Poor half dollar etiquette at the bank?

[Pennysaved]

Last Friday, I had went to one of my BofA half pick up banks and was told they wouldnt have any halves until Wednesday because of the holidays.

This is a B of A that I have been going to for 3 years and picking up $1k in halves twice a week.

Today, I went to the BofA to pick up my coin order and I see this guy pushing a baby stroller and rolls it over to the side teller door and they bring him out $2k in halves and he puts them in the stroller and rolls them out of the bank.

I then go up to the teller to get my $1k order and was told they have no halves.

I stayed calm but told her I just saw a guy walk out with $2k and asked if he was a regular.

She said no that he just started coming in 3 weeks ago and had requested $2k in halves last week. I told her I understand that but I think it would be more fair to divy them up especially for someone who has been coming in every week for the last 3 years. And I explained to her how I had come in last week and was told my $1k would be in on Wednesday.

She didn't apologize to me but offered to take my # and call me if more halves come in tomorrow.

I decided to stop at my other B of A pick up bank down the street to make sure he didn't go in there and pick up my order for tomorrow. Once again this is a B of A I have been going to for 2 years twice a week and picking up $1k in halves.

I see the same guy in the bank but this time he is sitting at a banker's desk going through the halves.

A teller who knows me well was surprised to see me come in a day early and I explained to her that I wanted to make sure that my order for tomorrow was not picked up.

She said that this guy had tried to pick up my orders the last couple of weeks but they would not allow him telling him he had to order his own.

She has been saving me all the customer wrapped pennies, nickels, and dimes because she doens't want this guy to sit in the lobby and go through them like he does the halves.

I was kind of surprised he would go through the halves right there in the bank; seems like you would be drawing attention to what you are doing.

I had to vent a little sorry for the long post

[Pennysaved]

She is going to make it up to me though.....they have an extra 1K they are going to let me pick up tomorrow since I got screwed out of the 1k at the other branch

[hobo finds]

If he is going through them in the lobby is he then dumping them back to the same bank?

[Pennysaved]

I know he was with the pennies, nickels, and dimes...that is why she wants to sell me all the customer wrapped stuff.

She told him he can't be going through them in the lobby and then turn them back in.

I guess this branch has been burned by people shorting the pennies, dimes, nickel rolls. They were not handing out customer wrapped rolls to businesses. Instead they were sending them down the vault.

I asked her instead if she would sell them to me and I would not complain if they were short or had the wrong coin since that often evens out especially when you are finding copper and silver.

Not sure what he does with the halves....I'll have to ask her tomorrow if he turns them back in there.

I just can't believe he would want to sit in the lobby and draw attention to what he is doing....how many more people are going to be joining in now

[93_Confirmed]

@Pennysaved - if you don't mind me asking, how successful have you been during that period with finding silver halves? I'm relatively new to CRH (halves/dimes) and just curious about how lucrative it's been versus the amount of time you've invested.

[Pennysaved]

I just consider it a side hobby to be honest....something I do during my lunch or when I go to yard sales on the weekend I will stop at a bank.

I don't think I could make a living out of it.

[slvrbck]

I used to buy halves off a local guy i met on craigslist (back when silver was much much cheaper). Im not sure what his "in" was but he would sit at a major branch of a major local bank and sort all of their halves. Then I would meet him at the bank in a nice sit down office and purchase them at a fair price. It was very convenient and safe and worked out well for both of us. He may have been the bank presidents son or something i dont know.

[Pennysaved]

Yeah my only worry is that he is drawing attention to himself in the lobby.

How many other people are going to be joining in the half sorting now?

[Romalae]

Yeah my only worry is that he is drawing attention to himself in the lobby.

How many other people are going to be joining in the half sorting now?

