Free Coin Counting Service!

Lots of people throw their spare change into jars and boxes for a rainy day. The problem has always been that at some point you have to sort it and roll it, before you can take it to the bank.

While there are personal sorting and stacking machines available to do this, the inexpensive ones aren't very good and the good ones aren't very inexpensive.

Another alternative are commercial coin counting machines such as the Coin Star at the local Dominion Metro food store on Lloyd Manor. The problem with these is that they charge a high percentage (over 9%) for the service. I have enough distant Scottish ancestry to make this quite unpalatable.

Recently a new alternative came to light. A free coin counting service! TD Canada Trust has introduced this as a pilot project. Better still, you don't even have to have an account with the bank! I've heard that it's in about 10 Toronto area branches but I'm not sure if there are more outside the GTA. I couldn't find anything on the TD website and the only information I have is a single glossy information sheet of unknown origin. If you're looking for other locations, you'll need to make some phone calls see below.

The counting machine is located inside the branch and it looks like a standalone ATM. It has a touch screen and a small conveyor belt. Simply pour your coins onto the belt and it counts them. It rejects foreign currency as well as coins that are rusted or in bad condition. When you're done you get a receipt from the machine. Make sure you must present the receipt to a branch teller on the same day to get your money.

Fortunately, one of these pilot machines is located nearby at the branch on Royal York Rd at Summitcrest Dr (north of Eglington and La Rose).

I tried it out a couple of weeks ago and found it to be easy to use, fast and accurate. Even if you're only throwing in pennies, nickles, and dimes, a 750 ml sized jar can easily yield $30 or $40.

BTW. If you find other branches piloting these machines, please post the location in a comment on this article!

Update: Thanks to Dan Matan for getting a list of pilot branches. His original article can be found here.

• 1440 Royal York Road (at La Rose north of Eglington) Etobicoke, ON M9P 3B1
• 10908 Hurontario Street (at Wanless) Brampton, ON. L7A 3R9
• 808 York Mills Road (at Leslie) Toronto, ON. M3B 1X8
• 5000 New Street (at Appleby Line) Burlington, ON. L7L 1V1
• 5887 Main Street (at West Lawn Cr) Stoufville, ON. L4A 1N2
• 1684 Danforth Ave (at Woodington) Toronto, ON. M4C 1H6
• 1119 Fennell Ave E. (at Upper Ottawa) Hamilton, ON. L8T 1S2
• 1260 Commissioners Rd W (at Boler) London, ON. N6K 1C7
• 1005 Ottawa Street N (at River Road) Kitchener, ON. N2A 1H2
• 1365 Fanshawe Pk Rd W (at Hyde Park) London, ON. N6G 0E3