Bank Stuff- How to deal with pesky questions

[Robarons]

Like with most people here I have been sorting for a while and do the whole sorting thing. Go to a buttload of banks and sort stuff- sounds easy. Every once in a while I go to out of town banks hoping to find interesting things not normally found at my regulars. I buy some nickels and a couple days later the teller calls me. She said she gave me $8 too many and to call her back. I do so and explain it all gets mixed up from rolls from other banks, and I always take the tellers word when buying coin rcount it. and do not. She says oh well 'at least your being honest'. What can you do?

Also when I want to buy coin I say I can take anything you can spare, but they always ask for a number. So pick a random number like $300 which freaks them out and the clearly say we dont have that much- as if I wanted exactly$300 or nothing. Does this happen to you guys? any creative ways to ask for a large amount without going thru the above?

Thanks

[fasteddy]

I ask if i can order ten boxes of pennies and then I ask if they have any that I can have that day, usually walk away with two to four boxes plus what I ordered...at my regular pickup bank, the tellers always ask if I need some pennies...I say "yes" then they always ask "how much"... gotta love that....they usually have ten boxes in the big vault. I try not to drain them too often.

[AgCollector]

...Also when I want to buy coin I say I can take anything you can spare, but they always ask for a number. So pick a random number like $300 which freaks them out and the clearly say we dont have that much- as if I wanted exactly$300 or nothing. Does this happen to you guys? any creative ways to ask for a large amount without going thru the above?

Thanks

Yeah, that happens alot. I've changed now to not expect to get more than one box of whatever without ordering in advance. They don't like to have a lot of extra on hand (takes up space) and I think the reason they ask for a number is security- they don't want to admit to what they have in house. Only for halves, have I been able to ask for "pretty much as many as possible" and that seems to get them all.

[AuStruck]

Bank comments - Do banks or tellers know what you are doing? Would you tell some tellers or none?

I live in a small town about 5000 pop. Two cities 25 -30 miles in 90 degree directions. One teller, friendly for years, in my long time bank asked me why I want pennies. I told a small white lie.

In same name bank, 25 mi dist, one young woman seems happy to give out halves and pennies no questions asked (except once, “Do you want any $2 bills?) I have taken only $200 in halves so far with no silver found. Can’t go there often - Gas dollars spent. (This young woman reminds me of the girls in black mini-skirts and glasses in the Robert Palmer music videos a few years back.)

(Best results in pennies from another small town bank, customer wrapped. 2-3 rolls over 90% copper. Some looked like proofs, but I‘m not sure, two coins very shiny with cupped field. I‘m no expert.)

[penny4mythoughts]

In response to the "why do want these?" questions I just say I am a coin collector and "It's amazing what you can still find in circulation". If they ask what that means i say "wheats, errors, all kinds of stuff" and smile. That usually does it. I honestly don't care if they know I'm doing alloy recovery, but I just don't want to explain it.

[thecam111]

I just tell the tellers im doing a "project" with pennies, and they dont ask anything else

[AGCoinHunter]

I am like penny. I just tell them I collect and usually they ask if I find anything. I just say I find errors and old coins which I keep. Most tellers dont push it past that.

[BadKarma]

Alot like everyone else, I say I'm searching for old cents and errors while working on a collection for my nephews. (which is really true)

[fasteddy]

tell the tellers im doing a "project" with pennies

when will the project be over? I have yet found a teller that really cares...even found a teller who is a silver hound so that bank is only a pennie pickup now.

[silverflake]

I go in with my two boys. They get their 2-3 dollars worth of pennies, I get my 10 dollars worth (big spender). When they ask (and they do) we just tell them we are coin collectors that like to go through the dates. My boys tell them about the whitman folders they are trying to fill. Most of the tellers we deal with actually know us and start looking for pennies when they see us in line. There's only one or two tellers at the two banks we frequent who seem annoyed (though still helpful). It seems more fun when your bank actually helps you in your endeavor.

[snappy]

For cents/dimes I only have 1 supply bank, There is 1 other bank in area and a CU when they get over stocked with coins they call my bank then my bank call me then I go to pick them up. My bank normally gives me 1 or 2 bags of cents a week and 1 bag of dimes most weeks. when someone brings in large amount of coins like school cent drive ect they call me and I just go in and get them...living in a small town has bonuses.

I don't return zincs in my town I wait until I have to go shopping (nearest walmart 50 miles away) it is across fed distric and state lines so use that trip to dump I live in a small town in a very rual area. during the summer months the [fluffy kittens] just pile up and I just went threw 3000 fv ($1000 copper) and returned half the zinc felt sorry for the young guy running the coin. his eyes almost poped out when he commented on the quanty and I told him I have just as many at home still.

[.02FYI]

alloy recovery hmm specialist.

[JadeDragon]

While snappy is running coins across state lines (sounds a little illegal) I have been known to dump and sell across international borders.

