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Gold Coin Coinstar find...What's the right thing to do?
telephoto1
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We had a customer pop in who had this exact thing happen to him. Found a $2.50 Indian in a Coinstar reject slot.
He actually did one of the options below. Answer later.
I thought this would make a good poll.
So, You see a gold coin in the reject slot at the local supermarket's Coinstar machine. What do you do?
Please vote and elaborate on your choice below.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
Gold Coin Coinstar find...What's the right thing to do?
This is a public poll: others will see what you voted for.
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In a grocery store setting I would probably keep it, honestly. Ownership will be next to impossible to prove. I could see myself posting on Next Door and see if anyone in my area could identify it. Maybe I’m cynical but turning it over to the store would likely cause it to end up in the pocket of whoever I gave it to.
Now, if it was a bank I would turn it over to the bank manager as it’s more likely to be a bank member than a random person.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Proving ownership is impossible in this setting. Bad luck is not illegal.
Most jurisdictions have mislaid property statutes/ordinances. Keeping it or selling would be a criminal offense most places.
I'd give it to the store lost and found and let them deal with it.
I’ll add, wouldn’t this same scenario apply to anyone who found silver or similar in coin star machines? From what I gather, most people keep what they find in the reject bin.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
easy
give it to the store manager and let them take it from there
reason is the coin is not mine to start with, and being honest does tend to pay off in the long run
and being honest was what i was taught by my mom and grandmother
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Just popping in to play devil's advocate... This is a gold coin, so it's obviously nothing a collector would purposely dump nor is it something easily mistaken for a current spendable coin. Thus it's a pretty safe bet that it was dumped in there by ignorance, by mistake or by a dumb thief, yes?
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
keep it and save it for the Christmas Salvation Army bucket. Store has no way of determining original owner.
Keep an open mind, or get financially repressed -Zoltan Pozsar
Doesn't really matter how it got there, or the identity of the owner. It's 100% known that the "finder" is not the owner. It's the same situation as if you found some item of value in a park or other public place. You don't get to just keep it.
I recently had a case where a guy found a nice compound bow while doing some shore fishing. He was there several hours and nobody came looking for it. When he left he took it, sold it, and it currently facing felony level theft/possession of stolen property charges. When he exhibited intent to take ownership of the bow he committed the offenses.
It would be nice to make someone's day by getting the coin back to them. Turn it in and call authorities is my choice.
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Well, I could see the advantage of having the Police present when the machine is emptied, just in case it is full of a stolen collection dumped in at face. Sucks, but it happens.
Or, it could be a random coin. When I worked for Coin World back in the 70’s the Treasurer of the local coin club of which I was Secretary was the #2 man in the Sidney Police Dept. He went through all of the parking meter coins before they were deposited, and over the years he found three quarter eagles deposited as dimes.
When I was with Harlan Berk we bought several hundred pounds of rejects from the CTA’s counting room and I found a Mexican 2-1/2 Peso gold. Checked and it was the same diameter as the ordinary fare token.
TD
Isn't the purpose of a coinstar "score" to capitalize on someone else's ignorance? I find it hard to believe that those who would brag about the silver coins they found would sing a different tune about a gold coin. Reminds me of "at what point does a cherry pick become taking advantage of someone."
Keep an open mind, or get financially repressed -Zoltan Pozsar
There is zero chance of finding the correct/original owner.
They don't know what they gave away.
BHNC #203
This.
Your stance assumes that the person dumping the coins was the lawful owner.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
if coinstar owns the coinstar machine in question:
...then the coin is up for grabs, because it rests in the reject slot.
coinstar has made the coin's status
rejectedby refusing to accept the coin and returning it to the reject slot. presumably, the owner is unknown in this scenario, and has left the coin's status unchanged, by virtue of leaving the coin and walking away.if i saw someone dumping coins in when i came in and saw the coin later after picking up a few items, i would probably try to find the person. but if its not clear who left it there...
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It's not mine, so I couldn't keep it. I doubt the owner could be located. I'd sell it and donate the proceeds to my favorite charity.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I dunno. But what if someone stole my giant bottle of change I have in my house and dumped it in a Coinstar machine and the machine didn’t reject any of them. Does Coinstar then own the coins? Can Coinstar be prosecuted for not tracking down the rightful owner?
A couple of years back I found a zip up money holder like what businesses use on the ground at a Renaissance Festival. It was stuffed full of bills of every denomination. I turned it in to someone running one of the booths. It’s obvious that someone dropped it accidentally and they would be needing it to stay in business.
But when I walk down the street and I see a bunch of cents thrown on the ground in front of various businesses I don’t feel the need to pick them up and turn them in to the business. I assume that the owner doesn’t care enough about the cents to even bother putting them in their pocket when they receive them in change. To me, Coinstar rejects are like the coins in the street, the person who put it in the Coinstar didn’t care enough about them to take them. Same if I find silver in a roll of coins at a bank. Am I required to return them to the former owner that didn’t know they were worth more than face value?
