Paiteaw

Carrying 5k of coinage (approx 95 lbs.) into the bank is a sufficient workout for one day. Also, consider the the tellers time involved in processing your transaction. Took about 15 minutes to band up the rolls and check the quantity.

Andy2

I buy $5,000 at a time. Comes in 2 boxes of $2,500 and the order seems to completely fill each box. Curious if anyone receives a box with more than $2,500 in it?

Slight disadvantage is that rarely the second box of $2,500 arrives separately from the first box, even though the Mint only shows one tracking number. I don't think this is a big deal, but it worries some customers.

IAHtraveler

Wow, interesting experience today at Wachovia:

I use 5 local ones to deposit the coins so I don't totally annoy any of them. I go to the one I've used least frequently today to deposit $2500, my usual deposit amount. As soon as I walk in, the manager greets me & walks to the back suspiciously, so I figured something was up. I got to the teller that I went to a few weeks ago and she said, "Making a deposit?"

"Yes, please."

"Hang on a minute" as she calls the other teller over.

The other teller looks at the coins and says, "Did you see that email? Go ahead and punch the account number in." After they do, the one teller says "See item #9?" They both walk to the back and tell me that I need to wait for a minute. I can hear them talking with the manager, but I coudn't make anything out. After about 5 minutes, I'm watching the lot & waiting for the police to roll in at any time. They all come out together, with weird looks on their faces. They were VERY friendly and said they have to fill out a form because of my recent activity. I ask, "An SAR?" which was the worst thing to say, I guess. The manager's attitude immediately changes as she probes, "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SARs?" I told her that I'm not the only one ordering the coins and depositing them, so she asks where I get them. I explain the whole truth (as I've told 2 of the tellers at that branch before) and she calms down and says, "It's actually an LCTR (large cash transaction report) because of all of your deposits and because you're using multiple branches for them. Why don't you just go to one?" I told her that the one branch is toward me and yesterday told me the vault was full. I also said that I didn't want to over-burden any one branch, so I stop at any that are near where I'm running errands. She said, "Taking your desosits is OUR JOB, you can bring any money here that you want. (Branch X that refused me yesterday) is, just, well, don't go there for many reasons. I can guarantee that their vault is NOT full." I explained that I have all my order forms, shipping receipts and deposit slips to prove that it's legitimate. They told me to keep it all because a Wachovia rep and/or government official will probably be contacting me in the near future.

I confirmed that they don't have any problems with me bringing in lots more in the future and they are welcome to it. As they took my deposit, though, they taped the boxes shut (something they've never done before). They gave me a receipt and asked if they could help with anything else today. We all wished each other a great weekend and we all had smiles on our faces when I left... back to ordering those coins!

IAHtraveler

I'll answer that in several parts

Optimal amount to order: Whatever you have for a limit/free cash available on your credit card.

Optimal amount to deposit: I'll take in 2500 or 3000 at once. I'll put $500/box and carry 5-6 boxes at once. I've posted this a few pages ago.... sure, it's kinda heavy, but i'm only walking across the bank parking lot. I did take in 5k once, making 2 trips from my car to the lobby (6 days before my account flag that I mention above; now that I think of it, it's probably why I got flagged).

gejone

I think there are a couple of considerations to look at. What is the credit limit on the card you're going to use for the purchase? And what steps to you plan on using to make your deposits?

I don't worry about my percentage of credit line I use. On a small churning card with a $2,000 limit I will use $2,000; on my primary card ($30K+ limit) I may only use $10K. Sometimes it depends on what bonus I'm working on.

To me the bigger issue is the deposits. As you've been reading, that is the biggest hassle of the program. I'm like IAHtraveler, I never deposit more than $2-2.5K at any one bank and never more than $10K a day. To avoid burying a bank in coins, I sometimes will drop by a bank and cash in $500 just to take in some cash with the coins . Some people will make all of their deposits in 1-2 branches and do so quite frequently. Some will take in $10-15K at one time. True, it is legal, but doesn't really make it easy on the bank. I personally use 20+ branches and I don't revisit many more than once a month.