I don't know if his presence will spur anyone to join in the activity (it seems more like it'd cause people to just give him an awkward glance and then move about with their business), but I will say that I don't think it's fair for him to be doing that to the bank. Banks have to pay a fee to their armored car service to distribute coin through their branch. This fellow seems to be making the mistake of combining his dump bank and pick-up bank. I say it's not fair to the bank because they're having to cater to him, have him occupy space in the lobby and draw attention, and then having to accept what he doesn't want right then and there. The difference between that and what most of us sorters do is that at least we don't do our sorting in the presence of the tellers and at least we have multiple banks at which to perform different tasks. Your worry is not that other people will witness and then as a result join in the activity, your worry should be if there are other people who do what this guy is doing in the direct presence of banks, which may cause banks to incorporate a policy against non-commercial coin pick-up (charging a fee/limiting amounts/etc.).

[mtldealer]

Do you mind sharing what city this is in?

[Pennysaved]

Im in Phoenix

[JerrySpringer]

I have always found it bad etiquette to comment to people about their business at a bank. Hope I not hijacking this thread, but when I was dumping a few halves the other week, maybe $60 worth or so, a customer who was sitting at a desk near the counter had to ask where I found halves. He was an old timer too. I guess he has not asked banks for halves lately or even thought about half dollars and was amazed someone could have some. Still, I just was not too concerned to tell him that they are everywhere and you buy a box of them without any markup for $500. I am in a bank, minding my own business and not trying to bother anyone. I don't care if people watch me dump coins, but I really don't want people asking me about where I get coins and why I do it and if I "finding any silver" blah, blah,blah. I consider customers strangers who need not know my business. Bank personnel can ask me questions all day long and I will be frank with them all day long because I feel more at ease with them. They see it all. I don't try to be coy with them. If they want to do what I am doing, I can tell them how I do it. No harm in that IMHO.

If you saw someone withdraw, say a few hundred dollars from the teller, or cashed a check for same amount, would you start asking them questions about what they were going to do with the money or where did they get the check, etc? Of course not. Why do people think that bringing coins into a bank is something they need to ask about. Sorry, but it is rude to ask me where I got my coins from. Most people look like deers in a headlight when they see you dumping coins. You could hand over $10,000 in paper dollars at the teller's desk and people would barely notice, but the cling-cling sound and the appearance of some astounding dollar amount, maybe a whole couple hundred dollars, - wow !!! - of coins gets people all attentive. I think it is a sign that we have forgotten what money used to be. Coins seem so foreign to most now.

[Diggin4copper]

Penny,,, here is what I would do..ask the teller if she wants to get rid of the "stroller guy".. arrange for her to give him your dumps.. after a while of getting nothing, he would give up and go elsewhere...

[hobo finds]

Penny,,, here is what I would do..ask the teller if she wants to get rid of the "stroller guy".. arrange for her to give him your dumps.. after a while of getting nothing, he would give up and go elsewhere...

thats a good idea!

[Pennysaved]

That works at the one bank where the teller doesnt care for him but not as much at the bank where they handed him 2k

[tedandcam]

That is a very funny idea of the tellers giving him your dumps

The guy almost sounds certifiable. He may have a lot of money with them and is getting a kick out of finding silver. In which case, he may be a nusiance to you and your branches for some time to come.

At my B of A branches I have to put all change ( minus any silver of course! ) into those plastic fed bags and they send them out with the armored car service to be processed and then credited to my account. It takes 3 - 5 business days to show up in my account. It doesn't sound like the process is the same where you are from. Do they have coin counters at the B of A branches in your town?

I have been thinking about picking up at B of A to ramp up my CRS. But, I reaaly like using them as a dump so I can avoid spending a lot of time at coin machines. I could pick up and dump at different branches. Although, I assume that is one way CRS'ers get cut off on pick ups. And I never want to get cut off anywhere!

[twoten01]

yeah, searching while still in the bank is not too bright, sooner or later the bank will implement fees. There is a guy who goes into my mom's bank(she is the branch manager) at least twice a week with 4 quarters(yes just $1.00), and asks for 4 more and does this with each teller, usually 3 or 4, looking for silver, and then leaves upset that he doesn't find any.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Penny,,, here is what I would do..ask the teller if she wants to get rid of the "stroller guy".. arrange for her to give him your dumps.. after a while of getting nothing, he would give up and go elsewhere...

