Nice surprise at Coinstar today

[MiciDragan]

Hi All,

Hope you are doing great with collecting and stuff.
Went to local store to deposit my coffee jar full of cents and saw that there was something in the reject slot of the machine.
Usually it's mostly crap there but today I found the coin that I was really curious about. 1943 steel penny!
I have now and then been wondering if the machines actually will not reject these...
The coin is little bit grainy on the obverse while the reverse seems to have handled the time slightly better.

Nice addition to my modest collection!

Cheers and don't forget to check the coinstars while you are out there shopping.

Mici

[Petespockets55]

Any free range wheat is a nice surprise. Congrats.

[VAB2013]

Hi Mici! Been wondering about you, thanks for the update! Nice steelie for free! Now I will go check the reject even if I am not there to dump off coins, So what if people look at me funny! Congrats!

[GrumpyEd]

Haven't found a steel cent in ages.

Interesting that it made it to the reject slot. I remember reading that some machines have a magnet in the input that would catch anything magnetic. You proved that isn't a certainty

[MiciDragan]

Hi,

@Vivian, I am still around but work demands more of my focus now days so my collecting activities are slowed down. Also I decided to finish sorting what I already have before submerging into a new box. Then there will be plenty of dates to focus on. In the meanwhile I scan my bottles of 1998-2000 and the 1992, but this far no hits.

@GrumpyEd, I think that at least CoinStar machines are more sensitive to weight somehow. Some memorials that are heavily worn, are rejected time after time. Once I met an operator who was changing the storage boxes of the machine but he didn't want to talk too much with me. Those guys should be otherwise sitting on a lot of interesting coins.

Cheers
Mici

[GrumpyEd]

Some memorials that are heavily worn, are rejected time after time.

The auto checkout machines are all set differently, some are picky but the next one might take the same coin so if I have a bunch of culls I'll try them on a few shopping trips and most get accepted. If that doesn't work give them to a cashier.

[jfines69]

Nice pull from a reject bin... You saved a nice steelie!!!

[coincollectingenterprises]

Hi,

@Vivian, I am still around but work demands more of my focus now days so my collecting activities are slowed down. Also I decided to finish sorting what I already have before submerging into a new box. Then there will be plenty of dates to focus on. In the meanwhile I scan my bottles of 1998-2000 and the 1992, but this far no hits.

@GrumpyEd, I think that at least CoinStar machines are more sensitive to weight somehow. Some memorials that are heavily worn, are rejected time after time. Once I met an operator who was changing the storage boxes of the machine but he didn't want to talk too much with me. Those guys should be otherwise sitting on a lot of interesting coins.

Cheers
Mici

Off-topic to OP but relevant to respond to clarify for any and all interested:

CoinStar machines use sensing technology that detects metal content in addition to diameter and thickness. Weight is not a factor. The coins being worn down has to do primarily with thickness readings. Coinstar machines are programmed to be excessively sensitive - presumably to help deter slugs, tokens, and foreign coin dumps.

CoinStar has a secondary reject bin in addition to the bin customers see. This is the bin where coins tend to go after the customer selects they are done processing their coin, but there is coin still "stuck" in the wheel. The coin is attempted to automatically be dumped into that bin. Or, eventually a jam forms, and a customer service rep from the store the CoinStar is placed services the machine and places the "stuck" coin in that bin. Coins that can be stuck can actually be U.S. coins such as Eisenhower sized coins. Any coin larger than a half-dollar coin will not successfully feed through the machine. This is typical of many coin sorters. What is not typical is that the machine will not reject back to the customer the coin larger than a half-dollar. In addition, the machine does not disallow the coin from being fed into the hopper. The machine keeps it unless the customer specifically requests the machine opened to have the coin retrieved by hand.

Could tell you pretty much anything you want to know about those machines. Have been inside and dissected one (as far as machine similarity goes, not an actual CoinStar owned one).

[GrumpyEd]

Could tell you pretty much anything you want to know about those machines. Have been inside and dissected one (as far as machine similarity goes, not an actual CoinStar owned one).

Do some of the machines use a magnet at some stage to grab anything magnetic?

[coincollectingenterprises]

Do some of the machines use a magnet at some stage to grab anything magnetic?

Absolutely. Many machines that do not use sensing equipment use magnets. The magnets would almost certainly be on a tray at or near entry into the hopper prior to going on a rail or coin wheel.

Most coin sorters these days use sensing technology so magnets aren't really needed. We often have used magnets in our trays to keep the "junk" out. But we have very specific needs and purposes. You wouldn't have magnets inside the machine as it'd just cause jams. So if a coin that is attracted to magnets goes through a machine to a reject slot (or accepted) then it doesn't use magnets.

CoinStar does not use magnets since they use sensing technology. Though it's good to note sensing technology needs regular cleaning. Certainly can promise you those machines are not cleaned enough. Sensing technology is not perfect, either. The best example of the Talaris coin sorter mach generations. That's what TD Bank uses (those Penny Arcade machines). Or rather, used to use before they got shut down for terrible miscounts. Generally speaking, sensing technology coin sorters tend to miscount in the favor of the machine and does not favor the customer. Meaning, the bag or bin will have more coins than the counted face value, and customers will get paid less than they actually put in.

I believe some of the older, very local and non-chain banks have some of those very old school coin sorters that still use magnets at entry.

In summary, just keep in mind, the only decent stage to use magnets is at the beginning stage (unless the coin designer likes torturing the coin operator with having to clean out giant coin clogs). So if you don't see a magnet, then there probably isn't one.

[Frank]

Awesome info CCE, thank you!

[coincollectingenterprises]

Awesome info CCE, thank you!

Quite welcome.

[willy13]

The coin counters at the CDGA National Bank in my area uses magnets. They are at the front top where the coins are put in. I'll see canadian quarters just hanging there. My theory is that these magnets are making it harder to find steel war pennies in bank boxes. The only time I find them are in customer wrapped rolls.