[jbj]

For cents/dimes I only have 1 supply bank, There is 1 other bank in area and a CU when they get over stocked with coins they call my bank then my bank call me then I go to pick them up. My bank normally gives me 1 or 2 bags of cents a week and 1 bag of dimes most weeks. when someone brings in large amount of coins like school cent drive ect they call me and I just go in and get them...living in a small town has bonuses.

I don't return zincs in my town I wait until I have to go shopping (nearest walmart 50 miles away) it is across fed distric and state lines so use that trip to dump I live in a small town in a very rual area. during the summer months the [fluffy kittens] just pile up and I just went threw 3000 fv ($1000 copper) and returned half the zinc felt sorry for the young guy running the coin. his eyes almost poped out when he commented on the quanty and I told him I have just as many at home still.

Are we not calling them cents anymore?

[neilgin1]

when getting boxes of nickels, i say i'm in charge of youth bingo this week, and just withdraw it, as i would any other currency. they give me the boxes at face, no extra charge, but i do it steadily, every several weeks.

[Finder]

I just say my daughter and I collect pennies. Which is true basically.

[tbram88]

Hello all, I am a kind of new sorter ( only been at it for a month or so) I have been going to two different banks which I hold accounts at and order 4 boxes at each.
They call me when they come in and I pick them up, when I get weird looks from the tellers I just tell them me and my son are searching for old pennies.
Now when I come in they sometimes ask how its going and I tell them we found a few and that we are having fun and it keeps my son off the xbox.

Here in OH. I have been avg. around 30% copper last box was 753 copper 11 wheat 18 Cad. two went in trash and the rest (1716 or so) zinc.

I am glad to have found this forum there is a lot of good info here,keep it up.

All the best...Bob.

[PreservingThePast]

Hello all, I am a kind of new sorter ( only been at it for a month or so) I have been going to two different banks which I hold accounts at and order 4 boxes at each.
They call me when they come in and I pick them up, when I get weird looks from the tellers I just tell them me and my son are searching for old pennies.
Now when I come in they sometimes ask how its going and I tell them we found a few and that we are having fun and it keeps my son off the xbox.

Here in OH. I have been avg. around 30% copper last box was 753 copper 11 wheat 18 Cad. two went in trash and the rest (1716 or so) zinc.

I am glad to have found this forum there is a lot of good info here,keep it up.

All the best...Bob.

Welcome.......tbram88.

Enjoy your coin searches, everyone.

[sonyaonya]

I tell them that I drive the 'little bus' and that I'm taking full load of the special folks who ride my bus to (use fictional city and state name ... best to use a fictional town located somewhere across the nearest state line) where the 'worlds largest wishing well' is located. NOT! I add that we're going to make a whole weekend of it and that there is little else to do in that one horse town other than to throw away money all day... (sounds a lot like Vegas doesn't it?)

[commoncents]

I gave the teller of my main penny source bank a jar of honey (I'm a hobby beekeeper). Now he's glad to see me and asks me if I found any good ones. I gave a jar of honey to the tellers at a different bank and several weeks later one of them told me of needing to sell about 200 half dollars from an estate. I promised her spot price of the silver in them or 22x face value. I have not bought them yet, but expect to soon. Two little 1 pound jars of honey have been very good for the hobby.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

Took fresh cookies to my only bank that will sell me bags off of their machines. And, yepper, they just dropped a bag and had it waiting when I walked in the door!

[camprunamuk]

I have been trying to warm up the tellers at my favorite bank to get boxes, they always have them, never sigh or frown at me...although they aren't super friendly either.....But I try really hard to engage her in friendly banter, and smile alot, etc. The vault lady never seems to smile and I think she hates me....LOL. Now today I went in and the lady leaned towards me and said " I prayed you would come in today" which made me speechless. Then she added "I just thought several times that I hoped my lady would come in...." Im her lady now? I thought she hated me...so she asked me if I could take more than my usual one or two boxes because she had a problem...they got an extra unexpected shipment and her vault was so full she didn't have room for the stuff they had to put in at closing...I didn't want to spend the extra money but I guarantee you I dug out money thinking I could cash in the zinc later and put it back into the budget...

The first box I opened was high copper content but best of all it had 54 wheaties! The most ever, I couldn't believe it! I wanted to show her I could help her out when she does me so often.,...now I am going to go back tomorrow and get some fo the boxes traded out for more.

[68Camaro]

Good story. Not that it should be done for the reward, but it shows the value of patience and kindness...

[camprunamuk]

Yes, the reward of copper and wheaties is good, but I had to take money out of my budget to do it...a no-no in our house. But I will return the extra zinc and put the money back...LOL. It made her happy and THAT was worth it in the future all by itself....I hear too many people comment on bankers not liking what we are doing...Plus they seemed to be good boxes. My whole family was around helping me hand sort them last night. Movie night is what really attracted the teenagers, and I gave them copper/wheaties for helping....