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 Replies: 17 / Views: 7,171 |
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
Ok, now that I have your attention - I wanted to let all of you know what just happened to me. I'm in Wells Fargo with my son picking up my weekly box of nickels and cents. So the nice teller lady asks me what I do with all these coins. I tell her that I collect coins and that I'm just looking for old coins. My son pipes up, "I collect foreign coins." The teller proceeds to go in the back and brings out a handful of coins - some Canadian, some euro coins, a couple from China, Uruguay, Zambia and plenty of Chuck E Cheese tokens. She says they just throw them away because they can't accept them.    So, my son probably just got more coins for his collection than I did for mine. And to top it off, while mine are at face value - his were free. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4000 Posts |
Very nice! Bonus that they went to a youngster! Take that teller a box of donuts next time you go!
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Valued Member
United States
376 Posts |
That should keep the collecting bug alive and well in your son for quite some time. Lucky boy. Great teller.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2120 Posts |
I would tell them to hold em in a box for you and ever week or so you'll come in and pick them up.
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Valued Member
United States
115 Posts |
Not just any donuts...Take that teller a box of Krispy Kreme Donuts! Yum! Great story and nice to see you getting your kid involved.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
689 Posts |
do all banks throw them away?
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Hmmmm, I don't have a son, but I do have a dog. Next time I go to the bank, I will explain that my dog collects coins.
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Valued Member
Canada
307 Posts |
it just goes to show that there really are nice people in the world who aren't in it for a buck.......present company excluded of course  |
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Moderator
 Australia
16816 Posts |
Quote:
do all banks throw them away? I suspect the policy would vary from bank to bank, and from branch to branch within the same bank. Some may have an arrangement where someone (a collector or dealer) comes and collects them regularly. Others might simply throw them away, or take them to a scrap metal merchant. I imagine that banks in the border regions would see a lot more Canadian or Mexican coins and might even have some kind of reciprocal exchange arrangement for those coins with a bank on the other side. So if darkside coins are your thing, it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask at your regular bank what the do with any weird foreign coins they receive. Other countries handle this problem differently. In Germany, the "weird foreign coins" collected by banks there get shipped to the central bank offices, which bag them up for sale in bulk to collectors. These "Bundesbank Bags" are quite famous among world coin collectors. 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
Canada
3692 Posts |
Hah, the Germans got the right idea. Tells you a lot about behavioural habits abroad.
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Valued Member
 United States
397 Posts |
Back to the bank again today for more boxes. Two tellers come over and say to my son - "Aren't you the boy that collects foreign coins? Let me go in the back, I think we've got some."
Out comes a France euro, a German 2 eurocent, a penny from Great Britain, a Canadian dime, a Mexican 2 peso, a Mexican 20 centavos, a Philipines 25 sentimos, and a South African 20 cent coin from Botswana. The teller handed the last to him saying, "Here's one from my country." and proceeded to talk to him about South Africa for a minute.
Oh yeah - also included was an Angel Good Luck token and a Sega game token.
I think some donuts are in order next week...
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Valued Member
United States
335 Posts |
Can we see a picture of the South African coin? I used to live in Botswana, and they don't use South African coins--so I'm curious about what that coin really is. Their coins are in thebe and pula, while South Africa uses cents and rand.
Somewhere around my house, there is a can full of Botswana coins that I brought home with me, but I have not been able to find it.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
No problem. It's a 20 cent coin from South Africa, KM #327. I guess the teller could have said she was from Botswana and I just misunderstood her.  |
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Valued Member
United States
335 Posts |
"Aforika Borwa" is Setswana for "South Africa"--Setswana is one of the languages used in South Africa, and it's the primary language used in Botswana (although English is the official language).
I'll bet the teller is a Motswana. Say "dumela" next time you greet her.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
LOL. If I tell her hello like that, she's liable to rattle off a whole paragraph at me while I just stand there with a dumb look on my face. I do that often enough as it is.
Seriously though, I was just surprised that two different tellers came over and made a point of talking to my 8-year-old son about his foreign coins. That and the fact that they had saved them for him all week. Now's he bugging me to let him "staple them up" into 2x2s.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
Thats really neat of them to do that for your son. Maybe their after you and going thru your son to get you. Wonder if one of the neighbors would let me borrow their kid?
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Replies: 17 / Views: 7,171 |
Posted 08/14/2010 4:03 pm