I was thinking on the same lines and actually made an offer about a month ago to my favorite branch where they said some guy was both picking up and dumping multiple boxes of halves. I offered to take his dumps.. take them to home to the penny processing center.. machine roll them.. then seal them in a half box for them. Then every time this guy ordered halves from them they could give him a "fresh" box of halves that I had specially prepared for him.

[jacer333]

I have always found it bad etiquette to comment to people about their business at a bank. Hope I not hijacking this thread, but when I was dumping a few halves the other week, maybe $60 worth or so, a customer who was sitting at a desk near the counter had to ask where I found halves. He was an old timer too. I guess he has not asked banks for halves lately or even thought about half dollars and was amazed someone could have some. Still, I just was not too concerned to tell him that they are everywhere and you buy a box of them without any markup for $500. I am in a bank, minding my own business and not trying to bother anyone. I don't care if people watch me dump coins, but I really don't want people asking me about where I get coins and why I do it and if I "finding any silver" blah, blah,blah. I consider customers strangers who need not know my business. Bank personnel can ask me questions all day long and I will be frank with them all day long because I feel more at ease with them. They see it all. I don't try to be coy with them. If they want to do what I am doing, I can tell them how I do it. No harm in that IMHO.

If you saw someone withdraw, say a few hundred dollars from the teller, or cashed a check for same amount, would you start asking them questions about what they were going to do with the money or where did they get the check, etc? Of course not. Why do people think that bringing coins into a bank is something they need to ask about. Sorry, but it is rude to ask me where I got my coins from. Most people look like deers in a headlight when they see you dumping coins. You could hand over $10,000 in paper dollars at the teller's desk and people would barely notice, but the cling-cling sound and the appearance of some astounding dollar amount, maybe a whole couple hundred dollars, - wow !!! - of coins gets people all attentive. I think it is a sign that we have forgotten what money used to be. Coins seem so foreign to most now.

Great post - really rings a bell with my sorting operation. This is really the only thing I dread about the hobby-having to field nosy questions from other customers or inexperienced/unprofessional tellers. I really don't mind all the footwork that goes into turning the coins over as long as each stop goes along smoothly, but I just can't stand folks that are certain I must be doing something illegal or abnormal and feel the need to butt in and draw attention to my business in the lobby.

[JerrySpringer]

Great post - really rings a bell with my sorting operation. This is really the only thing I dread about the hobby-having to field nosy questions from other customers or inexperienced/unprofessional tellers. I really don't mind all the footwork that goes into turning the coins over as long as each stop goes along smoothly, but I just can't stand folks that are certain I must be doing something illegal or abnormal and feel the need to butt in and draw attention to my business in the lobby.

I get pelted with questions by customers at my job. I want anonymity/below-radar status when I am not at work. Seems to me that I DON'T have to be an information kiosk to strangers when I am in public if I do not want to be. I guess I dislike the attention that gathers when people see I have a few coin bags to dump. I just don't get it. Have they never seen coins before or don't they know banks have MONEY in them? I liken it to Gollum and the precious. They get put into a fixation of having to see what I am doing.

I turned in some plastic-wrapped dimes a few weeks ago to a bank. They were Brinks wrapped and all shiny BU 2011P dimes so I did not bother to open them to dump as it was obvious what I had. The teller started grilling me about them and how I wrapped them in plastic wrap and why was I turning them and how did I get them, etc. I thought at some point the questioning was getting into the province of know your customer as if he was making sure I was not doing something nefarious having these wrapped dimes in my possession. I think the teller was put off that I was not really animated in explaining to him something that seemed so mundane. I think it was $100 of dimes, so 20 rolls and basically small potatoes of coins to dump.

