I've been trying to take my own advice to recirculate coins I've been hoarding. I counted and packaged my penny collection of the 1970s into 50 cents an envelope. Since I don't have a CoinStar machine within walking distance, I thought retailer might actually appreciate pennies.
Silly me. I thought it might save them having to get the coins from their bank or crack open a roll into their cash register.
Here's my experiences...best to worst...of trying to get pennies back into circulation two envelopes (100 pennies) at a time.
- The bank: Happy to exchange for a dollar bill. She didn't even count them. I didn't bring my whole stash because I'd heard that banks often charge a coin-counting fee.
- Ten Thousand Villages: "Oh, that's nice" when I said I was trying to get my pennies back into the main stream.
- The tea shop: Took the pennies. Didn't count them, but used their scale to estimate. Weighing one penny, he said I probably had 65 cents in the envelopes. Makes me really wonder how accurate their scale is when charging for tea!
- The drugstore: My bill came to $14.97, so I whipped out my 100 pennies. She gave a sinister laugh, then a bit of a glare. She counted them and let me keep 3 cents. You could tell she wasn't that pleased since she'd likely have to count those 97 pennies over and over again.
- The newsstand: I wanted to buy a lottery ticket with my pennies. He wouldn't take them. I pouted as I walked away feeling a bit humiliated. Aren't pennies legal tender?
I still have 450 pennies left to recirculate. Wish me luck!

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