# Changing coins to Notes



## machalla

This may be the wrong forum to ask this question so move it if it is.

I have a fairly large number of coins (3 large jar fulls) that I want to change into notes or lodge to a current account.  

As I understand it the banks will charge a fairly high commision to do this and I'm not even sure most of them will accept that amount of coins at a counter anyway.  I don't mind paying a commision as long as its not too high (above say 8%).

In the past I would have called into local shopkeepers to offer them the coins as it would save them getting coins from the banks but thats not an option at the moment.  

Thanks for any helpful suggestions.


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## BrenG

Banks will generally take relatively small amounts of coin from individuals without charge. First call into the bank and get the relevant coin bogs which you must use to bag the coin before taking it to the Bank.


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## quinno

I used to get bags from the bank, the last time I did this was with old money i.e. a bag would be labelled '1£ in 1p coins'. The bank can check the weight of these and offer notes accordingly or lodge to an account. Not aware they charge for this, it is afterall still legal tender (priovided of course it is € coins you're talking about!). Might be woprthwhile giving your local bank a call.


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## ClubMan

I have lodged large amounts of bagged coins to my personal _PTSB _account without any charges being applied. If you are talking about IR£ coins then bring them to the _Central Bank _for exchange into €s.


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## gipimann

My local SuperValu has a machine in the shop lobby which takes coin and prints a voucher to use inside the shop - there is a "service charge" but I'm not sure what it is.
For your info, EBS don't take coin even when lodging to an account.  I generally change the contents of my piggybank in Bank of Ireland (having bagged it first) with no charge and no difficulty - and I'm not a B of I customer.


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## ClubMan

gipimann said:


> My local SuperValu has a machine in the shop lobby which takes coin and prints a voucher to use inside the shop - there is a "service charge" but I'm not sure what it is.


Those machines can charge as much as 12%! Avoid in my opinion.


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## CCOVICH

FWIW, I lodged €35 to my account in AIB without being charged.


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## zag

I go with Rainydays suggestion from a similar thread a while back . . . go along to the self service tills in Tesco (or equivalent) with a stash of coins, buy some milk or something and feed the machine.

I have now learned not to go at night when the coin trays are mostly full.  Going in the morning means there is plenty of room in the coin trays.

In principle I will not use those machines in convenience stores.

z


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## machalla

Thanks for the help.  I will see if BOI try to charge for changing the coins (the local bank is BOI).  I would expect they shouldn't based on what other people have said.  If not I will try some other bank.

Thats an interesting suggestion about the Tesco self-service too zag.


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## Welfarite

Have lodged coint o my own account on numerous occasions ...up to €500 euro....no charge.


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## Megan

I  bought two dog licences with coins today in my local post office. The coins were 20c,10c & 5 c. I had them in coin bags. I gave in €30 (3 Bags) and was given €4.60 in change. I think shops have to take coins as they are legal tender but it is best to have them in the bank bags.


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## Margie

if you are a member of your local credit union (or get someome that is), you don't even have to count the money.  you just bag the different coins seperately ie. €2 in one bag, €1 in another, 50 cents in another etc.
they will weigh the bags and give you back notes with no charge.

i got over €200 in rubbish coins exchanged last saturday - no problem


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## ClubMan

Megan said:


> I think shops have to take coins as they are legal tender


No


> *Legal tender in the Republic of Ireland*
> 
> According to the _Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998_ of the Republic of Ireland which replaced the legal tender provisions that had been re-enacted in Irish legislation from previous British enactments, _No person, other than the Central Bank of Ireland and such persons as may be designated by the Minister by order, shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins denominated in euro or in cent in any single transaction._


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## Perplexed

Normally BOI will take coin as long as it's bagged - full  bags preferably.

If it's not being lodged to an a/c we're supposed to charge 2% commission. If you're considerate & call in sometime mid-week when the queues aren't out the door the cashier probably won't charge you.


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## ClubMan

Don't bother trying to lodge unbagged coins. It's hassle and most banks will charge you if they accept them at all. Bag them first (full bags only) beforehand.


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## gipimann

Perplexed said:


> If it's not being lodged to an a/c we're supposed to charge 2% commission.


 
Does that mean that BOI have been giving me something for nothing??  

I do tend to call at a quiet time, wouldn't have more than approx €70 or so at any given time and it's all bagged.


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## steph1

I think those machines in places like Supervale charge 9% commission.  Handy as you dont have to go and sort out all your coins and bag them but expensive


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## machalla

Thanks again for the information.  

Maybe an idea for some of the more progressive banks might be to have a coin sorter in branch available to customers to count them up and lodge directly to an account.  I imagine a lot of people have coins floating around the house or may have gathered them from charity events or the like.


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## Protocol

Why not simply spend the coins?

Pay for a newspaper, milk, a pint here and there, and in no time all the coins will be gone.


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## Joe1234

ClubMan said:


> Those machines can charge as much as 12%!



Was at an ATM today and there was a machine beside it, with a sticker saying that comission was 9.5%.


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## ClubMan

I'm sure that I've seen 12% in some places. Even 9.5% is exorbitant to me but maybe some people are willing to pay that for convenience?


