Tips on getting Bags/Boxes from the bank?

[Deathwish_DW]

I've been having some issues getting pennies from my local bank.
First, they want me to open a business account.
Then, I was told there was a limit to what they could order.
After that, I was told there was a monthly limit as well and that I may be cut off depending on (insert random reason here).

Anyone have some great tips for getting the teller/head teller to order you pennies?

[jasmatk]

you need a good story im not gonna tell u my lie but it gets me plenty of pennies YES I LIE TO BANKS THEY LIE TO ME!!

[Coppercrazy]

I started out just getting 10.00 worth of rolls...when I asked for a box,one teller wouldnt let me have one,(without charging a fee) but when I went to the main branch downtown,they let me.I just get one at a time,and have no problem from the main branch-You need to try different banks,different tellers,until you find where they will let you get boxes.Good Luck!

[GTOJohn]

try to find a bank/branch that has a large vault - it is easier for them to store boxes until you pick them up.

[misteroman]

I've never had a problem getting boxes one and twice they were $2k. I'm 36. Is it an age thing?

[Deathwish_DW]

I'm 16. shouldn't matter as I originally ordered $15k, CASH in hand.
Now they're being screwy with me.

[newton7]

I tell them about my son and our hobby (he collects pennies and we go thru them together) and then show a picture on my cell phone. The female tellers just melt and say how sweet. Some of them will start a side conversation about other coins and if I need other supplies like paper rappers etc (15%). It has worked out well. The other thing is I am in a major city in Tx so there are a lot of banks to hit. I rotate them out and try not to go to the same bank within a three week period. This helps them to keep them off base on how many boxes I go thru. Doing about 100 bucks a week for now. I hit each bank for one box at a time unless they offer more. Really, the kid story with pictures works great! It also helps to have action photos of him handling the coins or having the blue Whitman book open.

The key for me is slow and steady. One box at a time.

Remember don't dump where you buy pennies. Use a seperate bank with a free coin counter if possilble.

[Deathwish_DW]

For a dump bank, my uncle is the president of one.. they happen to have a counter
There are 12+ banks within 1mile of where I live; all on the same street.

[Coppercrazy]

maybe you should ask for less than 15k at once.

[Corsair]

maybe you should ask for less than 15k at once.

That might be a good idea. If you have a dozen banks in a one mile radius, spread it out! Pick up a twenty boxes here, twenty boxes there, and you'll have plenty of coins to sort, and hopefully without ruffling any feathers.

[BamaJoe]

Marry a teller - works for me.

[highroller4321]

Ordering more than $200 in pennies throws up a flag for tellers because they are not used to getting orders of this size.

What you need to do is find one of the bigger banks in your town and than sit down with a branch or teller manager. Explain to him or her that you are in the coin business and that you require a large amount of pennies. Explain to them how much you would like to get per week and ASK if that is acceptable with them. You are most likely going to have to open a free business account and pay a fee for the pennies. You can try to get them to set aside loose pennies before they ship them out. That is against some banks procuders so they may not allow you to do that.

Either that or sweet talk a teller But that only lasts so long!



And you can't get upset about the bank wanting to charge you fees for coins. They get charged 4-7 cents per roll when it comes to getting wrapped coin. Why should the bank eat $3.50 in costs just to supply people with pennies? This is yet another reason why loose coin is much better.

[iluc]

Highroller, I've thought about that approach (sitting down and setting up a relationship with a manager). Will the same bank also help dispose of the zincs in a way that will keep them from falling back into one's hands? I haven't figured out how to get rid of zincs efficiently enough to do this on a larger scale.

[slickeast]

Highroller, I've thought about that approach (sitting down and setting up a relationship with a manager). Will the same bank also help dispose of the zincs in a way that will keep them from falling back into one's hands? I haven't figured out how to get rid of zincs efficiently enough to do this on a larger scale.

Getting rid of the zincs is the hardest part.

1 - NEVER EVER TAKE PENNIES BACK TO THE BANK YOU GOT THEM FROM. THEY DON'T WANT THEM BACK.

2 - ALWAYS SHOW UP WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PICK UP. THEY WON'T CONTINUE TO ORDER IF YOU AREN'T SHOWING UP TO PICK UP.

