A coin wrapper, also known as a bank roll or simply a roll, is a paper or plastic container designed to hold a specific number of coins. During 19th century, newly minted coins were collected in cloth bags. Initially, coin wrapping was a manual process. Since the onset of the 20th century, coin wrapping machines have been in use. The earliest patent for a coin wrapping machine was in 1901. By 1910, automatic coin counting machines were in use, which could reject counterfeit coins, wrap coins, and crimp the coin wrapper ends.
History
In the 19th century coins were collected in cloth bags after they were struck at the mint. Initially coin wrapping was done by hand.[1] In 1913 the Federal Reserve bank was created.[2] After the creation of the Federal Reserve, bags of coins were sent to the individual reserve banks. Each branch then put the coins into paper wrappers with tightly sealed ends. These rolls were called "Original Bank-Wrapped Rolls" (OBW). When other banks wrapped the coins they would print their bank name on the wrapper.[1]
Coin wrapping machines
1903 Coin Bunching Machine Drawing
On 22 June 1901 James Rice applied for a patent (number 720070) for what he called a "Coin Bunching Machine". The patent was issued on 10 February 1903. Rice described his invention by stating that it was a "efficient manner means for bunching together any preferred number of coins of a selected denomination and holding them in position whereby they may be very conveniently and expeditiously wrapped or covered with a paper jacket."[3]
On 9 November 1907 Erskine W Jennings applied for a patent on a machine he called "Coin Wrapper" which could crimp the ends of the coin rolls. On 3 August 1909 he was granted patent number 930,291. The machine was still not fully automatic.[4]
Automatic coin wrapping machines
By October 1908 the first fully automatic coin wrapping machine was created and a patented was applied for. The Automatic Coin-Wrapping Machine Company applied for a patent on the machine and it was granted October 1910: patent number #973335.[5] The applicant of record was Charles S. