Originally Posted by
Gig103
When I'm at the airport I usually try to use my last bit of local cash at duty-free. I can always use some chocolate and I've yet to find a shop that won't take my coins and the balance on a credit card.
The one time I had some significant cash (Singapore VAT-back program) I used a normal Travelex to get paper, then the coins I followed my above method.
(Edit to avoid duplicate post -- new below)
Last year (I dunno if it's ongoing), AA offered a similar program where they collected any currency including coins and donated it.
I used an automated machine in the ANA lounge in NRT (or it may have been PEK, things blur after a certain point.) I had stray coins from Japan, South Korea and China that were just taking up space in the carry on bag. I dumped them all in along with some bank notes and many dollar bills came out, along with a few local coins to make up the difference. I got an bad exchange rate but I had a bunch of US currency that I'd actually use. Worked for me.