How much coinage is hoarded in Ireland?

Whenever I think of it, I generally put the brown coins into the poor box when I get them. More and more I pay for stuff with a credit or debit card. I find it easier than cash and I don't spend as much. Cash in my wallet is as good as gone.

Would people moving away from cash have any impact on your business plan?

Thanks for all of this.

There are approximately 1.25 million households in the country.
I would estimate that each would have at least €50 in coins lying around.
Ergo
€62 million in coins out of circulation.
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What about all those coins in charity collection containers. How frequently are they typically emptied? would you classify these as being out of circulation? There might also be coins that end up in landfill or are permanently destroyed or lost. Supermarkets will also keep a pretty constant float of coins in each till. In effect, these are out of circulation, kind of.

€73 million in hoarded coin in the state, or €58 per household.

Bearing in mind tourism, the Euro and other factors, would the forum say that this is a logical conclusion?
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€58/household certainly sounds like the right order of magnitude to me.
 
By concidence I was counting and bagging coins yesterday. I have about 58 euro exactly as predicted in a previous post.

It's useful sometimes have to have change lying around for bus fare especially or for small items like a litre of milk but a lot of this is 1 and 2 cent coins. I usually find a way to make a dent in the coin jar but the one and 2 cent pieces are the hardest to get rid of . I'd feel kind of stupid holding up the queue if I paid for some big purchase with a zillion 1 and 2 cent coins.

truthseeker said:
Its a pain for me to go to the bank though because I work 9-5 Mon-Fri so I way preferred when I could lodge it in the Credit Union.
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The Permanent tsb is open on Saturdays. Do they not take bagged coins ?
 
I have a coin jar and anything under two euro goes into it. Counted it last week and between me and my boyfriend we had over two hundred euro in it. We count it once or twice a year and lodge it into the bank.

I refuse to use those coin counting machines the 10% - 20% that they take off the top is a joke! It really annoys me how difficult banks and credit unions make it to give back coins after all money is money and surely getting more back means they have to issue less?!

I also have a little piggy bank in work that I throw change into and we use it or the vending machine in here its handy if you have no coins as there is always some there. I also keep some in the car for car parks / parking meters

Great idea about the charity thing I woukd happily give all the coppers away if they had a collection!
 
I'd imagine the Central Bank will take any amount of coinage from you.

Normal banks or credit unions should take any amount of correctly bagged coins.

Otherwise they probably only have to take a maximum amount, in terms of numbers of coins, not sure exactly but I think it's about 50 coins per denomination, or maybe 50 coins of any type in a single transaction.

I don't think any retailers will allow you to settle large purchases using 1c and 2c coins... they only have to take a maximum of 50, or some maximum...
 
Joe, the point I was making was that although there are places that WILL take the bagged coins (my own bank for example) - if you work office hours you may not be able to get to a bank without taking time off work.

My credit union will not take coins. Not for a long time now. They claim they have 'facility' to take coins.
 
There must be more to it... is it that they won't take bagged coins, or large quantities?

What if you walk in with 5 x 2 Euro, and attempt to lodge 10 Euro, do they refuse?

Or if you want to lodge 12 Euro.. they must take a coin for the 2 Euro.. unless they insist on giving change.

It might not be legal for them to refuse coins, they are legal tender, in certain quantities anyway..


The success or otherwise of the coin conting machines, that take 10% to 20% is probably down to the difficulty people have in getting rid of coins.

Do banks have large collection boxes for coins for charity in their branches?..
 
JoeBallantin said:
There must be more to it... is it that they won't take bagged coins, or large quantities?
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They have told me, on the phone and in person - they wont take bagged coins.

JoeBallantin said:
What if you walk in with 5 x 2 Euro, and attempt to lodge 10 Euro, do they refuse?
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Yes they refuse.

JoeBallantin said:
Or if you want to lodge 12 Euro.. they must take a coin for the 2 Euro.. unless they insist on giving change.
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Ive never tried that, I must check next time if thats possible.

JoeBallantin said:
It might not be legal for them to refuse coins, they are legal tender, in certain quantities anyway..
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But is legal tender not in terms of buying something as opposed to lodging and saving your own money - there is no 'transaction' as such with a credit union, you just give them your money to mind as it were.
 
Perhaps the reason that your Credit Union stopped taking in coins is the same one that I was given by EBS staff when I enquired there recently - they are charged when they bring coin to the bank, so can't afford the overhead of taking in coins.

If someone brings in more coin than the local branch could use or reasonably hold on site, it costs them to exchange it.

I did see someone handing coin into the PTSB when I was there earlier this week, but I didn't spot whether it was a lodgement or an exchange for notes.
 
truthseeker said:
But is legal tender not in terms of buying something as opposed to lodging and saving your own money - there is no 'transaction' as such with a credit union, you just give them your money to mind as it were.
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Hmmmm... some issues here. You could be correct about the legal tender thing, and that lodging money to a bank or credit union is not considered a transaction. But it's definitely not a 'custodial' arrangement, in that when you withdraw money you don't get the same notes and coins you lodged, you get different ones.. this may seem a small distinction, but recently I bought allocated gold, and that is held under a true custodial arrangement, (or a 'bailment').. where my gold has my name on it, and if I withdraw it I get my specific piece of gold,.. when you lodge money to a bank they are basically committing to owing you the money, but if they go bust you must wait in line, with other creditors, whereas if my gold custodian goes bust, the gold is mine, and it isn't available to be used for other creditors, it doesn't appear in the books or balance sheet of the custodian, and I am guaranteed to get it all back,.. similar to putting cash into a safe deposit box. (If the credit union had safe deposit boxes you would be allowed to put coins in..)

