Don't Throw your Pennies in the Garbage! | Molly Maid (2024)

FAQs

Do banks still take pennies in 2024? ›

You may not like what you're about to learn: pennies are still legal tender. That means you can still use them at stores, and you can still deposit them at the bank.

While certain credit unions and banks still have coin-counting machines, many banks don't offer them anymore and will require your coins to be rolled before accepting them. If you haven't already, group your change into separate piles of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

You can visit your local grocery store or bank and they should have a machine that can count your pennies (and other coins) and give you cash for them. Sometimes they charge a fee, but banks are usually able to do it for free. Below is a link to a site that can tell which banks have such services.

Collectors like Sandham say that, while some might be rare, the coin is a dime a dozen. "If you bring in your jar of pennies and hope to sell it to us, you're going to get about a penny and a half for them," said Sandham. Those who have pennies at home can bring them to a bank to redeem for cash.

The United States Code provides that "United States coins and currency (inclUding Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.

They are still legal tender but a business can choose to accept them as payment or not. So the answer is, it depends on the store you're shopping at.

“Different banks have different coin acceptance policies,” Kenneally says. “Some accept rolled coins and some accept loose coins to process through a coin-counting machine. If they have a machine, loose coins are usually preferred.”

Is this legal? Yes. A bank can set its own internal policy as to whether it will accept or exchange unrolled coins for currency.

Does Walmart have free coin exchange services? Walmart doesn't have free coin exchange services themselves, but some locations have Coinstar coin counter machines. Keep in mind that Coinstar charges a fee, but you can avoid this by choosing a gift card option instead.

What is happening? In Bowl 1, the vinegar helps speed up a chemical reaction between the copper in the penny and the oxygen in the air. This reaction is called oxidation. When copper oxidizes, it turns a blue-green color, forming a compound called malachite.

What does lemon juice do to pennies? ›

Pennies are made out of a metal called copper. The copper mixes with oxygen, the same gas that we breathe. This cause something called oxidation and makes the penny look dirty. Lemon juice has acid in it that removes the dirty color or oxidation and makes the penny nice and shiny again!

Individuals, financial institutions, and businesses may contact the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) if they are in possession of mutilated U.S. currency, meaning that the currency has been damaged to the extent that one-half or less of the original note remains, or its condition is ...

If your 'copper'coins are worth more as metal than money, take them to a metal recycling centre. You'll get the market price for your metal regardless of what it's shaped into.

A: Some pennies can be valuable to collectors. Typically, older pennies, rare minting errors, or pennies in exceptional condition may be sought after by coin collectors. The value of these pennies can far exceed their face value.

Lincoln replaced the image of Lady Liberty, which was on the penny from its start in 1793 after the Coins Act of 1792 established the Mint. The Mint has since announced it would stop penny production in 2023. Taxpayers lost $83.6 million in producing pennies, according to the Mint's annual report.

According to Cointrackers.com, certain pennies that were minted in 1943 and 1944 top the list of the 25 most valuable pennies for coin collectors in 2023. The 1944 steel wheat penny could be worth as much as $408,000 in mint condition, and up to $10,000 in average condition, the site said.

They aren't being made anymore, so even if they aren't a rare or valuable year, they might be worth something in the future. If they're in great condition, store your coins carefully to keep them that way.

The final penny was minted at the RCM's Winnipeg, Manitoba, plant on the morning of May 4, 2012, and was later entrusted to the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa. Existing pennies will remain legal tender indefinitely; however, pennies were withdrawn from circulation on February 4, 2013.