So, it boils down to after reading all of these posts; What policy to you want to use?

LLM

I'd had a bunch of temporary ones who were older, turning up rather late for deliveries and struggling with the boxes, but you should see my young blond new one and he's an angel besides! Last week I had ordered some presidents at the address of another condo we own in the same complex. I left a note on the gate to bring them over here and he did! And he apologized for bringing them in the afternoon instead of the morning.

Yesterday I'd left my car out because I was expecting a lot and he put them in the trunk for me. Then this morning I was out with the dog when he drove by and honked. He waited until I dragged my senior citizen dog back to the house. Then he asked where the car was and waited while I pulled it out of the garage so he could load the three boxes. What a great life. Plus Mr. LLM will be back Sunday and I won't have to carry any more into banks. I can now bring in 2000 at a time but I'd much rather not!

LLM

The large branch that claimed "no room in vault" yesterday to allow me to pay my credit card bill phoned this morning and said no coins accepted except for existing account holders since "everyone was bringing in coins". So no CC payments even if I open an account.

Not to be deterred I went to a tiny branch in a nearby supermarket and paid $1000 against the bill. No problem! They were offering $75 to open a new account so I went back later and opened it with $1000 in coins. "Do you have any more room in the vault so I can make a CC payment?" "Only $2K more, sure!" She noted that there is a limit branches can keep on hand before they have to send them to the Fed. She even had a trainee there that opened the little boxes for me. Mission accomplished!

buschoi

Sometimes I really feel bad for the older ones. Mine is rather young, but taking 5K to the second floor of my apartment is more than what he prefers. By the time he gets to my door, he runs out of breathe!

One time when I used my friend's address to receive the packages, he said the older UPS deliver had a very hard time walking the 20 steps to his doorstep! Talking about the ground floor only. Well...

LLM

Yes, indeed. The driver can park right out front but there are some steps up to my porch, another reason you'd think they'd prefer to wheel them to the car and drop them in the trunk.

lili

The heaviest box the Mint ships is 47.5 lbs. Less than the weight of an exit-row door. It's annoying, but the UPS guy should be able to handle it. My senior cit husband can, as he's in charge of hauling the stuff to the bank, but he asks me to ask the UPS driver to unload into the car trunk :-)

Think of it this way: we are not only helping out the US govt but also getting the UPS drivers conditioned. Someday they will all thank us. And the bank tellers. In a few months none of them will need to go to the gym and their personal trainers will be unemployed and reduced to hauling our coins.

atwnsw2

..........

IAHtraveler

atwnsw2, I'll answer what I can from your post:

Most banks charge for coin exchanges if you don't have an account because they'll put them through the coin counter. I'm sure a bank where you don't have an account won't let you trade full/unopened rolls because if they open them and find metal spacers, they can't come find you.

Be honest. I've only been honest (buying them for the miles) and I'm sure if I wasn't honest, I'd be in a pickle right now (see my post above about Wachovia filing paperwork on me b/c of my deposits).

That's really up to you, but I'd say $500 might be reasonable.


Why can't you just open an account at a bank or two to drop them off?

jlgrandam

Just curious what "pickle" you think you would be in if you weren't honest to Wachovia? Are they going to arrest you because you lied to them about where you obtained YOUR money?

gejone

To answer your first question about how to exchange $1,000 at a place outside of a bank. I doubt if you will have any luck doing that. Ths USPS is like most merchants, they don't want to deal with $1 coins. If you ask them who services their vending machines, contact that person and find out where he get's his $1 coins. Then go to that bank. Most vending machines on Federal property have to give change in $1 coins.

The easiest thing is to open a checking account at another bank. I did and chose a bank with 40+ branches in the metro area so I have a lot of choices.

As to why tell the truth about your deposits. Do some seaching in this thread and read about the Currency Transaction Report (CTR) and the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). Why draw attention to yourself by making large coin deposits and then lying about it?

jlgrandam

It seems to me that you are confusing things. The act of brining in so many coins is what causes the SAR and CTR's to get filed, not the act of lying about where you got them!