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Bank will not take old, rusty coins

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N

nyord

Guest
My husband buried a lot of money ($10,000.00!) in coins about 12 years ago. He now decided to dig them up only to find out that despite being wrapped in plastic in a steel box, etc. they are totally rusty and dirty. We washed them and took them to the bank. The bank refused to take them - they said that most of the coins would not be able to go through the machine because the rust was making the coin thicker, and doing a "hand count" was out of the question. Can they really refuse to take our money? Where can we get help?
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
nyord said:
My husband buried a lot of money ($10,000.00!) in coins about 12 years ago. He now decided to dig them up only to find out that despite being wrapped in plastic in a steel box, etc. they are totally rusty and dirty. We washed them and took them to the bank. The bank refused to take them - they said that most of the coins would not be able to go through the machine because the rust was making the coin thicker, and doing a "hand count" was out of the question. Can they really refuse to take our money? Where can we get help?
My response:

Yes, they can refuse your coins. Why? Because of the cost involved in handling and processing that much coinage. It's a money losing proposition for a bank, unless they are willing to give you an estimate for a "hand count" and you agree to the bank subtracting that amount from your total to pay them for their labor.

I figure, 9 hours, at $35.00 per hour, for a total cost of $315.00, ought to about do it.

However, you can take them to any U.S. Mint for a free exchange, like in San Francisco, Denver, or Philadelphia.

IAAL
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
Call around because some banks accept coins only if wrapped in the approved coin wrappers. If no bank will accept them start paying for everything in coins. This is a good example of why a safe deposit box of a home safe is so useful. It would have been better to put paper money in a safe deposit box. And even better to put the money in a CD with a Federally insured financial institution. At least he would have gotten interest instead of rust.
 

shelby7

Junior Member
I worked for a bank for 11 years and yes that amount of coins must be wrapped, otherwise banks are not required to take them. a Teller may take about 50 pennies and wrap them for you out of courtesy. Most banks have gotten rid of coin counters because they are not required to take loose coins.I would suggest you go to your local bank and get the wrappers and pay someone to wrap the coins for you.
 

HappyHusband

Senior Member
shelby7 said:
I worked for a bank for 11 years and yes that amount of coins must be wrapped, otherwise banks are not required to take them. a Teller may take about 50 pennies and wrap them for you out of courtesy. Most banks have gotten rid of coin counters because they are not required to take loose coins.I would suggest you go to your local bank and get the wrappers and pay someone to wrap the coins for you.
Hey, that's great, this thread is only 62 months old.

But, I would soak the coins in Coca-Cola for a couple of weeks and take the coins to a bank with a coin counter.
 

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