Ever put a $5 bill in the vending machine....

jmcu12 · February 18, 2014 11:45AM

Just to get the change so you can go through it?

And do it again an hour later?

MGLICKER · February 18, 2014 11:47AM

No, but when I go out on my bike and pick up a paper for $1.08, I always pay with $2 so I can do a mini search of the 92c.

morbidsteve · February 18, 2014 11:49AM

I've done that. I know a friend who picked up a Pilgrim Commem from a vending machine, then sold it for $80 to a dealer (he doesn't collect).

Steve

NewEnglandNotes · February 18, 2014 11:54AM

I put a $10 in the change machine at the Laundromat a couple years ago and got two silver quarters in the pile. I was hoping for more and after another $150 or so got just one more. I also got the attention of the attendant who wasn't pleased that I was draining the machine of more than I needed to do my laundry.

First and only Laundromat I have ever been banned from..........

LochNESS · February 18, 2014 12:06PM

You should find out what day(s) of the week that machine is emptied, and try your luck the day before (when the machine is most full).

There are ways to make change without buying something, and I'm not a soda drinker, so I rarely use vending machines. But good luck! Hope you find an awesome piece. You never know what's inside those things. Especially the machines at those interstate hwy gas stations an hour away from civilization.

I had a $5 Lincoln in my pocket today, burning a hole. Stuck it inside my son's piggy bank soon as I got home.

Lakesammman · February 18, 2014 12:23PM

When the Sac pattern first was discovered, I would buy a stamp at the USPS with a $20 and go through the Sacs in the change.

AnkurJ · February 18, 2014 12:34PM

<< I put a $10 in the change machine at the Laundromat a couple years ago and got two silver quarters in the pile. I was hoping for more and after another $150 or so got just one more. I also got the attention of the attendant who wasn't pleased that I was draining the machine of more than I needed to do my laundry.

First and only Laundromat I have ever been banned from.......... >>

cmerlo1 · February 18, 2014 12:38PM

No, but working in the video arcade business back when the games took quarters yielded lots of silver, and a nice stack of silver certificates from the change machine.

coinbuf · February 18, 2014 12:42PM

<< Just to get the change so you can go through it?

And do it again an hour later?

>>

As the owner of a vending company I hate when people do that.

Jinx86 · February 18, 2014 12:58PM

Ever put $3 cash into a vending machine for a $2.25 purchase and the damn thing gives your change in nickels?

Yeah I wasn't pleased.

coinbuf · February 18, 2014 1:13PM

Thats because somebody emptied out all the qtrs, see above.

Davideo · February 18, 2014 2:04PM

It reminds me a newspaper vending machine outside of a WalMart. I was bored waiting for my mom so I put a dime in and hit the change return to get the dime back and out popped 6 dimes. As a 10 year old kid this was incredibly exciting. It became a bit of a gamble as sometimes a single dime would be returned, sometimes more than one, and sometimes nothing. It ended up being a slot machine with really good odds. After a bit of a losing streak I decided not to push it and walked about with maybe about a buck.

hchcoin · February 18, 2014 2:07PM

<< Thats because somebody emptied out all the qtrs, see above. >>

GrumpyEd · February 18, 2014 3:07PM

With some of the $1 Coke machines you can put in a $1 coin and press the change return and it gives you back a different coin. You can keep putting it back and look at the next coin. I never did it long enough to see if it starts giving back the ones you put back but I know that the one it gives out wasn't the one I put in.

BLUEJAYWAY · February 18, 2014 3:33PM

This reminded me of what took place in the late 1960's. I used to go with my brother on a dry cleaning delivery truck route. We would deliver/pickup dry cleaning laundry and also did collections. This was when silver started to become collectible/hoardable. When it was time for the customer to pay their bill my brother would request as much payment in change,stating he was short on change. He also asked for any one dollar bills, for the silver certs. My Aunt who was a waitress used to let me go through her tip jar twice a week and swap out the clad I had for any silver I found. We did very well with the cashing in of the silver years later. Many thanks to the Hunt Brothers.

pcunix · February 18, 2014 8:54PM

I used to do the "get change" thing up into the late 70's but haven't in a long time.

I'm just having a hard time caring about clad and the ugly new cents. I know there is some modern worth looking for, and I could be missing an opportunity to sell a find and buy something I do care about, but..

Forty years ago or more I had one of these thingies:

I found one on Ebay or Etsy or somewhere and ordered it last week. I hope the darn thing still works (if not, there seem to be plenty more out there). I bought it to look through a pile of wheat ears I saved over the years, but maybe it will convince me to start looking at change again.

ricko · February 18, 2014 10:09PM

I did that at the post office a few times for Sacs..... never found anything special...Cheers, RickO

CoinZip · February 18, 2014 11:02PM

<< Forty years ago or more I had one of these thingies:

>>

OK......that thing is pretty cool for the time period.

Weiss · February 18, 2014 11:19PM

Fascination with coin operated machines goes hand in hand with coin collecting. I've wanted coin ops since I was a kid. One of the neat things about being a landlord is that I have 10 coin operated washers and dryers. I check each before cashing them in. Over the last ten years I've found coins from all around the world--some worth more than a quarter, some worth less. And I've found 10 or 15 90% quarters.

pcunix · February 18, 2014 11:37PM

<< 

<< Forty years ago or more I had one of these thingies:

>>

OK......that thing is pretty cool for the time period. >>

It was pretty cool. You put coins into the feeder tube and slide the plastic lever to bring it under the glass. Push a bit father and then bring it back to see the other side, eject and repeat. Is there anything modern like this?

johnny9434 · February 19, 2014 4:14AM

i used to do that years ago but the machines sinse disappeared. bummer to once and a while i would luck out

fiveNdime · February 19, 2014 4:42AM

<< I put a $10 in the change machine at the Laundromat a couple years ago and got two silver quarters in the pile. I was hoping for more and after another $150 or so got just one more. >>

the last time i got a silver quarter in change was also from a laundromat, 5+ years ago.
i went home and got another $40 and got 2 more.
now the only change i find is my own in the dryer.

19Lyds · February 19, 2014 5:23AM

Sure.

There used to be a $1 changer at work that someone discovered would spit out $1.05 in change.

That lasted about a week.

I do remember putting a $1 bill into the vending machines and then hitting the coin return just to look at what came out.

It's a sickness.

Swampboy · February 19, 2014 6:15AM

$5?

You kidding me?
Sometimes I run down to the car wash on Saturday night and put a twenty in just to get quarters to go through; plus, as a bonus, I get the sound of a slot payout.

ProofArtworkonCircs · February 19, 2014 1:12PM

I have put a $5 in to get quarters to look at. I can't say that I ever found anything interesting there though.
I once put a $20 bill in a machine for stamps and got back 18 SBA's. Nothing interesting there either.

Ever put a $5 bill in the vending machine....

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