Coinstar Finds #4 and the Monsta Secret to getting Coinstar coins

Monstarules

Full Member
Mar 1, 2017
219
685
Florida
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Coinstar finds from yesterday. Holy cow, 18 Ikes. I had no clue how common they were until yesterday. I also was witness to another collector finding a few nice wheats, a 1943 in fantastic condition, and a 1940-S, also in fantastic condition. Good hunting!
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The inspector himself came by to inspect the finds. He likes coins. I have no clue why. They say your cat acts like you and vice versa.
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Ike Dollar Coin (x18)
Wheat penny (x1) 1919-D
Canadian Penny (x1) 1963
Silver Washington (x1) 1962

Now for the big question: So...how do I actually do this? I map out all of the Coinstar machines on my way to wherever I have to drive when I am going on a longer drive. To give you an idea, I stopped by 10-15 places yesterday. I usually scope out the stores too when I get there. If it's too busy, the employees will be crabby. If it isn't, they'll be amiable. So here's my big secret, and my method to getting to the dirt cup. So a fellow member, Turbo21, mentioned that dropping an Ike in the machine would be a good way to go. However, I thought about this. Since the store employees don't remember every face immediately, and they literally have no clue when Coinstar comes to clean out the machine, just the idea of lost coins in the machine will usually get them to come and open it. Here are the steps I follow:

If you WANT to be straightforward
1) Approach the customer service desk, say you are a coin collecter, explain how the machine works, and that the dirt cup are culled rejects. Ask politely, if it is of no disservice to the employee, to open the machine. Remind them that they are REJECTS and that Coinstar, and fellow employees, usually throw that entire dirt cup's contents out. They are culled objects, and are mostly trash. Sometimes people drop interesting coins into the machines and because they are foreign, old, silver or weigh weird, they are tossed into the dirt cup or reject tray.

If you DO know them
1) Hi, name, mind opening the Coinstar for me?
* If it isn't one of your friends who will do it without question, you can say "It happened again, I think I may have coins that didn't get counted and ended up in the dirt cup"

If you DON'T know them
1) Anxiously search around the machine. Option B: Breeze up to the machine. Drop an Ike into the machine.

2) Walk to the customer service desk

3) Proceed to say one of the following lines:
- "Hi! My little sister decided to get mad at me and throw my dollar coin collection through the machine. They should be in an internal reject chute. May you please open the machine for me, if it is of no disservice to you?"
- "I accidentally dropped big dollar coins into the machine. I called Coinstar and they said that you could open the machine and empty the dirt cup for me, and that is probably where the coins are"
- "Hello! I am a coin collector of sorts...and my kids threw some of the coins into the machine. I got the regular rejects back, but I know of an internal reject chute called a "Dirt cup" where heavier coins or coins that don't get sorted go. Mind opening the machine for me?"
- "Hi, I used the machine earlier and I think I may have been shorted. I checked the reject chute, and I was unable to locate anything. I called Coinstar and they said there is an internal "Dirt cup" and that is where the coins should be"
- "I used this machine a few days ago and I realized someone/wife/kids/mom/sister/brother may have mixed my coins from my collection, and my change together. I don't know how often Coinstar cleans the machine. However there is an internal reject, and I believe my coins might be there. Please, may I check the internal reject for my coins?"

If you dropped in an Ike:
- "The machine just ate a few coins I was testing in it to see if they were accepted. I called Coinstar and they said it would be in the dirt cup, inside the machine. They said you would be able to give me the contents of the dirt cup."

4) There are a few outcomes to the response:
A. Yes sir/ma'am, I will be right with you!
B. It might be a minute, I can go grab a person for you to do that however!
C. I have no clue what you're talking about, I'll grab my manager for you.
D. You need to talk to the manager, sir.
E. We aren't allowed to do that.

5. If A-D, the machine will be opened for you, possibly with a little more explanation, and lobbying. If E, you are dealing with an uninformed person. Explain that the machine rejects anything that doesn't go into the mechanism, and you called Coinstar already.

6. They open the machine, and usually give you the contents of the dirt cup, and what is on the floor. Sometimes they will question you, and you can choose how to respond accordingly. One time I just up front told the person: "Look I'm a coin collector, and these are rejected items you normally just throw in the trash. You have absolutely no reason to fear to refuse any customer access to the dirt cup. It's called a dirt cup for a reason. It usually collects well, trash." That usually doesn't happen, but it sometimes might. If you are really lucky, they might even let you look into the plastic jug that the servicemen dump coins off the floor and from the dirt cup into. If you're lucky.

There are cases of absoulte refusal and plain uh...stupidity. Yesterday, a lady literally said "Nope they aren't yours" and dumped the entire contents of the dirt cup right into the money box. She says she does it all the time and has no clue why the machine breaks several times a week.

IT also goes without saying, that you should probably wait until a guy services the machine again (Which is about 2 weeks) before returning to the same store.
 

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So it steals an Ike dollar from you if you put it thru the machine via the "dirt cup" - doesn't come out of the reject slot?
 

