Looking for coin sorter expertise

[freebird5825]

Need some great minds for this one...

I have a wine bottle half filled with change that needs to be sorted. I'm too cheap to pay a percentage at the bank to have it sorted and counted.
I also have a daily influx of small volume change. The plastic jar I am currently using for daily change is fine except dh2b is in a rush in the AM and needs exact change in a short time.
I am looking online for a coin sorter that will sort small amounts of change and still allow for retrieving the right amount needed that day. There is a multitude of coin sorters and sorting banks out there.
None of the coin sorters I found have the ability to easily reach in to get back a small amount of change, i.e. like you would be able to with the manual change organizer in your car.
Specs:
Gravity feed chute style preferred over electronic or battery operated models
Small volume of change for sorting daily
Dual purpose - want to use coin wrappers for larger accumulated change stashes as well as the ability to add and retrieve small amounts daily
Small footprint (linear dimension less than 6")
Cost less than $40 including coin wrappers (total of 50 assorted coin sizes)

Does anyone own or know of a model that would serve my purposes?

 

[UncleHoney]

How about one of these?

YouTube - Lego Coin Master Sorter

 

[RunningBum]

The coinstar machines you see in many grocery stores will give you full credit for a gift certificate to stores like Amazon, CVS, JCPenney, iTunes, and Lowes. If you can find any of those you know you will use, that's better than paying the fee for cash, and easier than wrapping coins. I keep my coins in a big plastic cup and go dump it in a coinstar when it's full. The last couple of years I've dumped it at Christmas time to give my daughter and nephew iTunes coupons.

For the quick access to exact change in the morning, would something like this work?
Amazon.com: Coin Changer: Toys & Games

You'd have to manually fill the coins into each slot. There's a steel alternative for about double the price. Amazon.com: McGill Metal Products NO1 Nickel-plated steel money changer with penny, nickel, dime and quarter barrels: Office Products

 

[freebird5825]

How about one of these?

That Lego Coin Master Sorter was great! A real Rube Goldberg if I ever saw one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg

 

[freebird5825]

The coinstar machines you see in many grocery stores will give you full credit for a gift certificate to stores like Amazon, CVS, JCPenney, iTunes, and Lowes. If you can find any of those you know you will use, that's better than paying the fee for cash, and easier than wrapping coins. I keep my coins in a big plastic cup and go dump it in a coinstar when it's full. The last couple of years I've dumped it at Christmas time to give my daughter and nephew iTunes coupons.

For the quick access to exact change in the morning, would something like this work?
Amazon.com: Coin Changer: Toys & Games

You'd have to manually fill the coins into each slot. There's a steel alternative for about double the price. Amazon.com: McGill Metal Products NO1 Nickel-plated steel money changer with penny, nickel, dime and quarter barrels: Office Products

TY
I did see those manual ones at Amazon. They will fit the bill for dispensing small amounts, but not the accumulated stash volume sorting. So much for wanting my cake and eating it too.
I will check my grocery store for a Coinstar machine next time I venture that way. The likelihood is pretty small out here east of the middle of Nowhere.
I may have to use a combo process of using a slide chute model for sorting the larger stash and these manual ones for dispensing.
Maybe I should get the duct tape out and engineer it myself!

 

[Westernskies]

My local TCF Bank has a free coin sorter in the lobby. I believe they all do; it is part of their customer service philosophy- like being open 7 days a week with real tellers, free faxes, free document shredding, cookies, popcorn, and great interest rates...... (I really like this bank )No commission on the sorting- it just prints out a receipt you take to the teller. Obviously they want you to bank with them, but it is not a requirement.

 

[Cattusbabe]

How small is the small amount you want to be able to get?

I just use the plastic funnel type of coin sorter that allows you to slide a paper coin wrapper in. Then I just take the wrapped coins and peal off the amount I need.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I pay the fee because I don't want to spend my time messing with sorting and/or storing the equipment; but I do like the Legos method. I get much less change now that I'm retired, all quarters go for laundry. Alternately, you could go to the other extreme and put all spending on credit or debit cards (I don't do that!) or toss the change into charity jars or to your local beggars or street performers. One thing I do with pennies, nickels and dimes is save them for tip jars and carry some extra for that purpose. So the tip jar may get three dimes, a nickel and two pennies instead of a quarter.

 

[DangerMouse]

I used to be one of those who would spend hours sorting and rolling my own coins, until I realised that taking into account how long it took me, that my time was worth more than the commission charged by the Coinstar machine at the supermarket. Think it is now up to nearly 9%.

 

[jambo101]

Local supermarkets usually have a coin sorter that i frequent once a year,throw all the change in and in a couple of minutes you have a credit slip thats gets cashed in,yes you do have to pay a small percentage but its only 6-7% and the convenience is well worth the charge.

 

[Sue J]

Re: Lego Coin Master Sorter

Very clever and fun to watch....for the first 5 minutes. After that you'd have to post about it the "What do you do all day" topic.

 

[freebird5825]

How small is the small amount you want to be able to get?

I just use the plastic funnel type of coin sorter that allows you to slide a paper coin wrapper in. Then I just take the wrapped coins and peal off the amount I need.

