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 Replies: 63 / Views: 7,267 |
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Moderator
 United States
15384 Posts |
I had an interesting conversation today with a local bank Branch Manager that is bothering me some ..... the ethical issues that is ..... I would like your opinions about this discussion .....
I stopped at this bank on my way home to dump about $200 in searched nickels ..... they have a no-charge coin counting machine and I always prefer that option versus the fee at Coinstar.
Anyways ..... at about $3 or so in the counting process the nickel bag fills up and the ding-ding bell goes off.
The bank Manager ..... call him 'Joe' .... has his office right next to the coin counting machine ..... and he comes out to deal with the machine ....
Joe says to me .... 'Wow, you have a lot of nickels in there. Are you a coin collector". I explain my roll searching passion .... hoping he does not get upset and throw me out of the bank.
Instead ..... it turns out that Joe has his office next to the machine so he can intercept for his own profit the silver and old coins being dumped!
Joe goes on to explain with some enthusiasm that in the past year he has 'heard the ding of silver every day' and stops folks from dumping coins to pay them 2x face value for the silver.
If they refuse his offer .... he pulls the bags later and buys the coins at face value.
"How much" I ask ...... Joe said "Over $1200 face value this year". He tells me of Morgans, Walkers, Franklin's, etc .... all dumped by folks I assume are desperate for cash today.
Joe also claims to have intercepted lots of cents/nickels from these dumps ..... and was bragging that he recently sold 150 full-date Buffalo that he intercepted this year from the silver dumpers, and has accumulated as well this year over 1000 Indians and Wheaties.
Some of this may be exaggeration .... the totals that is .... but I have no doubt that Joe is adding to his annual income by taking the coins being dumped into this machine.
Part of me is envious of Joe ..... being able to buy Morgans at $2 each ...... but part of me is bothered as well that he is somehow doing the wrong thing here.
What do you think of this ...... is Joe right in what he is doing?
Let us know your thoughts
David
Edited by nickelsearcher
01/18/2010 6:50 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1807 Posts |
Of course it depends on the banks policy but I'd do the same thing.
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Valued Member
United States
280 Posts |
i think joe has the best job ever, now I know what I want to do when I get older.
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Moderator
Australia
16805 Posts |
Why would you have a problem with this? The only ethical dilemma I can see to a bank employee (be it manager or teller) taking valuable coins or notes from money deposited by customers is them doing this on company time. If they wait till lunch hour or other "slack time" to sort through coins, I don't see a problem at all.
I don't see any ethical difference between a bank manager fishing out valuable coins and a bank customer doing the same. Nor do I see it makes any ethical difference what the finder does with their valuable finds, whether they keep them for their own collection or sell them for profit.
I would even commend him for offering to pay extra for silver coins when he notices a customer trying to deposit them. He doesn't have to do that.
At least you know you've picked a good bank to not pick coins up from. With the manager sifting all the coins coming in, there won't be too many goodies a roll hunter would pick up from there.
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
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2520 Posts |
I would have to commend him also for offering to pay 2X face also (even though it's probably easier than rooting through the machine). As to the ethics about doing so on company time...If he's a manager than no doubt he's salaried and technically is always on company time. So he can also take a break anytime he wants and root through coins! Dream job!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
If 'Joe' is not violating any of his bank's policies, then I'd say it's a 'perk' that comes with the job! Quote:
I would even commend him for offering to pay extra for silver
coins when he notices a customer trying to deposit them. He doesn't
have to do that.   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
He is working at a bank. It is work product or work related revenue. Even disk jockeys give their radio stations 25 to 50% of out side income..... One complaint, and he's guilty of taking advantage of a fiduciary relationship. Just pot stirring.  |
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Valued Member
United States
419 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
I don't see anything wrong with this. Banks are not in the coin collecting business, and I'm sure that if he is the manager he is aware enough of the bank's regulations to know if what he is doing is allowed. There is no reason I can think of why a bank or its employees should be compelled to treat silver (or any old) coinage as though it was the same as today's money.
By offering 2x the value of the coins he is putting customers on alert that they may have coins that are more valuable than face value, and they can always walk away with this new found knowledge if they think his offer is bad. Similarly, if he makes the offer and they reject it but still pour the coins in the machine they have also been given fair warning that they may have valuable coins and simply don't care.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2589 Posts |
I used to check the machines at the bank I worked at when I was a teller, I often worked in the drivethrough away from the machines in the lobby, but at the end of the day I would check the half dollars while cleaning the machine and swap out the silver ones for clads whenever I could. I figured since I never saw the customers in the first place, if I didnt get to them the roll hunters would. I used to keep a roll of halves with me everyday just for that purpose alone.
-XoG
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Moderator
Australia
16805 Posts |
Quote:
It is work product or work related revenue. Not quite. The bank's "product" is money. As far as the bank is concerned, money is a fungible commodity - one ten dollar note is just the same as any other ten dollar note, one quarter-dollar coin is just as valuable as any other quarter-dollar coin. We as coin and note collectors (or, in this case, as a part-time coin dealer with a day job as a bank manager) don't believe that money is entirely fungible, and that different ten dollar notes (and different quarters) are worth more than others, for reasons which a bank would consider to be obscure, irrational and irrelevant. An analogy: you're a gardener; your job is to rake up leaves and take them away. One day, someone comes up to you and asks for a particular leaf off of a particular tree, and will pay you big bucks for it. As far as you can tell, that leaf is just the same as all the other leaves on the tree, and that tree isn't particularly special, either. So if some crazy guy wants to "buy" one of "your" leaves off you, why not? Your new role as "leaf-dealer" has nothing really to do with your main job as a gardener. I can't see the gardening company being particularly bothered by it, either. 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
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Valued Member
United States
297 Posts |
joe is actually being nice for paying 2x face when he can buy them from the bag. He is not stealing he is just searching your searching rolls he searches bank bags whats wrong?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2540 Posts |
cripes, another "taking advantage of a little old lady" thread.
They (the coin owners) came in and dumped the coins. No one twisted their arms.
No one tried to rob them.
He was nice to offer double.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
I agree with the above.. no harm, no foul. After reading Sap's last post, though, I just *had* to get a definition of "fungible". Just thought I'd share.. (from Wikipedia): Fungibility is the property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are capable of mutual substitution. Examples of highly fungible commodities are crude oil, wheat, orange juice, precious metals, and currencies. It refers only to the equivalence of each unit of a commodity with other units of the same commodity. Fungibility has nothing to do with the ability to exchange one commodity for another different commodity. It refers only to the ease of exchanging one unit of a commodity with another unit of the same commodity. Or as Sap said: Quote:
one ten dollar note is just the same as any other ten dollar note, one quarter-dollar coin is just as valuable as any other quarter-dollar coin. I learn something new every day around here  Spell-check does not like it, though! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
I would say that offering folks 2x face is ethically wrong. If he told them they could go to their local coin shop and get 9x face value, do you think they would all sell to him? He's creating the illusion of a deal when in reality he's creating a mess. I think you should drop one silver quarter in the tray so that he hears the "ting" of silver, then pour a gallon of molasses into the machine to spite him for his unethical behaviour.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
The person is there unloading unwanted change.. and from what I'm reading, people actually have turned him down when he offered 2x face. That being said.. he didn't have to offer anything.
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Replies: 63 / Views: 7,267 |
Posted 11/24/2009 9:08 pm
