Gold quarters anyone?

[pressandclean]

I didn't even know the U.S. minted gold plated quarters until they were used in my laundromat. Does this happen to anyone else?

[Howard]

Have never seen one. What year was it minted? Maybe someone did it themselves?

[CanCanCase]

Is it one of the State quarters? I remember when the first or second wave of state quarters was being minted, several private companies (that advertise late at night and on QVC, etc.) were offering gold plated versions of the new coins as a collectible... I believe at the time they were a few dollars each, sold in sets of 5 or 10...

Also, any coin-based vending business will mark their "house" coins in some way. When I owned the Red Dog Saloon I would spraypaint a roll or two of quarters bright red for use as comp money... when I paid for a game of pool at the table, I didn't want to open the coin box to drop the rack of balls, so I just used my red quarters. If I was gone, it gave me a great idea of how well the machines were working since the bartender would occasionally need to drop a few red quarters to un-stick a rack. If I came in Monday morning and saw the table full of red quarters, I could then council the staff about how they were playing too much pool on shift rather than cleaning, stocking, etc...

Marked coins in various colors and finishes are quite plentiful these days. If there's a large bank in the area, they often do a fair job of filtering them out of circulation, but the banks never get them all!

-Case

[pressandclean]

2000 & 2002. No, they are actual U.S. quarters that have been minted and are in circulation. One minted for each state over several years, just like the regular quarters. They are listed for sale on the internet for about $20.00.

[CanCanCase]

2000 & 2002. No, they are actual U.S. quarters that have been minted and are in circulation. One minted for each state over several years, just like the regular quarters. They are listed for sale on the internet for about $20.00.

I can't find any US Mint gold plated coins anywhere. The State Quarter series was issued from 1999 to 2008, and many companies have modified the coins in some way to try to add collectible value to them.

From the coin collecting forum at Ask.com: These gold plated coins have no added value.
Since this is a modified coin, the value is questionable. It will still be worth a Quarter of course.
The amount of collect ability for any altered or plated coin is negotiable only to a buy looking for it. Most coin collectors are purists and will pay more than face value for the common copper-nickel version with no wear or scratches. I have seen non-numismatists buy them and other people pick them up for the novelty of them.

Recently I have seen Gold Plated 1999 S.B.A.’s at a coin show packaged with a Sacagawea Gold Colored Dollar coin. No true Coin collectors were buying them though.

These colored, Hallmarked, restamped or plated (like yours) coins are a gimmick. And therefore have no added value.

For COINS IN GENERAL: As long as it was treated after it left the minting process, even if it is gold plated, enameled, painted or two-tone the value and collectability is very limited. A collector of numismatic material wants the coins EXACTLY as issued.
If the US Mint does a make a coin issue to commemorate an historical event or similar Design (State Quarters) engineered into the coin during the production then it will have a higher collectable value.
-Case

[pressandclean]

Thanks for your help. They look awesome and work in the machines. Who knows nowdays if what your looking at is American money or not.

[BMWHD3060]

About a month ago I had someone spend about $3.00 worth of the Gold Quarters in my washer & soap machine, I guess they are cashing in their coin collection.

[Howard]

Most likely people scraping around for anthing they can. I found my first silver quarter in my soap machine in like 2 years the other day.

[psclaundry]

Has anyone noticed if their coin drops/slides seem to plug or stick more since the advent of the new state quarters? I've got six machines that stick a lot, and the company I bought them from is replacing the coin slides on them. Says that the state quarters are ever so slightly different. News to me.

[Sudds]

I've found about 10 silver quarters in my mat within the last year. ;-)

[STOUT]

There is also a possibility that they are stolen and the person spending them have taken them form a family member or a friend. I have had people I know come to me and ask if I have found any cause some kids have stolen them from their collection.
It sure is sad when that happens to them.

[soapopera]

I have a vending biz along with my stores, and at three locations adults are using gold dollar coins to buy snacks. Sometimes the machine counts it as a dollar and sometimes as a quarter since they are an odd size.
No complaints so I don't know if the customers are aware they are using gold dollar coins or not.
One big hassle is it clogs up my coin counter.

[Adamski]

Stephen,

Almost all the money coming into my venders is in the form of gold dollar coins. My Klopp coin counter counts and packages or bags the gold dollar coins.

I'm not surprised that you're beginning to see these in your venders. I am seeing increased circulation of these dollar coins in Michigan. Every 3 months, millions more dollar coins go into circulation throughout the US.

[DaveLevenson]

I have a vending biz along with my stores, and at three locations adults are using gold dollar coins to buy snacks. Sometimes the machine counts it as a dollar and sometimes as a quarter since they are an odd size.
No complaints so I don't know if the customers are aware they are using gold dollar coins or not.
One big hassle is it clogs up my coin counter.

What odd-size dollar coins do you get? The ones produced by the U.S. Mints are exactly the same size and weight as the Susan B Anthony dollar coin they replaced. This was done to avoid problems with coin-operated equipment such as laundry machines. Perhaps your coin-acceptors are out of adjustment?