3- TRY TO FIND A BANK THAT HAS A COIN MACHINE IN THE LOBBY THAT WILL SELL THE BAGS. THIS IS TRICKY BECAUSE YOU NEED A PLACE TO DUMP ZINCS. A DUMP BANK WITH A MACHINE IN THE LOBBY IS WHAT YOU WANT. GET THIS GOING FIRST. IF YOU FIND ENOUGH PLACES TO DUMP, THEN YOU CAN TRY TO FIND SOME THAT WILL SELL THE BAGS. THE ONES THAT WON'T SELL WILL BE DUMP BANKS.

4- DON'T WEAR OUT YOUR WELCOME AT ANY DUMP BANK, IF YOU DO, YOU WILL GET CUT OFF.

this is just part of the process. I dumped about 1200.00 in zincs this week. Took 2 days and 4 banks. I spread them around so I don't get cut off. It may have took a little extra effort, but it its better than getting cut off and getting stuck with them.

Another option is to return loose in bags. You will need an accurate high speed counter to make sure you have 50.00 in the bag.

[Finder]

Wow, great advice there Slick.

[twentybux]

Marry a teller - works for me.

No luck marrying a teller. Instead my mother in law works at my main source bank. Close enough for me!

Also helps to know folks.
Also at my main source bank I graduated a year behind the head teller. As long as I don't bring anything back to her she'll order me an armored truck full of goodies (ie last week got 4 boxes of halves, 2 boxes of quarters, $160 worth of pennies an elderly lady brought in and $200 worth of nickels another elderly lady brought in).
At my main dump bank graduated high school with the head teller.
I think HCBTT brought it up in earlier discussions, but if at all possible do favors for the tellers (get your mind out of the gutter, I'm a married man . Part of the haul I picked up last week was additional coins the head teller needed to get rid of in that she had coins coming out of her ears. I have always told them if they had stuff they needed to move to let me know. They have always been good to me and so I am returning the favor along with usually finding some goodies while helping them move coinage. It is definitely about building relationships.
Now do they think I am odd for going through that much coinage? Yes. Being in the criminal justice field also helps me out in that when I make my pick ups and drop offs I have a badge and pepperspray cannister in plain sight on my person along with a concealed .357 on my back. I am my own armored service!

[CanadianNickle]

Set up a commercial account.

[TwoPenniesEarned]

The key is to not be shy. Don't be afraid to look them in the eye and ask to order X number of boxes. I find six is a nice number. This doesn't make it too hard on them so they don't mind a weekly order for this many. Do this at two banks and Voila, you have enough to keep a Ryedale busy for a good few hours of sorting. BTW, if you can manage 12 boxes a week at 25% Copper to Zinc ratio, you'll end up putting $3900 FV into your hobby and end up with a copper hoard worth approx. $9K in a year. By my estimate, with good equipment, your return on investment is approx. $10/hour if you need to re-roll your dumps, and higher if you don't. Not the best hourly wage, but consider it being paid to sock away inflation proof savings!

Cheers.

[goodcents]

I never had an issues getting boxes of pennies. I would usually just smile at the gals behind the counter and tell them I collect pennies. The one bank says "just tell me how many boxes you need and we'll call you when they are in" Now dropping the zincs is the hard part. Unless you have a great relationship with a bank, you need to find a bank with a free lobby counter. I dealt with a bank that would do it for free that had a machine behind the counter but it took forever. They were wonderful about it but was not time effective. If I was retired or had a schedule and time wasn't an issue things might be different. However, doing it on your lunch hour takes a little skill...lol.

the best thing about pennies truly is beyond the time involved you'll never lose on your investment.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I have never asked for 15K in pennies at once. I think the previous record on the board here was 10K requested by a guy in Kansas.. and they didn't get them for him. Heck, I can only haul so much in the Camry at one time.