This would almost work for me except my regular machine isn't technically a coinstar brand.. and ikes simply sit on the rotating belt just inside the dump slot. They and everything else wider than a nickel just sits on the belt until someone cleans it out. Most of the magnetic coins get caught on a magnet just inside the dump slot and are within fingers reach. The ikes, like the one I pulled last night, make you look like you're straight up taking a cookie out of the jar.. have to get your whole hand inside the machine. Sacajawea etc go out to the reject tray. I think my machine eats silvers as I've never found one in a few years. I have pulled more gold pieces of jewelry out than I have metal detecting though.
 

3) Proceed to say one of the following lines:
- "Hi! My little sister decided to get mad at me and throw my dollar coin collection through the machine. They should be in an internal reject chute. May you please open the machine for me, if it is of no disservice to you?"
- "I accidentally dropped big dollar coins into the machine. I called Coinstar and they said that you could open the machine and empty the dirt cup for me, and that is probably where the coins are"
- "Hello! I am a coin collector of sorts...and my kids threw some of the coins into the machine. I got the regular rejects back, but I know of an internal reject chute called a "Dirt cup" where heavier coins or coins that don't get sorted go. Mind opening the machine for me?"
- "Hi, I used the machine earlier and I think I may have been shorted. I checked the reject chute, and I was unable to locate anything. I called Coinstar and they said there is an internal "Dirt cup" and that is where the coins should be"
- "I used this machine a few days ago and I realized someone/wife/kids/mom/sister/brother may have mixed my coins from my collection, and my change together. I don't know how often Coinstar cleans the machine. However there is an internal reject, and I believe my coins might be there. Please, may I check the internal reject for my coins?"

So, the monsta secret to getting coinstar coins is to lie to the people at the customer service desk. No thanks.
 

Well if he found a copper 1943 wheat penny then he found the mother of all wheat cents, furthermore, one of the rarest American coins of all time.
 

There is no right or wrong way with getting to the dirt cup of a coinstar machine by asking. They are culling coins, which isn't right. If you ask other people about getting to the dirt cup, you will find out some people on this forum have suggested less than legal ways to get into it, like crowbars. It's not illegal to ask to see the dirt cup and keep the coins. I'd be more than happy to give owners their coins back. I also base this off of some real experiences. And again I did mention that I'm upfront about it if the employee asks. Speaking of which, any way getting to the dirt cup other than saying you're a collector involves a bit of fibbing. Also, it's usually just thrown out.
 

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So it steals an Ike dollar from you if you put it thru the machine via the "dirt cup" - doesn't come out of the reject slot?

Yep. And it steals a lot of other things also. I witnessed this myself. They cannot process Ikes, they are too big. BUT they don't return them either. They steal them. They all have an internal coin catcher

I got my Ike back but there was silver halves in there and they refused to give me any other coins that it ate
 

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I had no idea of this "dirt cup".

You've given me some ideas here. I'm friends with one of the employees where I dump. I'm sure that person doesn't know this. Sounds like a wee bit of "coordination" here :)
 

A lot of people don't know about it. Anyways, gentlemen, good hunting. We will continue to rescue coins. Coinstar wants to take some coins, but we can get them back legally, so we will.
 

It's probably plated. I don't have it.
 

Coinstar finds from yesterday. Holy cow, 18 Ikes. I had no clue how common they were until yesterday. I also was witness to another collector finding a few nice wheats, a 1943 in fantastic condition, and a 1940-S, also in fantastic condition. Good hunting!
18740188_1424335214290855_2280458904064238980_n.jpg
18671317_1424335310957512_2165596484215578981_n.jpg

18671003_1424335260957517_7785873349369037171_n.jpg


The inspector himself came by to inspect the finds. He likes coins. I have no clue why. They say your cat acts like you and vice versa.
18813834_1424335364290840_4738788400281848760_n.jpg


Ike Dollar Coin (x18)
Wheat penny (x1) 1919-D
Canadian Penny (x1) 1963
Silver Washington (x1) 1962

Now for the big question: So...how do I actually do this? I map out all of the Coinstar machines on my way to wherever I have to drive when I am going on a longer drive. To give you an idea, I stopped by 10-15 places yesterday. I usually scope out the stores too when I get there. If it's too busy, the employees will be crabby. If it isn't, they'll be amiable. So here's my big secret, and my method to getting to the dirt cup. So a fellow member, Turbo21, mentioned that dropping an Ike in the machine would be a good way to go. However, I thought about this. Since the store employees don't remember every face immediately, and they literally have no clue when Coinstar comes to clean out the machine, just the idea of lost coins in the machine will usually get them to come and open it. Here are the steps I follow:

If you WANT to be straightforward
1) Approach the customer service desk, say you are a coin collecter, explain how the machine works, and that the dirt cup are culled rejects. Ask politely, if it is of no disservice to the employee, to open the machine. Remind them that they are REJECTS and that Coinstar, and fellow employees, usually throw that entire dirt cup's contents out. They are culled objects, and are mostly trash. Sometimes people drop interesting coins into the machines and because they are foreign, old, silver or weigh weird, they are tossed into the dirt cup or reject tray.