[Adamski]

What odd-size dollar coins do you get? The ones produced by the U.S. Mints are exactly the same size and weight as the Susan B Anthony dollar coin they replaced. This was done to avoid problems with coin-operated equipment such as laundry machines. Perhaps your coin-acceptors are out of adjustment?

Dave,

Actually, while converting my coin drops from quarters to dollar coins, I discovered that the silver, Susan Bs are slightly thicker than the golden presidential dollar coins.

In the old days, we vended with dimes. These small, light-weight coins jammed in the coin slides which were commonly used back them. When dime drop coin meters came out, they still jammed often. Eventually we converted to quarters because the dime became practically worthless. The weightier quarter worked much better in the drop meters but still jammed on occasion - especially in dryer drop meters.

I've been using converted dollar coin drop meters for years now. The nice thing about dollar coins is their hevier weight and larger diameter (compared to a quarter) carry them through a drop coin meter much better. Dollar coin jams are non-existant.

[STOUT]

Larry;

Interesting observation.
Do the dollar coin drops cost more?

[Adamski]

... Do the dollar coin drops cost more?

Deward,

My dollar coin drops are actually quarter coin drops in disguise. You see, I figured out how to convert my quarter drops into dollar drops without buying any new parts. So, to answer your question - no, they did not cost me any additional money - only my conversion time which was 30 - 45 minutes per drop.

[STOUT]

So is this a carefully guarded secret, like the mud used on the baseballs of the MLB, The Coca-Cola formula, or how banks figure FICA scores?

[Adamski]

So is this a carefully guarded secret, like the mud used on the baseballs of the MLB, The Coca-Cola formula, or how banks figure FICA scores?

Deward,

Not really ... I've been talking about it ever since I first logged on to this BB. You see, the manufacturers were not offering any dollar coin accepters so I was forced to experiment with converting quarter accepters. Obviously, this requires the removal of the coin accepter from the washer or dryer. When converting my 31 dryers, I had a helper removing and reinstalling the accepters as I did the actual conversions.

My washers and dryers vary in age from under 2 years to about 8 years so they have a variety of Munzproofer drop coin meters. I've been able to convert every one of them to dollar coins without buying any parts. Some were very easy while others were more difficult. All required cutting the coin slot larger (a Dremmel tool works great for this) and making internal adjustments. Some required some internal grinding to enlarge the coin path for the larger dollar coin. Others did not.

I've also converted the Dexter style quarter accepters to dollar coin only. The only hard part about the Dexter accepters is the vertical coin chute (to which the coin switch is attached) needs to be enlarged to allow dollar coins to pass through. To do that, I simply bent the back side of the chute outward 90 degrees and then closed the resulting gap with several layers of alluminum duct tape strategically placed to form a corner.

Personally, I think the manufacturers are making a big mistake by not having dollar coin meters available as a no-extra-cost option on their equipment. If they think everybody is going to move to cards, I think they're holding a losing hand as evidenced by the fact that 95% of all laundromats are still coin-operated even though cards have been around for decades.

[Duane]

Less than .005% of laundromats are dollar-operated and the dollar coin has been around for over two centuries.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[DaveLevenson]

I saw some dollar acceptors at Clean-07. They were offered by a company whose name I cannot recall at present. The same company also offers quarter acceptors and dual-coin acceptors.

I do remember their advertising slogan: "making change acceptable".

I also own a pay telephone business. The phones accept nickels, dimes, and quarters. As Larry explained, dimes tend to jam most often. The most common coin-acceptor for phones is made by Coinco. IMHO, the best and most expensive is made by Mars (the same company who makes M&M candy) about 4 times the price of the Coinco.

[JohnH]

You see, the manufacturers were not offering any dollar coin accepters so I was forced to experiment with converting quarter accepters.

My washers and dryers vary in age from under 2 years to about 8 years so they have a variety of Munzproofer drop coin meters. .

Larry,
I have Munzprufer drops on all my equipment, as well. They make a dollar drop. I had double coin drops installed on all of my washers and dryers..that was in 2005. The dollar coin drops fit side-by-side along with the quarter coin drops, with the dollar slot on the right, and the quarter on the left. Speed Queen even supplied the decals for this arrangement, and I'm pretty sure you can get the dollar drops to work alone. Since your Heubsch's, er...Heubschs...uh...Heubsches...(what the heck is the plural of Heubsch?) are also an Alliance product, I'm surprised you were unable to find dollar drops. But then, free is not bad, either!
John

[Adamski]

John,

I bought Huebsch washers as recently as spring of 2008. I ordered them with quarter drops because the dollar drops were a huge up-charge as I recall. So I figured I'd just buy the quarter drops and convert them to dollars ... which I did.

[pressandclean]

Larry, I know you wants us all to convert to dollar coins. So, what do you have to do to convert the acceptors from quarter to dollar?

[Adamski]

Mike,

Converting Munzproofer drops from quarters to dollar coins is too complicated to completely describe here. Instead, I'll give you some insite into the basics of the conversion.

The Goal:
First of all, the goal is to make the drop accept dollar coins and reject all quarters without jamming. The quarters must reject by themselves without having to push the reject button. That is what you must accomplish on each drop you convert.

