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Pillar of the Community
United States
1746 Posts |
Clad half dollars are accepted, and there is a section just for them when you dump coins at a machine (same with small dollar coins). There is a .15 gram difference between a 1971-present half and a 40% silver-clad half. I guess it depends on how the machine is calibrated. For reference there is a .27 gram difference between a silver dime and a clad dime.
I have found a 1969 40% half in the coinstar reject bin before, it's in this thread.
Edited by CalzoneManiac
09/11/2023 12:10 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2729 Posts |
Quote:
Question: are normal clad half dollars accepted by CoinStar machines? If so, are the silver-clad halves consistently rejected? The weights are very close so I'd be interested in knowing how the machine tells the difference.
A little reference chart for you regarding Silver vs. Clad coin weights for dimes through halves: 90% Silver Half: 12.50 grams (+1.16 grams) 40% Silver Half: 11.50 grams (+.16 grams) Clad Half: 11.34 grams Silver Quarter: 6.25 grams (+.58 grams) Clad Quarter: 5.67 grams Silver Dime: 2.50 grams (+.23 grams) Clad Dime: 2.27 grams So, in reality, the difference in weight for the 40% halves vs. their clad counterparts is not too much different than the silver dimes vs. theirs... I have no idea what the calibration would be, but I would think maybe .10 gram for all coins. Clad quarters have much more variance in weight than either dimes or halves, so they tend to show up more often (on a percentage basis) in reject bins than dimes.
CRH Nickeloholic. 1,500,000 nickels searched in seven years! Have found THREE complete Jefferson sets!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1451 Posts |
Quote:
Question: are normal clad half dollars accepted by CoinStar machines? If so, are the silver-clad halves consistently rejected? The weights are very close so I'd be interested in knowing how the machine tells the difference.
To add to what John77 posted. Coinstar machines work by weighing coins and checking their magnetism. If a coin is outside the parameters of most US coins, the Coinstar will reject it. Since silver coins (mostly dimes quarters and half dollars minted before 1965) are heavier than modern coins, the Coinstar will not accept them in many cases. Most people who exchange coins at a Coinstar do not realize that their coins that are rejected may not be accepted because they are silver or other reasons. Some people take the rejected coins back, but many people leave the coins in the reject tray possibly not even checking and so all you have to do is check the reject tray and you may find foreign coins, tokens, and silver. I have found some as well and put aside to check soon on a rainy day and will post, so its all true, so long as others havent already grabbed whats in the reject slot which is the biggest issue in large traffic areas like where mine are located. Most don't carry around half dollars let alone silver halfs anymore but since big size foreign coins and tokens I've found in there I guess anything is possible, someone found a gold coin but thats likely one of a kind.
Edited by datadragon
09/11/2023 09:35 am
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Moderator
 United States
128395 Posts |
Quote:So my CoinStar drought finally ended this afternoon... The local Walmart's machine had a bunch of change in the reject bin... I didn't look to see what it was, I just grabbed all of it... 2 Canadian Quarters, 3 US Quarters, a 5 Pence coin, a Dime, a battery, 4 Zincolns, and, most importantly, a 1966 40% silver half! Outstanding! 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1746 Posts |
Coinstar machines, to the best of my knowledge, do not cull out pre-1982 copper cents (which weigh .61 gram heavier than zinc cents), so the calibration must be different for those compared to the silver coins.
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Valued Member
United States
272 Posts |
Found a single dirty modern nickel on the machine counter yesterday.
Edited by AllSeasons
09/18/2023 6:02 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1746 Posts |
I found a dime in the reject slot, reverse facing has me thinking it's gonna be silver. Flip it around, and it's a 2000 P. There's always next time.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2894 Posts |
Went to my grocery today and checked - a cruddy LSC in the reject tray, and a nice 2011 Canada 5¢ on the counter. Proceed to my shopping. As I'm checking out, a guy starts dumping a big jar of coins into the CoinStar. Seemed like more were getting rejected than accepted! I hurried over as he was pulling them out and dumping them back in the jar. About modern 30 Canadian quarters! Forgot to ask how he acquired so many down here in Louisiana. Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2729 Posts |
Quote:
Coinstar machines, to the best of my knowledge, do not cull out pre-1982 copper cents (which weigh .61 gram heavier than zinc cents), so the calibration must be different for those compared to the silver coins. They actually have two settings for cents to account for the two weights (2.5 grams for zinc and 3.1 grams for copper)... Steel cents, since they weigh about 2.7 grams, get rejected automatically as a result. However, an extremely corroded steel cent might get accepted because of the loss in weight. I've found a lot of steel cents in reject bins through the years, but I have yet to encounter a massively corroded one, so this may be why.
CRH Nickeloholic. 1,500,000 nickels searched in seven years! Have found THREE complete Jefferson sets!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
29957 Posts |
Nice finds AllSeasons, Calzone Maniac, and Hondo Boguss! Free money, even if it's not anything special or valuable, is always a win.
Errers and Varietys.
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Moderator
United States
128395 Posts |
Nice finds! |
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Valued Member
United States
52 Posts |
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Later, I read somewhere else that someone saw inside a coinstar machine and that some rejects were stuck inside. I wonder if, while dumping my cents, those two coins happened to be someone else's rejects that got stuck in the machine, and happened to get knocked loose by my coins to drop down into the tray. Makes you wonder if you had one or two of your coins stuck in the Coinstar for the next customer to dislodge!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2894 Posts |
I watched a manager open a CoinStar to clear a jam. On the inside is a clearly labelled "dust can". Manager took the offending coins and tossed them in - and they were not the only ones in there. Should have asked if she needed me to go dump that can in the trash for her.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
Edited by Hondo Boguss
09/22/2023 12:41 am
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Moderator
United States
128395 Posts |
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Should have asked if she needed me to go dump that can in the trash for her.  
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1746 Posts |
I did find four cents while I was dumping a bunch of cents into the machine (don't worry, I checked for all the valuable varieties that I can see)
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Replies: 5,062 / Views: 511,940 |
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Posted 09/11/2023 07:26 am
