and started to collect coins 3 months ago.
Like you I retired and started collecting coins. Australian coins, that is.
Posted 08/31/2013 10:44 am
There are lots of ways that folks have of sorting through bulk coins.
"Buying" bulk coins from the bank, as r9453 says, is one way. If you do this, always make sure that the bank or branch you re-deposit the coins at is different from the bank you withdrew them. Workers at a bank branch will take a dim view of coin collectors wasting their time and money using coins in ways their manufacturer never intended.
The "Casino exchange" method is still popular, I think, though more and more casinos and clubs are switching to card-only machines. This tactic has the advantage of gaining the co-operation of an otherwise unwilling spouse or partner who likes an occasional flutter; you get to sit at a table and sort through coins, they get to play the pokies with the coins you've already sorted through.
Volunteer to help count and sort through donated coins at a church or charity: The Sunday morning church offering plates, the Salvation Army and Red Cross door-knocker donations, those little boxes that some businesses have where you can buy Lions Mints for a few cents, or the little charity donation moneyboxes, all have to be collected and counted by somebody. That somebody could just as easily be you. Contact the charity and ask if you can help. You'll probably be expected to do more for the charity than just count their money, so find a cause you can believe in, and start there first. There are, of course, ethical issues with doing this, especially if you actually find valuable coins in the money that gets donated. Do you take them for face value? Do you buy them off the charity for "mates rates" or for full market value? Do you offer to sell valuable finds on their behalf, with the charity gaining the proceeds? These are all things you might want to work through with the charity's financial officers before you begin.
Most of my coins I buy from dealers or my local coin club, but some I have acquired by helping count my church offering. I have to share any finds with the other chap who helps count the money; I don't think it's a coincidence that the only two coin collectors in the church have volunteered for this task.
"Buying" bulk coins from the bank, as r9453 says, is one way. If you do this, always make sure that the bank or branch you re-deposit the coins at is different from the bank you withdrew them. Workers at a bank branch will take a dim view of coin collectors wasting their time and money using coins in ways their manufacturer never intended.
The "Casino exchange" method is still popular, I think, though more and more casinos and clubs are switching to card-only machines. This tactic has the advantage of gaining the co-operation of an otherwise unwilling spouse or partner who likes an occasional flutter; you get to sit at a table and sort through coins, they get to play the pokies with the coins you've already sorted through.
Volunteer to help count and sort through donated coins at a church or charity: The Sunday morning church offering plates, the Salvation Army and Red Cross door-knocker donations, those little boxes that some businesses have where you can buy Lions Mints for a few cents, or the little charity donation moneyboxes, all have to be collected and counted by somebody. That somebody could just as easily be you. Contact the charity and ask if you can help. You'll probably be expected to do more for the charity than just count their money, so find a cause you can believe in, and start there first. There are, of course, ethical issues with doing this, especially if you actually find valuable coins in the money that gets donated. Do you take them for face value? Do you buy them off the charity for "mates rates" or for full market value? Do you offer to sell valuable finds on their behalf, with the charity gaining the proceeds? These are all things you might want to work through with the charity's financial officers before you begin.
Most of my coins I buy from dealers or my local coin club, but some I have acquired by helping count my church offering. I have to share any finds with the other chap who helps count the money; I don't think it's a coincidence that the only two coin collectors in the church have volunteered for this task.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
