send oneFIELD NOTES / 006 / YOUR JAR ·
What to Do With Your Pennies: Banks, Kiosks and Rare Ones
Every household has one. Very few have a plan.
The penny jar is an American institution with no exit strategy. The U.S. has stopped making new pennies, but every option that worked before still works. Some just cost more than others.
Quick answer: Spend them, since they are still legal tender. Deposit them at your bank, which may want them rolled. Use a credit union coin counter, which can be free for members. A Coinstar kiosk charges up to 15.9 percent plus up to $0.99 for cash, but most U.S. locations offer eGift cards at 0 percent. You can donate through a kiosk too. Check for rare dates first, and never melt them.
First, weigh the jar
Pennies made since 1982 are copper-plated zinc and weigh 2.5 grams each. The older bronze ones weigh 3.11 grams. So a pound of modern pennies is about 181 coins, or roughly $1.81.
Spend them
Treasury says pennies remain legal tender and keep their full value indefinitely. It also says the Federal Reserve will keep recirculating the roughly 114 billion pennies in existence for as long as possible, and that how long that lasts depends largely on consumer behavior. Your jar is, quite literally, part of the national penny supply.
In some places, a store cannot turn them away. New York City’s consumer protection department says businesses there may not refuse penny payments. The wider rules on who has to take cash are in is the penny still legal tender.
Deposit them at your bank
Banks still take pennies. Treasury’s guidance notes that some banks may ask for large quantities to be rolled or wrapped first, and suggests checking with your bank before you show up. That phone call is cheaper than carrying a heavy jar back to the car.
Try a credit union counter
Some credit unions run their own coin machines, and the fees can beat a grocery store kiosk. One example: as of October 2026, Houston Federal Credit Union’s page says its machines are free for members, with a 4 percent fee for members depositing into a business account, 5 percent for shared branch members, and 10 percent for non-members. That is one credit union’s policy. Yours may differ.
Feed a kiosk, and read the screen
Coinstar, the operator of the familiar coin kiosks, publishes its fees in its own help center. As of October 2026, it says fees vary by location and may include a service fee of up to 15.9 percent plus a transaction fee of up to $0.99 for coins to cash. It also says the applicable fees are shown before your transaction begins.
Here is what the maximum looks like. Say the jar holds $20 in pennies, about 2,000 coins and roughly 11 pounds. A 15.9 percent fee is $3.18. Add $0.99 and you walk away with $15.83.
The no-fee option is a gift card. Coinstar says most U.S. locations offer eGift card options with a 0 percent fee, though fees vary by retailer, brand and location.
Donate them
Coinstar kiosks also take charity donations. Its help center says you do not pay a fee, but Coinstar keeps a 10 percent processing fee from the donation for national charities and 7.5 percent for regional charities. If you would rather the whole amount reach the cause, roll the coins, deposit them, and give directly.
Look before you let go
Most pennies are worth one cent. A few are worth far more.
Wheat cents. Lincoln cents from 1909 through 1958 have two stalks of wheat on the back, which is where the name comes from. Sorting them out is a pleasant hobby. A current price guide or a reputable dealer can tell you whether a given date is worth more than its face value.
1909-S VDB. The famous key date of the series, struck in San Francisco with the designer’s initials on the back. NGC’s Jeff Garrett calls it one of the most counterfeited coins in any U.S. series, often made by adding an S or the initials to an ordinary 1909 cent. His advice is to buy only certified examples, which also tells you how to treat one you find: have it authenticated.
1943 cents. During World War II the Mint made cents from steel, according to the American Numismatic Association, to save copper for the war. Steel cents stick to a magnet, and more than a billion were made, so they are common. The rare ones are copper. Coin World reports that leftover 1942 planchets got mixed into 1943 production, that fifteen or more Philadelphia examples are believed to exist, and that one sold for more than $1 million in 2018.
Before you call your landlord, the ANA warns that steel cents get copper-plated and that 1948 cents get altered to look like 1943. Its suggestion is to have a dealer look at the date under magnification, and to send anything promising to a third-party grading service.
The specially marked last pennies that sold at auction in 2025 are covered in is the penny discontinued. They are not in your jar.
Do not melt them
Federal rules prohibit melting or exporting pennies, with narrow exceptions. The details, including the jewelry and novelty exception, are in the legal tender article. The coin cost the Mint more than a cent to make, as covered in how much it costs to make a penny, but that is not your problem to solve with a blowtorch.
Or send exactly one
There is one more option, and it uses exactly one penny. Chris is asking everyone on Earth to voluntarily send him one cent. The rest of the jar stays yours. The multiplication is on the math page, and the fine print is in the FAQ.
Keep the jar. Send one.
Not affiliated with the U.S. Mint, the U.S. Treasury or the Federal Reserve.
Sources: Treasury penny FAQs, Lincoln cent weights and wheat reverse dates, NYC DCWP on penny payments, Houston Federal Credit Union coin machines, Coinstar help center fees, NGC on the 1909-S VDB, American Numismatic Association on the 1943 cent, Coin World on the 1943 bronze cent, 31 CFR Part 82.
Meet the penny jar ↗By Chris. All articles