If you have been wondering “Where can I change my coins for cash for free or cheap?“, then you are in the right place.
If you are struggling to save money or working your way out of debt, then you know that every penny counts.
Hunting down those loose coins sitting around your house can be a fun way to save a little bit of extra money each month.
You’ll be surprised at how quickly it all adds up. So, don’t let that loose change sit around collecting dust. Instead, put them into a jar or piggybank.
Of course, once you have a full jar of coins ready to be spent, you’ll want to exchange those coins for crisp dollar bills.
Nobody wants to be the person to bring a piggybank to the store and count out coins – that’s such a hassle.
Don’t worry!
Once your coin jar fills up and you are ready to turn your coins into cash, there are plenty of options available to trade in your coins for cash.
Here are some of the best ways for cashing out your piggybank.
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How to Change Your Coins to Cash?
You may wonder what to do with the coins you save every month. Having a couple of these in a wallet is fine.
But you cannot walk around with that big jar of coins because they actually have weight and easily become notable. Well, you could, but that’s not very convenient. You have to convert your coins to cash (aka cold crisp dollar bills).
You’re probably thinking: “How do I turn my coin collection into cash for free or cheap?”, there are plenty of options available to trade in your coins for cash.
Here are some of the best options available to you. Before you exchange your coins for cash, you should go through and make sure you don’t have any rare and valuable coins.
Believe it or not, there are many coins in circulation that are worth many times their face value because they’re so rare. You don’t want to exchange those coins, but rather sell them online to coin collectors.
Check with Your Bank
Once your change jar fills up, check with your local bank or credit union to see if they offer a free coin to cash exchanges. This is the best way if you want to get the full value of the coins.
Some banks do not accept coin deposits anymore, but most still offer free coin counting services to account holders.
If you do not have an account with one of those banks, the banks will either refuse to exchange your coins for cash or they will charge a fee to use their coin counter machine.
There are also different requirements for different banks. For instance, some banks want rolled coins. If you have plenty of time and patience, you can roll your own coins.
Just buy some coin wrappers from your local bank or even from Amazon and create your coin rolls to bring to the bank.
I would recommend checking with the bank before rolling up your coins to see if they have a coin counting machine you can use for free or if they offer a free coin sorter to non-customers.
Some local and national banks who still offer free counting services to change coins to cash include:
- U.S. Bank – changes coins to cash for free and without rolls for only their customers.
- Bank of America – changes coins for cash, but requires coins to be rolled.
- Wells Fargo – changes rolled coins to cash for only their customers.
- Citibank – changes rolled coins for cash but may charge fees depending on the state.
- Chase – changes coins to cash, but requires coins to be rolled.
- Local Credit Union – changes coins to cash, but requirements may vary.
- Community Savings Bank – changes coins to cash, but requirements may vary.
Use Coinstar (A Coin Counting Machine)
Coinstar can be an easy way to convert your coins to cash. You can find this coin machine at grocery stores or in supermarkets. A Coinstar kiosk can count up to $3,000 worth of coins.
If you want to convert your coins to cash, pour your coins into the machine and it will count them.
Once the machine counts your coins, it will give you a voucher. You will then give it to the store’s register to claim your cash.
The problem with this method is that you have to pay a fee which means you won’t be getting the full face value of your coins.
Here is a list of stores that might have coin counting machines:
Grocery Stores:
- Albertsons
- Cash Wise
- Harris Teeter
- Hannaford
- Hy-Vee
- Kroger
- Meijer
- Pavilions
- ShopRite
Supermarkets and Major Stores:
- CVS Pharmacy
- H-E-B
- Super Kmart Center
- Lowe’s
- Target
- Walmart
Not all store locations have machines. If you do not have any of these stores near you, you can check Coinstar’s website to find the nearest machine.
Coinstar machines charge an 11.9% fee if you want to convert your coins to cash. For every $100, you will get charged $11.90. I know that is a lot of money. If you don’t want to pay fees, there are other options.
Get an e-Gift Card
You can avoid paying a fee if you use a Coinstar machine to exchange your coins for an e-gift card instead of cash. You can choose a gift card from major retailers, restaurants, and e-commerce outlets.
If you want to change your coins for a gift card, put your coins into the machine. The machine will then give you a code equal to the value of the coins.
You can claim gift cards from companies such as Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, Home Depot, iTunes, and many others. These e-gift cards come with minimum and maximum dollar amounts.
Give the Money to a Charity
Some Coinstar machines allow you to donate your coins to charities. You can avoid paying a service fee if you choose this option.
Put your coins into the machine and every cent will go to the charity you would like to donate to.
In return, you will receive a receipt that you can use for a tax deduction. You can make donations to charities such as:
- American Red Cross
- Feeding America
- UNICEF
- Lymphoma Society
- The Humane Society
And a few other charities.
More Interesting and Exciting Ways of Converting Coins to Cash:
Below you can check out more of the interesting ways as to how to convert coins into cash.
So, if you have extensive and massive collections of coins, you can try out following any of these ways. These are workable and practical ways and will be able to make your job easy:
Roll Coins Yourself
There are a few of the banks out there that may ask you to roll coins on your own. In other words, they only accept roll coins.
So, what can you do in this situation? We are going to tell you. Just roll them on your own.
In this way, you can turn and transform a few of the pounds of loose coins change all into a bunch and stack of cash.
And thus, you can then slide and move them right away into your wallet.
However, it is tedious and a bit difficult job to do so, but the results and benefits that it gives you are super amazing.
Furthermore, this is marked as the cheapest and budget-friendly option that you can go for.
You only need to have coin wrappers and start separating your coins all according to the exact amount that has been listed there and marked on the wrapper.
Hiring Someone to Roll Your Coins
If you do not have time to roll your coins into wrappers, then you can hire and appoint someone for this job.
You can ask or request your friend to perform this job. Moreover, you can go to the store and get this job done and performed by a machine.
Place the coins into the machine and you will get them in a wrapped form. As this is not a budget-friendly option, that is why some people do not prefer to do it.
Getting a Coin Separator
The last option that you can go for in order to convert coins into cash is by getting a coin separator.
You can call this coin a separate machine a miniature version of a professional coin machine.
If you have this most lovable habit of collecting coins and love to change into cash, then getting and buying this machine is a great investment from your side.
For this, only have to buy a desired coin separator machine of your preference and choice. Now, starting picking up some rollers and keep them in the appropriate and suitable slots.
You are going to see that the separator will be able to instantly and automatically slide all of the coins. There are some models that even perform wrapping job for you, how amazing it is!
It is all because of this coin separator that you will be able and in a position to quickly and seamlessly organizes everything for you and hence charges no fees.
Moreover, if you have carried some other method and way of converting coins into cash, then share that with us. No doubt, this is an interesting activity to do so.
If more ways will come out of converting coins to cash, then we will put those details over here.
Conclusion!
There are people who save money by saving coins. You can save all the coins and change the coins to crisp bills. Do not spend the cash.
Instead, deposit it into your savings account. You will be surprised at how they add up over time. You can save several hundred dollars or more a year by saving coins.
As you can see, using a bank that offers coin counting services is the best way to change your coins to cash for free.
But, if it is not an option, you can use the Coinstar machine to get cash for your coins.
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