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## Guest122

I have converted coins to notes on a few occasions with AIB with no problems, no commission etc.  Sometimes they do ask if I have an account with them (which I do). The sums involved have been quite large - over €2000 on one occasion but converted to notes with an outward smile (would love to be able to read her mind though).  All coins were bagged correctly...

BB


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## Goggin

What I've done in the past is counted all of my euro, two euro and 50c coins and bagged them. I've never been charged to lodge them or exchange for cash in Ulster bank. Personally I couldnt bear to count out the rest of the 1c, 2c etc's so I fire them into the coin machine in Super Valu. Its worth the 8% commission charge for the amount of time it saves me.


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## Protocol

Pump the coins into the Tesco automated cash registers.

Or pay for a pint with 36 10-cent coins.

Or 18 20-cent coins.

Pay for the Irish Times with 32 5-cent coins.


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## HelloJed

In November last year I was able to bank 102 euro in coins in BOI on O'Connell Str. No charge.


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## nlgbbbblth

Protocol said:


> Why not simply spend the coins?
> 
> Pay for a newspaper, milk, a pint here and there, and in no time all the coins will be gone.



Well said.

Surely if people are throwing their coins into a jar at every opportunity they are constantly having to break notes as they're not carrying change?


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## mo3art

I was in Smyths Drogheda last week with a couple of bags of coins.  I took my purchase to the till and asked the cashier whether she wanted me to take them out of the bags and count them out or not.  Then she informed me that Smyths have a coin weighing machine for this very reason, took the coin bags, weighed them and brought back notes.
Apparently on a bank holiday weekend sometimes change can run way down for them so they were delighted to take my bags from me!
As was suggested to me on a previous thread, the best bet if you have a regular source of coins and don't want to pay large commissions to banks on business accounts, is to find someone who will take it from you.  We solved this with a local shop (not Smyths) who don't want to pay commission on taking coin from the bank.  Everyone wins, except the bank.


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## L_earner

Shopkeepers are charged for coins afaik. I often to with a bag of coins (when there is no queue!!!!!) and they are delighted to get this money "free".


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## Colblimp

I constantly empty my coin jar and take the shrapnel to the bank (BOI).  Up to now there has been no charge, the day there is will be the day I change bank accounts...


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## Protocol

I got a round of 2 Guinness on Thur night, 7.80, paid all in coins.

I was in Lidl today, gave in a load of coins.

I actually buy coins off the lotto person at work. I give them 50 euro for 1 and 2 coins, maybe some 50c coins.

Maybe I am obsessive-compulsive???


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## ClubMan

Protocol said:


> I actually buy coins off the lotto person at work. I give them 50 euro for 1 and 2 coins, maybe some 50c coins.


Why?


> Maybe I am obsessive-compulsive???


Why?


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## gabsdot

The post office will take bagged coins. You can use them to pay off bills or just lodge them.


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## S.L.F

Goggin said:


> What I've done in the past is counted all of my euro, two euro and 50c coins and bagged them. I've never been charged to lodge them or exchange for cash in Ulster bank. Personally I couldnt bear to count out the rest of the 1c, 2c etc's so I fire them into the coin machine in Super Valu. Its worth the 8% commission charge for the amount of time it saves me.



Just a thought you could buy one of those coin counting machines from somewhere like Powercity. That would save you the 8% commission.

When my boys piggy bank had to be emptied we spent 2 hours counting up all the coins by hand.
Putting them into lines he of course insisted on knocking them down.
Total was €352 or there abouts.
What a hoot!

Meant to say going to put it all into a Credit Union Acc for the boy.


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## rmelly

I use my 10c, 20c and a few 50c to buy the Sunday papers, €1, €2 coins for lunch (if I haven't brought my own), and bring the rest (1c, 2c, 5c) into the coin counters in Supervalu once every 6 months or so.


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## ClubMan

S.L.F said:


> Just a thought you could buy one of those coin counting machines from somewhere like Powercity. That would save you the 8% commission.


Or just count and bag them manually and save yourself the price of the coin counting machine. It's not that difficult. Keep the kids out of the way if it is.


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## cian8

I have a digital kitchen weighing scales so when I was counting coins today I only counted the first lot of each coin then weighed the rest. It worked a treat as I was bang on when I got to the bank. Maybe someone else might find use out of this. It definitely speeds up the process!

Coin_____Per bag_____No. of coins________Weight

1 cent____€1__________100_____________232g
2 cent____€2__________100_____________306g
5 cent____€5__________100_____________399g
10 cent___€10_________100_____________412g
20 cent___€10_________50______________288g
50 cent___€25_________50______________391g
€1_______€25_________25_______________?
€2_______€50_________25_______________?


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## L_earner

cian8 said:


> I have a digital kitchen weighing scales so when I was counting coins today I only counted the first lot of each coin then weighed the rest. It worked a treat as I was bang on when I got to the bank. Maybe someone else might find use out of this. It definitely speeds up the process!
> 
> Coin_____Per bag_____No. of coins________Weight
> 
> 1 cent____€1__________100_____________232g
> 2 cent____€2__________100_____________306g
> 5 cent____€5__________100_____________399g
> 10 cent___€10_________100_____________412g
> 20 cent___€10_________50______________288g
> 50 cent___€25_________50______________391g
> €1_______€25_________25_______________?
> €2_______€50_________25_______________?


If there was a Post Of The Month, this would be on my shortlist.


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