Bank tellers at this point, if they have seen me coming and going all these years have arrived at the stage where they will either find me harmless and roll their eyes at me anyway or are OK with what I do and probably glad I am not a bank thief or a cranky customer. True that I have them do some physical work by changing coin bags for me on occasion but I am cordial to them and they at least probably won't be as apprehensive as they would be to someone who demands X,Y, or Z getting some coins.

[Pennysaved]

Well I asked the teller today if the guy dumped the halves at their bank after sorting them in the lobby.

She said yes but that he was not allowed anymore.

I guess he was taking the ones from the BofA he was picking up and sorting those there in their lobby and then turning them in to pick up his half order at that branch.

That BofA branch has a rule that they have to send out all rolled coin in bags and don't give automatic credit.

I guess he will not be turning them in there anymore

[everything]

Inconsiderate people get what 's coming to them - eventually.
I feel inconsiderate just dumping halves at my CU, but they don't seem to mind, they get used to it after awhile, and I'll help them carry those back breaking bags.

[DuckTales253]

I have always found it bad etiquette to comment to people about their business at a bank.

I feel the same way. I have already been questioned by tellers while picking up a few rolls of coins (never more than $50 at a time, so not suspicious). "What are you doing with these coins?" they ask. I usually just respond that they are for making change, as if I have a business, and say no more. In my opinion, that kind of question is rude and none of their business. If I was withdrawing $500 in cash, would they ask me what I'm doing with the money? Absolutely not. How is it any different for coins, and a much smaller amount at that?

[Romalae]

I have always found it bad etiquette to comment to people about their business at a bank.

I feel the same way. I have already been questioned by tellers while picking up a few rolls of coins (never more than $50 at a time, so not suspicious). "What are you doing with these coins?" they ask. I usually just respond that they are for making change, as if I have a business, and say no more. In my opinion, that kind of question is rude and none of their business. If I was withdrawing $500 in cash, would they ask me what I'm doing with the money? Absolutely not. How is it any different for coins, and a much smaller amount at that?

To me, it is a manifestation of a much broader issue in the monetary division of the status quo. It's indirectly symptomatic of money becoming less physical and more electronic. I read a while back that only about 2% of all money is actual, physical bills or coin; the rest is simply numbers within technology. People aren't so used to seeing physical cashmoney anymore and considering that technology is obviating many passé mediums of daily life such as physical cash-to-product exchange, there'll likely be a time in the future in which all money is electronic and bereft of physicality. Coin money as a primary medium of exchange was phased out in favor of bills starting almost a century ago. And now, both are being phased out in favor of technology. Which I believe is causing society's intellect to regress as people start to take ease-of-use for granted and causes us to lose hands-on ability, which could pose danger in the long term, although this is another topic altogether. Back on topic; because it is much rarer to actually use physical cashmoney to perform daily activities, it isn't perceived as normal to carry around a bunch of bills and it's much more un-normal to carry around a bunch of coin. People's curiosity gets sparked when they see bulk coin because to them it seems overwhelming and unnatural to be privy to such quantities of coinage for non-commercial purposes. It all has to do with what people are used to; unfortunately in the society and time period we live in, that amounts to credit cards, debit cards, and a smattering of bills here and there. We're becoming a technology-crazed society and not only is appreciation of real money dropping, but our vulnerability is increasing as we rely too much on electricity and technology to function and hope that nothing ever happens to our extremely vulnerable electric grid or for any other malicious activity to afflict cyberspace.

This post was a long, off-topic rant, and I do apologize.

[mtldealer]

Penny,,, here is what I would do..ask the teller if she wants to get rid of the "stroller guy".. arrange for her to give him your dumps.. after a while of getting nothing, he would give up and go elsewhere...

I was thinking on the same lines and actually made an offer about a month ago to my favorite branch where they said some guy was both picking up and dumping multiple boxes of halves. I offered to take his dumps.. take them to home to the penny processing center.. machine roll them.. then seal them in a half box for them. Then every time this guy ordered halves from them they could give him a "fresh" box of halves that I had specially prepared for him.

+1