Mr_Spud
For those that would just keep it... If you grabbed lunch at a coin show and dropped or forgot a double eagle in a 2x2 you'd be cool with whoever found it to just toss it in their pocket and call it their lucky day?
How would you ever find the lawful owner? Dust it for finger prints?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Be it a bottle of change or a total coin collection, one would have to ask the questions about chain of custody and poison fruit as it were. By law the coins belong to the person from whom they were stolen. The thief is essentially fencing them via the Coinstar machine. If it could be proven (via video evidence and/or confession perhaps) that the items were indeed dumped there, what then? I know if someone stole something and sold it to me, the cops can confiscate the item(s) involved and I'm essentially outta luck... just saying.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
No. If that happened the coins/value would be returned to you, and Coinstar would have a claim for restitution from the thief. Similar to something being pawned. The item is returned to the victim (pending disposition of the case), and the pawnshop is awarded restitution.
It's probably counterfeit anyway.
Keep it...
If my conscious bothered me, then sell it and donate the money to a worthy cause.
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There are any number of stories here on the forum (and even a long-running thread) about CoinStar reject finds. Nobody has ever offered up an objection to the practice of pocketing rejects before. The value of the coin makes no difference.
Personally, I'd take it, inform the manager of the store that I'd return it to whoever could identify what was missing, and see where it goes. After 6 months I'd probably consider it mine. To be clear, I'd be perfectly happy to return it to the rightful owner, if by some stroke of luck that could be determined. I might even make a call to law enforcement to see if any collections had been stolen. Once it's out of your possession the chance of it making it to the rightful owner go down considerably. I know my intentions, but those of other people aren't so clear.
That is not an equivalent scenario. But, yes, I have lost money before (thankfully not much) and I chalked it up to a learning experience.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Antoine Young - Coinstar (Stand Up Comedy)
https://youtu.be/13GU9l2jSIc
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I'm not really sure, I certainly wouldn't hand it over to someone else who could then likely just pocket it. At most I would have the store manager keep an eye out for someone who comes back looking for a coin they dumped into the CS machine and leave my contact info with them. Security footage could be useful to find the person who deposited it, assuming they are recording that part of the store, and that they had not left yet.
This is a completely different and not comparable situation. A dropped DE at a coin show is obviously lost property that should be returned to whoever lost it. Someone dumping a gold coin into a coinstar is expecting to get face value for it, and will be nearly impossible to track down after the fact.
Collector, occasional seller
I worked in a place that had a photocopy machine that took change. A guy claimed someone used a 1/10 ounce krugerrand to make a copy. This guy claimed the Krugerand came back as change.
There are any number of stories here on the forum (and even a long-running thread) about CoinStar reject finds. Nobody has ever offered up an objection to the practice of pocketing rejects before.
Actually I have done so in the past on that thread, but I digress. Most times the common rationalization is either "no one will ever know who the owner is", or "if I don't get it, someone else will", or some variants thereof. You might not know who owned it but you do know it wasn't you... yes? Again, playing devil's advocate here.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
One could also easily argue that taking anything from a Coinstar reject bin is theft, period - even if the property was abandoned by a lawful person who dumped it in there. Perhaps the fault is Coinstar’s for having a reject bin instead of requiring the submitter to remove everything from the rejects before receiving their Coinstar receipt.
Ultimately the problem, fair or unfair, is proving clear and proper title to the property.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
I say keep it. No effort will be made to EVER find the owner and you can make some extra money since even if the coin is counterfeit its still gold. I actually found a gold coin in a coinstar reject bin once and sold it at a LCS many years ago (even if someone wanted to get me in trouble for this, the statute of limitations has expired anyways)
Keep it but let the manager know you found it in case the owner came back looking for it. I would only give it to the owner if he could identify it as to design type, date, mintmark, and grade.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I'd hang onto it then see if anyone stops in to make a claim. After 30 days it's mine, jmo and fwiw
I'd donate it to charity - perhaps as-is or converted to cash first.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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My initial reaction was that I'd keep it and say nothing, Then when I thought about that this could be the result of a stolen collection, I'm thinking that a 2 1/2 Indian does suggest something afoul (more so than not).
Out of respect for someone who may have been a victim of such a crime, if the find suggests a strong possibility of a theft, I now think the best action is to take the coin and then ask the authorities if there has been any reported coin thefts. As @CaptHenway suggested, were the coin to be identified as part of a stolen collection, they could examine what else is in the machine and possibly recover a whole lot more. Were I the victim of such a theft, I would be immensely grateful.
My strategy is about collecting what I intend to keep, not investing in what I plan to sell.
List it on Craigslist lost and found minus the denomination and date...
