What to do with a jug full of coins?

Seth Johnston - March 13, 2023

Advice

For as far back as I can remember, I’ve been saving up coins inside one of those two-gallon water jugs with the hopes of adding it to my account later on. Now that I actually can do that, though, I’ve been hearing some conflicting stuff about what I should do with the coins. 

My Dad seems to believe the coins wouldn’t lose their value in a major financial crisis and tells me to keep them where they are, but I’m not so sure about that. However, with the bank situation getting a little more volatile in recent news I don’t want to lose anything I’ve saved over the past 16 years. 

So, what’re your recommendations?

5  

Watch out for fees associated with counting that money. Some places charge a 10% fee or something like that for changing to dollars. My bank charges no fee if deposited.

If there’s hyperinflation, coins will lose value just as fast as paper and are much heavier. I’ve heard the idea that coins will be worth at least as much as the metal they’re made of… Interesting idea but the metal is nearly worthless so that doesn’t really work.

It’s generally a good idea to keep some cash on hand in case you can’t access your bank account. That’s relevant for power outages, credit card system outages, and bank runs. The current situation looks like it will be resolved soon. But not a bad time to add $100 cash stockpile next to your two week supply of nonperishable food.

 

Okay cool that was going to be a follow-up question of how much cash I should have on hand. I was thinking maybe 100-200 dollars so that helps!

 

Like everything else, start small and take it slow. If your preps are causing problems for you, that’s too much.

$100 is a good starting point because it’s easy for most people and is enough to make a difference in most cases. Eventually, it’s good to work up to two weeks of expenses.

 

Turns out ThePrepared has a guide for how much money to keep in cash/savings/investment. I should have expected that! 😂

https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/guides/cash/

 

I would go through those dimes and quarters and see if you have any 1964 and earlier. Before 1965, they were actually 90% silver. After, the formula changed to just nickel and copper. So, quarters before the change are worth more, like $3+ instead of just .25 cents. It has also been speculated that, in the case of a major life-as-we-know-it event, that pre-1965 change could be used as currency.