Identifying The Parts:
The face plate is the square, stainless steel plate that has the attached coin reject button. The tunnel spring clip is the clip that holds the left and right chassis parts together but allows them to spread apart when the coin reject button is pushed. The left and right chassis parts are the sides of the drop that are held together by the tunnel spring clip. The upper guide bar is the stainless steel bar on the side of the smaller chassis half. The lower guide ramp is the stainless steel coin guide ramp on the larger chassis half. The coin drag finger is the flat metal finger that protrudes through a cut-out in the chassis and drags against passing coins in the coin track. The magnet is a small, screw-adjustable magnet that projects from the large chassis half into the coin track. The coin track is the path the coin should take to be accepted.

Cutting The Face Plate Slot Larger:
The standard protocol is to remove the drop and place it on a level surface like a desk so that it sets just like it would in the machine. Then, starting outside the coin slot, begin modification. Remove the stainless steel faceplate and grind the back side of the coin slote higher and wider to accomodate the larger dollar coin. Use a Dremmel tool with a 1" or 1.25" disk cutter for this job. Have about 12 dollar coins handy so that you can test insert each one through the new slot to make sure it fits without binding. This part of the job gets really easy after you do a few. Once the face plate is modified, reattach it to the coin drop.

Causing Dollar Coin Acceptance:
Next, insert a dollar coin through the enlarged slot and see where it stops. It will stop just inside the top, front part of the chassis. Slide the tunnel spring clip off the top of the drop to separate the left chasis from the right chasis. You may have to remove a brass cotter pin before you can slide the clip off. Use pliers to remove the square stainless steel part that is held on with 2 rivets if that is stopping the dollar coin. Reassemble the chasis halves and insert a dollar coin to see where it stops now. If it goes all the way through the drop, then you're almost done. If it binds half way through, remove or adjust any coin drag finger or magnet that is causing the binding and trapping the coin. Adjusting the lower stainless steel ramp (held in place with 2 screws) that the bottom of the coin rides on can also affect its passage through the meter. If necessary, try adjusting the lower coin ramp toward the small chassis half which will slightly open the coin track.

Models With An Upper Guide Bar:
Once you have the dollar coin passing through the drop, you need to make sure quarters are rejected properly. Insert a test quarter and see what happens. If the test quarter passes through the drop and is accepted, you need to cause it to reject. If the drop has a stainless steel upper guide bar (held in place by 2 screws), you need to adjust that bar upward a little so that it will catch the top of a dollar coin but will NOT catch the top of a quarter. Proper adjustment of the upper guide bar will cause quarters to flop sideways into the reject chute while funneling the wider dollar coins through the accept (coin sensor) chute.

Models Without An Upper Guide Bar:
If the drop is a model that does not have the upper stainless steel guide bar, it will be necessary to grind some metal away on the inside of the upper part of the coin track where the top of the dollar coin is binding. This is not easy but it can be done. I used my Dremmel tool with a disk cutter to remove metal as far inside as I could and then finished with a small file. Obviously, this is the hardest part of the conversion but it gets easier with each one you do. Again, this paragraph only applies to Munzproofer drops that don't have the upper stainless steel guide bar which is attached with 2 small screws. All Munzproofer drops have the lower stainless steel coin ramp that the bottom of the coins ride on.

Testing The Drop:
Testing is a very important part of the conversion. Once you've converted a drop, test it 25 times using 12 - 15 different dollar coins and 5 different quarters. It should accept every dollar coin and reject every quarter without ever jamming or ever having to press the coin return button.

It's Not That Difficult:
Conversion is not that difficult but you must have the right tools before starting the project. You need a small phillips screw driver, a good pair of pliers, a 1/4" drive socket set, a small file set and a Dremmel tool set. After completing the first drop, you will have a very good idea of what must be done to convert the rest assuming they are the same model as the first.

[pressandclean]

Larry, a very good and detailed narrative of how to change them. Thanks. I do have Dexters with the Henke drop, so I will look at them along with your notes to see if it's possible to do something similar.

[pressandclean]

Okay, Larry got me. I'm ready to convert the T-1200 and T-900 to accept dollar coins. Has anyone done that yet?

[Adamski]

Mike,

I had some Dexter T300 washers a few years back and was able to convert those to dollar coin only. I don't know what brand coin accepter they had though and I don't own those washers any more. I can tell you that the accepters had the face plate that was higher than it was wide and it was held in place with 4 tiny screws and nuts. The screw heads were visible on the exterior of the faceplace. Coins triggered a wire coin switch when accepted. Does that sound like your Henke coin drops?

[pressandclean]

Larry, the invoice said "Henke coin drops," but I looked inside the machine and there is a label on the drop that says "Munsprufer." So, I guess, the instuctions you gave me should get me most of the way converted. I will take it out this next week and have a closer look.

Thanks.

[Adamski]

Mike,

Okay. I've had pretty good luck converting the Munsprufer (or however you spell it) coin drops. All of the drops on my current batch of washers and dryers are Munsprufer brand. Good luck.