If you DO know them
1) Hi, name, mind opening the Coinstar for me?
* If it isn't one of your friends who will do it without question, you can say "It happened again, I think I may have coins that didn't get counted and ended up in the dirt cup"

If you DON'T know them
1) Anxiously search around the machine. Option B: Breeze up to the machine. Drop an Ike into the machine.

2) Walk to the customer service desk

3) Proceed to say one of the following lines:
- "Hi! My little sister decided to get mad at me and throw my dollar coin collection through the machine. They should be in an internal reject chute. May you please open the machine for me, if it is of no disservice to you?"
- "I accidentally dropped big dollar coins into the machine. I called Coinstar and they said that you could open the machine and empty the dirt cup for me, and that is probably where the coins are"
- "Hello! I am a coin collector of sorts...and my kids threw some of the coins into the machine. I got the regular rejects back, but I know of an internal reject chute called a "Dirt cup" where heavier coins or coins that don't get sorted go. Mind opening the machine for me?"
- "Hi, I used the machine earlier and I think I may have been shorted. I checked the reject chute, and I was unable to locate anything. I called Coinstar and they said there is an internal "Dirt cup" and that is where the coins should be"
- "I used this machine a few days ago and I realized someone/wife/kids/mom/sister/brother may have mixed my coins from my collection, and my change together. I don't know how often Coinstar cleans the machine. However there is an internal reject, and I believe my coins might be there. Please, may I check the internal reject for my coins?"

If you dropped in an Ike:
- "The machine just ate a few coins I was testing in it to see if they were accepted. I called Coinstar and they said it would be in the dirt cup, inside the machine. They said you would be able to give me the contents of the dirt cup."

4) There are a few outcomes to the response:
A. Yes sir/ma'am, I will be right with you!
B. It might be a minute, I can go grab a person for you to do that however!
C. I have no clue what you're talking about, I'll grab my manager for you.
D. You need to talk to the manager, sir.
E. We aren't allowed to do that.

5. If A-D, the machine will be opened for you, possibly with a little more explanation, and lobbying. If E, you are dealing with an uninformed person. Explain that the machine rejects anything that doesn't go into the mechanism, and you called Coinstar already.

6. They open the machine, and usually give you the contents of the dirt cup, and what is on the floor. Sometimes they will question you, and you can choose how to respond accordingly. One time I just up front told the person: "Look I'm a coin collector, and these are rejected items you normally just throw in the trash. You have absolutely no reason to fear to refuse any customer access to the dirt cup. It's called a dirt cup for a reason. It usually collects well, trash." That usually doesn't happen, but it sometimes might. If you are really lucky, they might even let you look into the plastic jug that the servicemen dump coins off the floor and from the dirt cup into. If you're lucky.

There are cases of absoulte refusal and plain uh...stupidity. Yesterday, a lady literally said "Nope they aren't yours" and dumped the entire contents of the dirt cup right into the money box. She says she does it all the time and has no clue why the machine breaks several times a week.

IT also goes without saying, that you should probably wait until a guy services the machine again (Which is about 2 weeks) before returning to the same store.
I think I will begin asking to have the machine opened.... thanks for sharing this :)
 

Those Eisenhower dollars are heavy. They had to sound like ball bearings falling in the junk cup!
 

Several years ago, I was in Wal-Mart when the tech was there fixing the Coinstar. He showed me how it all worked. I asked about the dirt cup and he showed it to me. There were a few Ike's in it along with some other coins and junk. I asked if I could buy the coins. He said that when they empty the machine, they take the contents of the dirt cup with them and sell anything of value and the company keeps the profits. I know people that work at that Wal-Mart and I've asked about getting the dirt cup contents and the answer is always "No". They say the same thing - the Coinstar people take it when they service the machine. I've asked what if I put something in there that ends up in there and their answer is always that the screen tells you not to put those items in the machine, so too bad.

Scott
 

Several years ago, I was in Wal-Mart when the tech was there fixing the Coinstar. He showed me how it all worked. I asked about the dirt cup and he showed it to me. There were a few Ike's in it along with some other coins and junk. I asked if I could buy the coins. He said that when they empty the machine, they take the contents of the dirt cup with them and sell anything of value and the company keeps the profits. I know people that work at that Wal-Mart and I've asked about getting the dirt cup contents and the answer is always "No". They say the same thing - the Coinstar people take it when they service the machine. I've asked what if I put something in there that ends up in there and their answer is always that the screen tells you not to put those items in the machine, so too bad.

Scott
Yup, this is my experience too.
 

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I’ve posted this before, so this is for the benefit of those who haven’t seen this previously. Little over a year ago I told my daughter about checking coin conversion machines. She was in Publix one morning and as she was walking past their machine, noticed something in the reject tray. Her first finds:
 

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I’ve posted this before, so this is for the benefit of those who haven’t seen this previously. Little over a year ago I told my daughter about checking coin conversion machines. She was in Publix one morning and as she was walking past their machine, noticed something in the reject tray. Her first finds:
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tn_coinstar.gif
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..: NICE RECOVERIES sphillips' Daughter :..
Here is my CoinStar Surfing Log!
 

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