For the countertop and quick access, I'm looking at having vertical columns of quarters, and dimes and nickels with a slot in the tube for easy picking. dh2b buys water when he goes to the gym and will go through 3 bottles easily each day. I offered to fill a water carrying jug for him, but he said the smaller bottles are easier to carry around to the exercise machines.
I may just give him a wrapped roll of quarters to keep in his gym bag. Good idea!
It is the sorting of the larger stash of coins that I am trying to avoid by using a mechanical sorter.

 

[travelover]

For the countertop and quick access, I'm looking at having vertical columns of quarters, and dimes and nickels with a slot in the tube for easy picking. dh2b buys water when he goes to the gym and will go through 3 bottles easily each day. I offered to fill a water carrying jug for him, but he said the smaller bottles are easier to carry around to the exercise machines.
I may just give him a wrapped roll of quarters to keep in his gym bag. Good idea!
It is the sorting of the larger stash of coins that I am trying to avoid by using a mechanical sorter.

You shouldn't have this problem. Just give all your change to the various charities that have jars at the local stores (and tip jars).

 

[beowulf]

Try your local credit union - many of them have free coin sorters. I bought a $10 sorting machine several years ago, but it broke constantly and it's a lot easier to just pour coins down a chute that wrap them in tubes and have to put your account number on each roll before the bank will take them.

 

[Red Rover]

Not all banks require coins be wrapped any more. I use Bank of America and they gave me big bags to put the coins in. I had to sort the coins by type (ex: quarters in the quarter bag) and put my account number and the amount in the bag on the outside of the bag. It was a LOT easier than rolling the coins.

I usually end up counting the coins every year or two and the amount usually pays for a vacation. After spending an entire evening sorting out coins last time I decided there had to be a better way. I now have two different coin containers. One is for quarters and dimes and the other is for nickels and pennies. I'm hoping that will make it a lot easier and quicker to sort.

 

[target2019]

For the countertop and quick access, I'm looking at having vertical columns of quarters, and dimes and nickels with a slot in the tube for easy picking. dh2b buys water when he goes to the gym and will go through 3 bottles easily each day. I offered to fill a water carrying jug for him, but he said the smaller bottles are easier to carry around to the exercise machines.
I may just give him a wrapped roll of quarters to keep in his gym bag. Good idea!
It is the sorting of the larger stash of coins that I am trying to avoid by using a mechanical sorter.

I might be missing something, but why don't you hand him three bottles of water, tell him to watch his back, and kiss him goodbye?

 

[Khan]

My CU has a coin sorter, free if I take the receipt for deposit.

 

[freebird5825]

I might be missing something, but why don't you hand him three bottles of water, tell him to watch his back, and kiss him goodbye?

Um...Men are from Mars...
I watched him paw through and count out all dimes and nickels today for his 3 bottles of water, to the exact amount of change. I tried to "help" by putting them out on a plate.

But he does get the kiss anyway.

 

[Dave J]

My local bank does this for free for customers.

 

[Dawg52]

My local bank does this for free for customers.

I think mine does. I'm going to check into it as I have tons of pennies that I need to do something with.

 

[mews]

Do you have TD Bank / Northbank by you? They don't charge extra here in NYC.

And - off topic - their 50+ checking is really free if you keep a $100 balance.

ta,
mew

 

[Cattusbabe]

Um...Men are from Mars...
I watched him paw through and count out all dimes and nickels today for his 3 bottles of water, to the exact amount of change. I tried to "help" by putting them out on a plate.

But he does get the kiss anyway.

I know about Martians. Would be cheaper to buy the stuff by the case and bank the change.

 

[harley]

My local bank also does this for free with a machine in the lobby. I've been cashing in slowly on my collection covering 2 generations (DW and I, plus late MIL). Close to finished, total so far is a tad over $2K. The worst part of it is we hauled all that change with us last year when we moved! BTW, don't invest in precious metals commodities, the market is flooded.

 

[Rustward]

I usually end up counting the coins every year or two and the amount usually pays for a vacation. After spending an entire evening sorting out coins last time I decided there had to be a better way. I now have two different coin containers. One is for quarters and dimes and the other is for nickels and pennies. I'm hoping that will make it a lot easier and quicker to sort.

You are probably spending a comparable amount of time sorting, with that time now being distributed over multiple short sorting sessions rather than being concentrated into one long sorting session.
But . . . hey, money is money.

Reminds me -- there are (guessing here) about 75 pounds of pennies in my garage. Can anybody give me a ballpark $/lb or other measure?
Need to do something with them . . .

 

[harley]

You are probably spending a comparable amount of time sorting, with that time now being distributed over multiple short sorting sessions rather than being concentrated into one long sorting session.
But . . . hey, money is money.

Reminds me -- there are (guessing here) about 75 pounds of pennies in my garage. Can anybody give me a ballpark $/lb or other measure?
Need to do something with them . . .

Assuming recent vintage, ~180 ($1.80)/lb. That would work out to around $135.00. Beer money for a couple of months (or weeks, for the Dawg).