have a perfect opening there. At the very least invite her over to show her what you are doing with the coins that you pick up. If she's interested in that she might have potential.

[Economist]

Amen to pretty much everything said already.

One other tip is to hit up ALL of the banks in your area, and then basically just deal with the ones that treat you well. Right now I'm getting all my coin from 2 banks: a TBTF national chain where I do my personal banking, and a regional commercial bank where I have NO ACCOUNT! It just happens that this regional bank has a lot of coin pass through, and they are normally thrilled to unload it on me. I also dump at two regional commercial banks (NO pickups at the dump banks!) where the tellers are friendly and the service is good.

So just go to all the banks, be polite and professional, and just keep asking!

[SilverDragon72]

Simply order the coins ahead of time! Just picked up a box of nickels today! Happy sorting/archiving for me for the next several days.

Pennies will be next....

[scyther]

I heard in the other thread that some of you often get hundreds of dollars of pennies or more every week. How do you get banks to get you so many coins? Do have to have a lot of money deposited at the bank? I don't have very much. I only ever get $25-$50 at a time, but they're starting to get colder and more suspicious... asking me if I have a business... I'm gonna get cut off before I can even get $100 FV

What can I do to get them to give me tons of coins?

Give them tons of FRN's!

Seriously, though, how often are you picking up? More than once a week? Do yo have an account there? If you don't, open one up. I have an account and my small town bank doesn't mind me picking up $50 or $100 in pennies as long as I go in on Monday and order them. That way I don't run them short on coin. I also explained that I am disabled (which I am and my account proves it) and I am collecting wheat pennies for my grandson. Which is true too except I am saving the copper memorials for me. They don't mind me returning all my zincs because I have an account there. Now, I don't know how old you are but if you are like me older with grandkids, just tell them you are saving wheaties for the grandkids. I think you will see them warm up to you. And lastly, when you pick up, take the tellers a box of donuts or candy and let them know how much you appreciate them. Good luck.

Yeah, I have an account. Just a couple thousand in it but better than nothing I guess. I've been picking up pretty irregularly... not more than once a week, but actually I haven't gone there in a few weeks since they started getting suspicious. I did send my brother there once.

Sadly, I could not pass as a grandfather... or even a father, probably. I guess I could take them some donuts or something, but I would feel really awkward doing that... not to mention I'm doing this on a pretty small scale compared to a lot of people here, so buying them food even once a week could eat into my meager profits.

I guess I should try to just order them ahead of time... will most banks let you do that? Do they charge for it?

[scyther]

Since I dont get asked if I have an account sometimes, Ive been thinking of trying to buy at banks I DONT have an accout at... not enough nerve yet.

I just got $50 in pennies from a bank I don't have an account at a couple days ago... never been in there before in my life!

[iatetacos]

I take a teller to bed each night.

Your the realcent version of a Kennedy (its a compliment.) I have been flirting with is one teller and just don't have the kajones to mix business with pleasure. Every Friday when I pick up coin she asks me what I am doing for the weekend. I always give her some lame story about resting or something. I'm pretty sure she's waiting for me to ask her out. Oh great one whaT is your advice for a young man?

It sounds like you have a perfect opening there. At the very least invite her over to show her what you are doing with the coins that you pick up. If she's interested in that she might have potential.

THIS. someone that will sort pennies with you would be a WIN.

[everything]

I just started account at a bank and put $1500 in, and the only transaction I do, is they order two boxes a week and I pick them up. Biggest thing is just ask, and always be cordial. Another trick that I pulled this last week, walked into a random US Bank branch, I have no account, they'll say what do you need them for, tell them you need pennies for a penny drive, for your kids, picked up an extra box that way..

[reddirtcoins]

Just ask the vault teller how much on each order they can handle. Be there for pickup when they come in and bring a cart...

[Shifty51]

I have found that it helps to let them know what you are doing with the coins. And you don't have to be specific. But don't bring it up yourself, wait for the inevitable "What are doing with all these pennies?" question. At this point I always give the same answer "Oh I'm just a nerd. I like to go through them and see what I can find. My grandfather collected coins after my grandmother died, it kind of became our thing. I'll keep the ones I want and just dump the rest at a Coinstar. Cheap hobby" All of these are true statements BTW, but are by no means random. They have been strategically thought out. Let's evaluate...

1) "Oh I'm just a nerd" – being self deprecating/poking fun at yourself adds some humor and serves to disarms them. You are also leading with a weakness
here which is very powerful when it comes to persuasion.

2) "I like to go through them and see what I can find" - Gives them an idea of what you are doing but stops short of revealing that you are completely obsessed with copper, would trip your grandmother to get to an Indian head lying on the ground and have mountains of Cu piled in your guest bedroom/garage/closet/warehouse etc.

