Today I tested one of those green "COINSTAR" machines that are set up at the larger Loblaws stores. You merely dump your load of mixed coins into the basket and wait for the machine to sort them and count them. You end up with a detailed receipt which you then convert into PAPER CURRENCY at the checkout.
I converted over 1200 One Cent coins (pennies) and several hundred 5 Cents and 10 Cents coins. It was very satisfying to unload all of that metal "sludge" although you pay a fee of just under 10% for the service --- but well worth it in my opinion. Any coins that are not accepted by the machine are returned to you.
Here are a few of my most important observations:
1. American One Cent coins are gobbled up without any problem (except for those steel ones issued during WW2). I didn't try any US nickels or dimes but I presume they would be accepted too.
2. The machine does NOT accept those chromium-plated-steel 5 Cents coins that were issued during WW2 (Victory design) and between 1951 and 1954 inclusive. I didn't try any of those brass-coloured WW2 "Tombac" nickels. However, earlier (pre-1937) King George V nickels ARE accepted.
3. Holed, severely damaged and foreign coins seem not to be accepted (which makes sense).
4. Some of the recent-date lightweight nickels and dimes seem not to be accepted.
I didn't try any 25 Cents or higher denomination coins as those are easy to roll up and deposit at the bank without any service charge.
The COINSTAR machine is obviously very sophisticated and has various sensors to detect metal content, coin diameter and coin weight.
By the way, the NICKEL BULLION content of a 100% Nickel Canadian 5 Cents coin is now about 20 Cents! (thanks to the huge demand therefor from China).
I hope the above helps.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2007, 12:49:46 pm by Ottawa »
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" Buy the very best notes that you can afford and keep them for at least 10 years. " (Richard D. Lockwood, private communication, 1978).