So, in the end, a bank or credit union lodgement may be considered a transaction, and may be subject to the legal tender rules..

I find that companies often break the law, including banks and other organisations that people may assume would never break the law, but it does happen,... and if you complained it may be that the credit union would have to change their policy nationwide.
 
afaik businesses dont have to take coins. Some don't take 200 euro notes, but I guess these days they're not so picky. In legal terms you're probably making an offer to buy something but the retailer does not accept unless he sees the money he wants and there has to be offer and acceptance for a contract to be valid.
 
JoeBallantin said:
The success or otherwise of the coin conting machines, that take 10% to 20% is probably down to the difficulty people have in getting rid of coins.

Do banks have large collection boxes for coins for charity in their branches?..
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I dont' see why in these days where almost everything can be automated including some supermarket checkouts that banks cant have those machines in the lobby. You could drops the coins in , type in your account number , get a receipt and you've made a lodgement . It would probably cut down on staffing and overhead costs too while freeing up the brains of staff whos talents would be wasted processing tedious and non complex task like this. Machines should be doing all the monkey work for us. As I have experienced different attitudes in the same banks when I brought in coins before I suspect some bank staff refuse to take coinage because they dont' like the monkey work involved in checking large quantities of coin bags.
 
From Wikipedia..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tender#Republic_of_Ireland

Wiki said:
Republic of Ireland
See also: Coinage of 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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Another interesting point on that page is that retailers can refuse large notes, as legal tender can be refused in the payment of a debt which is not yet owed, however a restaurant which asks for payment at the end of a meal (and therefore taxi drivers! maybe), must accept any legal tender, as it must be accepted for all debts already owed. I made up the bit about the taxi drivers.. but it would seem to be true, unless they are specifically exempted somehow...
 
bullworth said:
I dont' see why in these days where almost everything can be automated including some supermarket checkouts that banks cant have those machines in the lobby. You could drops the coins in , type in your account number , get a receipt and you've made a lodgement . It would probably cut down on staffing and overhead costs too while freeing up the brains of staff whos talents would be wasted processing tedious and non complex task like this. Machines should be doing all the monkey work for us. As I have experienced different attitudes in the same banks when I brought in coins before I suspect some bank staff refuse to take coinage because they dont' like the monkey work involved in checking large quantities of coin bags.
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Certain Commerce Banks (www.commercebank.com) in the States have this facility already.
In fact they use this machine.
[broken link removed]

The question really is whether the banks would actually lose money installing these machines and whether the state could be bothered recouping €20 million back into the system which is as good as you could expect. Or indeed would the banks pull in a couple of million for maybe million outlay, small beer to them of course, but it would be a great service, essentially giving every household a little bonus every now and again.
Unless of course, there is an economic point in having dead money "out there" which is beyond my ken, but not my imagination.

Thanks all for your help and suggestions, interesting debate.
 
Why do people hoard so much coins?

Why not simply spend it?

Do you all just hand in notes when purchasing?

Shops will be grateful for the coins.

I give 5.30 for my 4.80 dinner, as I know the cashier is short of 20c coins.

I give 3.90 or 4.90 or 5.90 for the pint of stout (3.90).

I have 1.80 ready for the Irish Times.

I carry 1c and 2c in my back pocket, 5c, 10c, 20c in my front pocket to all shops, so if the supermarket bill is 27.63, I usually have the 63c.
 
Life's too short to be worrying about carrying the correct amount of change in your pockets to pay for something
 
and too short to be standing behind someone counting out the pennies.. 27, 28, 29.. ...30, 31... drives you mad..
 
becky said:
I seem to be one of the few people who spends all my money. I use my coins for my coffee in the morning. I will give €50.73 for a bill of €30.73. .............
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Jeez Becks. You need to hold back or you'll never get off the ground. A €20 tip on every €30.73. I mean, it's nice to be nice but this would be termed profligacy by the man sitting behind your head as you're stretched out on the couch :)
 
gipimann said:
Perhaps the reason that your Credit Union stopped taking in coins is the same one that I was given by EBS staff when I enquired there recently - they are charged when they bring coin to the bank, so can't afford the overhead of taking in coins.
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Yes - went to local EBS on saturday to enquire about opening a savings account - asked would they take bagged coins (they open saturday mornings so itd be handy for me). Was told no, they dont have facilities to weigh coins and will not accept more than a reasonable amount that can be counted by hand at the counter - they girl suggested 40 euro as a reasonable amount (when I pointed out thata bag of 2 euro coins contained 50 euro she said that 'maybe' thatd be ok).
I didnt open the account. My quest to lodge my bagged coins outside of standard bank opening hours continues.
 
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