Free coin counting machines

FTB-James
FTB-James Posts: 21 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
Does anyone know where you can take coins to be counted and sorted for free? I have a fairly big mound that needs sorting. I thought Barclays used to have free coin sorting machines but my local branch doesn't seem to have one.

I'm reluctant to use CoinStar as they take a chunk of my money. I am happy to sit and bag them up for the bank but if there was a free machine to do it, that would be ideal.

Thanks :-)
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Comments

  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    Metro usually have them.
  • Mchambers
    Mchambers Posts: 1,054 Forumite
    Take it to your local bank or building society branch.

    I just put the coins in bags for each type of coin. For example,I have one bag for 50p coins..

    They will then weigh the coins to work out how much money you have.

    Ask for a receipt once they have worked out how much you have.

    I did this last week as I wanted to get rid of all of my coins; in particular my old £1 coins. In total, I had over £57 of coins.

    Lazy yes but get the banks to earn their money for a change.

    For info Barclays will do this.
  • Ballard
    Ballard Posts: 2,850 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    Some HSBC branches have machines which count coins and deposit them into your account.
    I hate verisimilitude.
  • alanq
    alanq Posts: 4,216 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Lokolo wrote: »
    Metro usually have them.

    Interesting article
    https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/06/02/2164179/the-metro-bank-coin-caper/
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    alanq wrote: »
    Interesting article
    https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/06/02/2164179/the-metro-bank-coin-caper/

    Thanks, it is very interesting.

    So you put your coins in the machine and if it overcounts then you can 'bank' a little profit. :) It does sound much harder work compared to the current account and regular savings merry-go-round though ;)
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • alanq
    alanq Posts: 4,216 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    edited 3 October 2017 at 1:50PM
    I suspect that the unreliability of these machines is a reason that they are not being rolled out into more bank branches (and withdrawn from some that they are already in). The first and only time I used one in HSBC it short changed me by a couple of pounds. Luckily I knew exactly how much I had put in, challenged the amount credited and my balance was later corrected when the machine was checked.

    Unless people pre-count the coins they will not know if Coinstar or whatever is giving a correct total.
  • Don80
    Don80 Posts: 300 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    A lot of city centre and larger bank branches have coin deposit machines. You pop your card and PIN in, then drop in all your coins (no need to sort). It counts them and credits the amount to your account. The only issue is that some coins get rejected, so you need to take them to a counter or spend them.
  • zerog
    zerog Posts: 2,478 Forumite
    Interesting article.

    With the Metro Bank machines, I am pretty sure they received the extra money because it had been lying around inside the machine. Sometimes coins get stuck inside and need a bit of force (such as the next customer pouring another kilo of coins on top) to get them moving. Or, for whatever reason, the previous user poured extra coins in after the machine had finished counting.

    Also, I think the problems with being short-changed arise when you put in coins that are damaged, discoloured or bent in a certain way. It causes the machine to reject it but it doesn't come back out.

    I have been consistently short-changed by Metro Bank, but only by about 1-2%, and it only ever fails to count (old) pound coins, so I stopped putting those in. 1p-50p are always counted perfectly.

    I also know something more interesting about these machines which I don't want to say publicly.



    The HSBC machines are very accurate in my experience, but I don't use them any more because the money only goes into your account the next day.

    Since HSBC takes any amount of bagged or loose coins at the counter, there isn't any benefit to me using the machines either.
  • alanq
    alanq Posts: 4,216 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    edited 3 October 2017 at 2:20PM
    Don80 wrote: »
    The only issue is that some coins get rejected, so you need to take them to a counter or spend them.

    Both trial reported in the article to which I linked and my own experience had rejected coins. The discrepancies were AFTER rejected coins were taken into account. (Unless some REjected were not Ejected)
  • Flobberchops
    Flobberchops Posts: 1,279 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    Natwest branches often have coin counting machines if you happen to bank with them.
    zerog wrote: »
    I also know something more interesting about these machines which I don't want to say publicly.

    Come on, you can't leave us hanging like that!
    : )
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