What do you do with pennies? Need help!

[Kiki1992]

So, I have this little box of pennies only. I have no idea what to do with them, but I need change to use every now and then like at bus station or train station, but the pennies take too long to put through a bus slot.

Anyone collects or knows how to handle pennies? Any idea how I can use them without dragging the whole box around and taking forever to pay like a $2 fair?

I was also wondering if there is some place I can get cash in exchange.

Help!

[Linda67]

I save my change too and when I get a good bunch of it I take it to the bank and deposit it.

[L4v4]

I suggest just keep them how they are, keep collecting pennies, you can't really exchange them if you only have about $2 of it.

Who knows you might need it in the future.   

[mikoljinan]

I usually collect up my pennies and when I have enough, I take it to the bank and turn it into cash that way.

[Phx0808]

I will buy them from you at par plus $5.00 for shipping.

[mawhite63]

I keep a coin jar in my kitchen, and when it gets filled, I cash them in at a Coinstar. You can go to Coinstar.com to find a location near you. I used to get the cash, but now I transfer them into a Kroger shopping card because that has no fee.

[CHANEYLAKEGIRL]

I take my spare change to the bank every now and then. A little extra in my savings never hurts.

[margaret0524]

Our grocery store has a machine that takes coins and gives you a paper receipt for the amount you put in minus 10%.   I don't have the patience to roll coins!   But you could do that - roll coins and turn the rolls into a bank.

[masked_brown_guy]

Just roll them up when you feel bored. Pennies are still money so take them somewhere to spend.

[dbsaus1]

I have a quart jar on my dresser an my husband and I throw all of our spare change into it. When the jar is full we take it to the bank. It is amazing how much can be saved and you do not even miss it!

[lvstephanie]

Our grocery store has a machine that takes coins and gives you a paper receipt for the amount you put in minus 10%.   I don't have the patience to roll coins!   But you could do that - roll coins and turn the rolls into a bank.

My bank doesn't want you to roll the coins; they have a machine counter (similar to those in the stores) that they use to count out the coins. They will either give you cash or can deposit it directly into my account. Another friend of mine doesn't use a brick-and-mortar bank (he uses Ally), so he either has to use the machine at the store (which takes out a certain percentage as a fee) or will just ask me to make the exchange for him the next time I go to the bank.

Although when I was a little kid, I had heard a story about a guy that tried to corner the market on a particular penny (or maybe it was some other coin?). He'd pay anyone a little extra in exchange for those coins from a particular year, with the idea that as the national supply of that particular coin twiddled, the rarity would increase thereby increasing the value of those coins to the point where the value of his collection would outweigh the amount of money he lost trying to buy those coins. Unfortunately for him the Feds got tipped off by this scheme and he ended up going to jail for some federal charge. But after I heard that story, I started collecting pennies and sorting them by year. I'd raid my parents coin-purses and take out all of the pennies. I'd then wash them (which actually probably hastened their corrosion, but at that age, who knew), sort them by year and mint, and when I had enough, I'd roll them. When I left for college, my parents finally made me get rid of my "coin collection". At that point, I had accumulated over a hundred dollars worth of pennies (but I was woefully short of cornering the market on any one date   )

Oh, one final thing... There is some financial guru (I think Suze Orman) that suggests to use a change system to help you save. Basically whenever you make a purchase (getting gas, groceries, lunch at Subway, happy-hour drinks, etc.), you are to use paper money only, and any coin-change gets set aside (like in a coffee can). Then at the end of the month, you deposit all of that loose change into some interest-bearing account. She (assuming it's Suze) said that you'd be surprised at how much you can save by doing this, and because it is only the coin change you aren't using, it doesn't feel like you are missing that money so it's easier mentally to save that money.

[kingozzy]

Keep them in a bin for a while and fill it up then once or twice a year take them to your bank and cash them in for bigger currency

[acurtsinger2]

i save them with the rest of my change...but, it cost the government ten cents to make a enny.  kind of stupid if you ask me

[mjdoug03]

I'll take all of your pennies!  It drives me nuts when people don't take advantage of any money.  My cousin told me one time she throws change away.  Oh the youngsters...

[tjshorty]

Banks will count and change them for you.  Might be a charge if you don't have an account with that bank.  Some stores might still have a counter and exchange place.  I can't remember if they charge for the service.  Keep in mind the pennies or other coins need to be clean before the counter will count them.  I mean like no lint or gunk on them.  I have a few pennies that I just have to keep because of that reason.