I recently changed to a job where the Coke machine is $0.60 instead of $0.25 at my old job and given the amount of soda I drink, this may be the thing that really makes a dent in the pile of coins that the Fed is holding.
I also keep a bunch in my rollaboard suitcase that I use for tips for maids and for the soda machines at hotels, to get the luggage carts at the airports when they don't take cards. I have paid my cleaning lady with them in the past, but I suspect she just takes them to the bank.
The DC parking meters (the French style ones that spit out the paper ticket) take them, and I have used those quite a bit. The meters purport to take credit cards, but they actually do not.
I probably spend $1,000 per year without too much effort.
Agreed. Our primary use is for tips. My office landlord buys five at a time from me and includes one in each tip.
Other examples:
I offer them whenever anyone asks, "Can you break a $20 bill?".
We use full rolls to pay the petsitter. Does she deposit them in the bank? I expect not because she frequently emphasizes that she prefers to be paid in "cash".