Coin shortage prompts bank to pay you for spare change: ‘It has never happened before’

MILWAUKEE (FOX 6) - Do you have a jar of coins in your house? Maybe you have been saving for a special occasion? Well, a local bank says they will pay you for what’s inside that jar — plus interest!

“It has never happened before, it’s something new, and it’s interesting…I really didn`t expect coin shortage to be something we have to deal with,” said Neil Buchanan of Community State Bank.

A literal coin shortage has made it nearly impossible for some local businesses to deal with the hard currency.

“Families that would store up coin to go on vacation or something – they`re not going on vacation. So they`re probably sitting there with their coin,” Buchanan said.

But leave it to those who are savvy in business to find a way to make supply catch back up with demand.

“So what do we do, and we kicked around ideas, and said, ‘You know what, we’re buying it off the Fed. We might as well just pay our local people instead and kind of cut out the middle man sort of,'” Buchanan said.

In layman’s terms, Community State Bank is willing to pay you for the bag of coins you forgot about on the shelf — and they will pay interest too!

“We’re not going to charge you. In a matter of fact, we’re going to give you more for your coin,” Buchanan said. “It’s $5 for every $100 worth of coin brought in. So, for example, my parents brought in $218 in coin and they got $228 dollars back.”

This coin campaign started a little more than a week ago — and the coins are rolling in.

Bank executives say they cannot say with certainty when this campaign will end. CLICK HERE to learn more.