Self-Checkout “Hack” Helps Coin Hoarders Avoid Coinstar Fees

If you’ve got a bunch of coins you’ve been collecting for a while and want to replace them for cash without going through the hassle of counting them all yourself and putting them in rolls to bring to the bank, then you’d probably use a CoinStar machine.

He begins his clip with footage of the other user’s “hack”: A self-checkout grocery store customer records themselves at one of these machines and writes in a text overlay of the video: “Who needs a Coinstar machine? You have a self-checkout!”

He narrates his actions in the video as he scans a bottle of Coca-Cola on the machine right after pointing out that the grocery store has a Coinstar machine just a few feet away: “You have a self-checkout?”

The shopper shows up a handful of coins and then tosses them into the coin feeder on the self-checkout machine. The device counts all of the coins he placed into the machine, which feed into it little by little.

He then brings up a prompt on the self-serve kiosk and presses a dialogue box. “All you do is hit cancel payment.” The machine then dispenses the amount of money he placed into the machine with cash instead.

The man shows off two fresh crisp bills, “Voila, no fee.”

The clip then cuts to Eric who applauds the man’s post, “That’s just genius. No fees, self-checkout fees are gonna be long.”

However, because Eric’s channel is dedicated to all things coins, he wasn’t just satisfied in highlighting the Coinstar-fee-skirting hack, but put in a tidbit of information for folks to look out for when they were at the grocery store: the Wilma Man Keller quarter.

He’s referring to a specific variant of the coin that has a “crack” running through the back of it, which, if found, could reel in those in possession of the coin some big bucks.

Eric says: “Do me one favor before you cash in your quarters — or put them into a self-checkout. Check to see if any of the quarters are from 2022.”

He goes on to explain to folks why they should carefully inspect these coins: “Then, turn it over and see if it’s the Wilma Man Keller design. Tons of those 2022 Wilma Man Keller quarters are in circulation.”

“Then it’s pretty simple, see if there’s a big crack going across the back of it. Too many people are making money on these so I had to share it with all of you.”

He then highlights various eBay listings that shows how much these particular coins are going for: “They’re selling for over $400, another one for $480, another one for $500, and one just sold a couple days ago for $535.”

There were some commenters who said that they choose to pay for their items at self-checkout lanes using nothing but their coins, bypassing the cash redemption altogether: “the target cashiers look at you funny when you pay 120.00 in quarters, nickels & dimes..”

And then there was someone else who said that they discovered they were in possession of one of these “cracked” coins: “I have one of those I found itbin my pocket yesterday and I just looked and it has the crack but idk where to sell it”

Another TikTok user said that it’s common practice for them to use coins first before placing cash for their goods in self-checkout machines: “I always empty my change into the self-checkout before my cash.”

What do you think of this “hack?” Have you long discovered this and have been enjoying the bounties of coin-paying/redeeming living without fees for quite some time? Or are you a more card/mobile payment kinda person yourself?