Back in my beach metal detecting days, I would monitor Craigslist for lost rings and jewelry.
Once found a non PM wedding band that goes for like $50... dude gave me 3X and wouldn't take no.
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I would be very happy to reunite it with the owner, even if they had no idea what it is.
However, I would not turn it over to someone else who might just pocket it.
To all the people who are making such a morality play out of this, where do we draw the line? Can I keep abandoned silver? How about Canadian coins? What about corroded zinc cents?
Keeping it despite having the chance to return it is not the same thing as keeping it because the person who abandoned it is not known.
In the old days anybody ever score a grip of change from a “PAYPHONE!” I’m certain that there’s a bunch of stories about racing to find the owner. Coin return is just that. 🤔😊
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
I have watched the store employees and one manager scoop the coins out of the reject bin and pocket them. Often!! That coin would never find it's way back to the one who dumped it. They obviously never even realized what it was. Cheers, RickO
OK, you think because others take things from the machine it's OK to do so yourself. Got it. But "the one who dumped it" may not be the lawful owner. Again, this is a gold coin, which should scream red flag. Does that change your position at least enough to ask the local LE about any missing coins or is it "too bad so sad"? Also all stores have cameras; if they ascertain who dumped it and who took from the slot, would you then be concerned? Again, I like to play devil's advocate... and I like the lively conversation here.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
I believe coin star only accepts clad coins and would reject all silver and gold. A coin collection is very likely to contain mostly silver coins with some gold and copper. Even though it is possible someone just collects cents and nickels I would doubt they would have a single gold coin in their collection and literally everything else cents and nickels. If the gold coin was just by itself in the reject bin and not with other coins I would NOT believe it was part of a stolen collection deposited into a coin star since it would reject much more than just a single gold coin. I would however be suspicious if it was all by itself without other random coins such as corroded/damaged coins, foreign coins. In this event I would be scared to even touch it.
If it was there with other random foreign or corroded coins then I would assume the person who dumped their coins in the coin star did not know what they had and by not taking the rejects didn’t want to keep what was rejected - therefore I believe it is considered abandoned property. They do not belong to coin star either since the machine refused to accept them. I believe at this point it is legal to take the coins in the reject bin. I see it as similar to finding a lost coin on the ground but maybe even less than that since the original owner chose NOT to collect the rejects.
If for whatever reason someone came forward claiming the gold coin and could at the very least identify it as a $2.50 gold coin (or describe what it looks like - such as it has an Indian on one side and an eagle on the other) then I would turn it over to them giving them the benefit of the doubt that they probably had it if they knew that much about it. This is assuming this customer returned to the store asking at customer service if something was found in the coin star machine and upon the service desk saying “yes” ask the customer to describe what they are missing.
The issue was already raised by someone else, but if this is your position that the rejected gold was stolen then why not assume that all accepted coins were stolen as well? Why not impound every Coinstar machine?
I would assume that if a stray classic gold coin showed up that it was scooped out of an old drawer or purse, or from a jar of old coins.
I knew this had trouble written all over it when I read the op.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
If you think about it ; every coin that exists was once owned by someone else
And Frank you are once again 100% correct. Having run grocery store and dealing with coin star ,as well other companies there is no way ,unless you view the stores secuty tapes and at that do you have any idea how much use these machines get?
For those who never seen the guts of a coin counter, basically two huge plastic boxes that are on dollies. When they open the machine there are coins everywhere! In those boxes ,on the floor ,under the machine. The machines are set to kick out anything but US coins,any damage or bent are kicked out.
Whats crazy is durring the rejection it may cause sometimes for other coins to follow.
So basically if you ever thought of being able to go through the coins in the machine....you be wasting your time. Unless you wanted modern change. Gold ,silver, world coins will automatically kick it out.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Send it in to be graded.
What if it was not a gold coin but instead was a 1955 doubled die cent or a 1963 D cent that would grade MS68?
Does the type of metal matter; and/or does the market value of the coin matter?
Apparently all of the do-gooders don’t believe in leprechauns or Guardian angels. If you’re dumb enough to dump it in that machine then you’re dumb enough to lose it.
The only scenario where I would be giving this coin up is if there was a customer in front of me and I found it while they were still in shouting distance. And this theory applies only to coin star machines most all of the other scenarios mentioned would be another story.
Where is the line drawn between "Nice find" and "Gotta find the owner" - A few silver quarters, 23 mercury dimes, some Indian Head Cents? Or just a gold coin........
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
I believe the coin star would accept the 1955 doubled die cent and 1963 D cent (MS68). The customer would not realize what they had if they dumped it into the machine to be accepted as face value. Coin star would then likely cash it in at the bank for face and they would wind up in a roll and possibly that roll gets sent to store where they pass out the cents as change and it circulates until a coin collector finds it. The 1963 D MS68 would likely be knocked down a few grade points by then.