That much change could be a guru of joy for a lucky coin collector. But you may want to watch this CBS news video first! Okay, not so much joy – at least for the typical coin collector. The 500 pounds of coins are all foreign!
Every year New York City has been bidding their entire stockpile off foreign parking meter coins off because they find it economically unfeasible to sort and exchange them all. That makes sense since they receive pretty much every denomination from every continent in the world.
Why are foreign coins in U.S. parking meters? Although they’ve become smarter in recent years, the meters will still gladly guzzle a non U.S. coin or two… or three… or four… or…
Apparently, New York City loses roughly $8500 every year because of the foreign coins. Surprisingly, the most common coins are the Greek drachmas. No one knows that better than past bid winners. In the bidding process, only one winner is selected and they receive ALL coins. This year it’ll be close to nine bags and if history repeats itself, each bag will earn the city between $120 to $240 dollars.
Regardless of the types of coins, it has to be fun and exciting to go through them! And that’s likely why at least three times in the past the winner has been a coin collector. If you’re a bidder, good luck!