I did have a pretty good drive-by last Friday. I was in another town about 40 miles from home and stopped in at the local branch of one of my main banks just to get the cash to pick up halves and quarters at one of my other banks later that day. The teller asked "How would you like it?"
I jokingly said "In pennies"
She says "You aren't serious, are you?"
I say "Sure I am"
She says "I have a lot of pennies, if you are serious I would be happy to sell them to you"
So she tells me she has $600 in pennies.. how many do I want
"All of them.. I will go get the cart out of the trunk of my car"
I am thinking I am going to set a record for the biggest drive-by penny pickup.
Then she tells me she needs to keep some.. but she can sell me $500 worth.
I tell her that will be fine.
By the time she hauled them out of the back it turned out to be only $300 in pennies.. 3 bags of CWR's getting ready to be shipped out and 6 boxes (some Brinks and some Loomis paper rolls) Still a respectable amount of pennies for a drive-by.

It never hurts to be nice to the tellers. I always take whatever CWR's they want to get rid of. Picked up $480 in mixed rolls from just one teller at the local branch of one of my main banks this morning. The teller was really happy to have me take them. I supply that bank with boxes of machine rolled pennies and quarters just about every week. Having a few coin rolling machines does come in handy when you want to do some dumping and no banks in your area have lobby coin counters.

Having regular weekly orders at several banks keeps a steady supply to feed those red monsters. $600 is a good standard amount.. but you have to play at whatever level the bank is comfortable with.

Zinc disposal is the trickiest part of the equation.. especially if you are trying to do decent volumes. Spread your dumps around.. not hitting any one branch too heavily.. or they will cut you off. Being able to roll my own helps.. since seveal of my branches actually want those machine wrapped coins.

[slickeast]

Zinc disposal is the trickiest part of the equation.. especially if you are trying to do decent volumes. Spread your dumps around.. not hitting any one branch too heavily.. or they will cut you off. Being able to roll my own helps.. since seveal of my branches actually want those machine wrapped coins.

4- DON'T WEAR OUT YOUR WELCOME AT ANY DUMP BANK, IF YOU DO, YOU WILL GET CUT OFF.

As you can see, zinc disposal is the part where this hobby becomes tricky. I was called into the managers office more than once. One time for dumping 6k in one visit. Mixed halves and pennies. Another time for using the machine commercially. LOL

I got cut off at the first one and now only dump halves at the 2nd location.

The key is too spread the dumps around. Go twice a week if you need to. Never bring in more than 1 bucket. Use multiple dump banks. Use them only every other week if you can. I skipped one before for so long that when I showed up with some halves they asked where I had been and how I was doing. I was polite and told them I was busy and had took a break.

You can get coins, that is never the problem. You can go to 50 banks a week and get enough CWR's to keep you busy. You just have to find a place to dispose of them. Find what works, don't press your luck and enjoy the challenges along the way.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

My banks got 7 branches now within 15 miles from me. I spread around the zincs, I don't want to show any favoritism. And I don't want to lose my dumpbank! I pushed it one day and took $200 to one branch. I raised alot of eyebrows. Their machine does '4' $50 bags so they only had to switch them once...but when they open the machine they have to take any other bag that is full. The girl ended up bringing out the push-cart. On went the '4' bags of pennies, '1' quarter bag, '1' dime bag, '1' nickel bag. She had to pull out '7' bags because of me....you think she remembers me? I apologize everytime I go in there. I never do more than $50 in one branch. Don't get lazy and push a good thing.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Slick offers great points. I haven't lost a dump bank in over a year. I remember when I lost my first one.. something about dumping $3k in zinc in one week. Hey, I only took in $600 (12 bags) 5 out of the 6 days they were open. Darn squeeky wheel cart gave me away. Every time they tell me "The manager wants to talk with you" I keep hoping it is to offer me a really low interest rate loan.. but it hasn't happened yet.. lol.

Came really close to losing one of the other ones right before that. They require that coins be rolled. They weren't really happy with me the weekend I got my first automatic coin rolling machine and showed up with 2300 rolls of zinc. I think the "F" word was mentioned.. and of course comments about how small their vault is. Seems every bank has a tiny vault nowadays. I can't believe some of the things I did in the early days.

The key.. "Learn from the mistakes of others.. nobody lives long enough to make them all himself"

I want to wish everyone in my extended family here a Merry Christmas!

[twentybux]

Merry Christmas everyone!