3) "My grandfather collected coins after my grandmother died" - The thought of a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins melts the teller's hearts, especially in the south. This gets them emotionally involved and again serves to disarm them

4) "It kind of became our thing" - The only thing that melts a teller's heart more than a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins is a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins WITH HIS GRANDSON!!...Sometimes you actually get "Awwws" from the teller's at this point. Again, emotionally involved and disarmed. They aren't just getting you pennies at this point, they are helping to keep the memory of your sweet old grandfather alive and well in your heart.

5) "I'll keep the ones I want and just dump the rest at a Coinstar" - This statement again serves to downplay your obsession. What they hear "Aw it's no big deal. He keeps a few old pennies" What you are actually saying "This is a huge deal and a major part of my life. I hoard 20% of everything you give me and it's mine!! All mine!! My Precious!!" Also the "dump the rest at Coinstar" serves 2 purposes 1) It lets them know they are not going to have to deal with this mound of pennies later and 2) It often lets you know up front if this banks branches have coin counters. "Oh you don't have to take them to Coinstar sweetie (At this point they are calling you sweetie / honey / “darlin” especially in the south, reference # 3 and 4 above) we have a coin counter here at the bank and its free" Response: "Oh Really? Do your other branches have coin counters?"

6) "Cheap Hobby" - Again downplays the obsession. Also gives them the impression that you are frugal and smart with your money...Possible bonus if the teller is cute and single.

There you have it! Shifty's 6 step process for scoring more cents...I should market this stuff!!

Also, I found it helpful to try and be accommodating. Ask them when the best time and/or worst time (Often Friday afternoons) are for pick ups. Ask if they need advanced notice, anything that will make it as easy on them as possible. You want them on your team. Also I have found that gifts...Cookies, Candy, Gift Cards can make people uncomfortable until you really build a relationship with them and even then I use them sparingly. Maybe once every 2 or 3 months or so. Just my method to the madness.

At the end of the day if you don't ask, the answer is always NO. So just go ask. If they say no you will probably never step foot in the place again and will never see the people who work there so who cares?

[scyther]

I have found that it helps to let them know what you are doing with the coins. And you don't have to be specific. But don't bring it up yourself, wait for the inevitable "What are doing with all these pennies?" question. At this point I always give the same answer "Oh I'm just a nerd. I like to go through them and see what I can find. My grandfather collected coins after my grandmother died, it kind of became our thing. I'll keep the ones I want and just dump the rest at a Coinstar. Cheap hobby" All of these are true statements BTW, but are by no means random. They have been strategically thought out. Let's evaluate...

1) "Oh I'm just a nerd" – being self deprecating/poking fun at yourself adds some humor and serves to disarms them. You are also leading with a weakness
here which is very powerful when it comes to persuasion.

2) "I like to go through them and see what I can find" - Gives them an idea of what you are doing but stops short of revealing that you are completely obsessed with copper, would trip your grandmother to get to an Indian head lying on the ground and have mountains of Cu piled in your guest bedroom/garage/closet/warehouse etc.

3) "My grandfather collected coins after my grandmother died" - The thought of a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins melts the teller's hearts, especially in the south. This gets them emotionally involved and again serves to disarm them

4) "It kind of became our thing" - The only thing that melts a teller's heart more than a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins is a lonely old man drinking coffee and slowly going through coins WITH HIS GRANDSON!!...Sometimes you actually get "Awwws" from the teller's at this point. Again, emotionally involved and disarmed. They aren't just getting you pennies at this point, they are helping to keep the memory of your sweet old grandfather alive and well in your heart.

5) "I'll keep the ones I want and just dump the rest at a Coinstar" - This statement again serves to downplay your obsession. What they hear "Aw it's no big deal. He keeps a few old pennies" What you are actually saying "This is a huge deal and a major part of my life. I hoard 20% of everything you give me and it's mine!! All mine!! My Precious!!" Also the "dump the rest at Coinstar" serves 2 purposes 1) It lets them know they are not going to have to deal with this mound of pennies later and 2) It often lets you know up front if this banks branches have coin counters. "Oh you don't have to take them to Coinstar sweetie (At this point they are calling you sweetie / honey / “darlin” especially in the south, reference # 3 and 4 above) we have a coin counter here at the bank and its free" Response: "Oh Really? Do your other branches have coin counters?"

6) "Cheap Hobby" - Again downplays the obsession. Also gives them the impression that you are frugal and smart with your money...Possible bonus if the teller is cute and single.

There you have it! Shifty's 6 step process for scoring more cents...I should market this stuff!!

Also, I found it helpful to try and be accommodating. Ask them when the best time and/or worst time (Often Friday afternoons) are for pick ups. Ask if they need advanced notice, anything that will make it as easy on them as possible. You want them on your team. Also I have found that gifts...Cookies, Candy, Gift Cards can make people uncomfortable until you really build a relationship with them and even then I use them sparingly. Maybe once every 2 or 3 months or so. Just my method to the madness.

At the end of the day if you don't ask, the answer is always NO. So just go ask. If they say no you will probably never step foot in the place again and will never see the people who work there so who cares?

Good advice, thanks. I used number 2 when I withdrew coins in bag form a few weeks ago... maybe I'll try some of the other stuff...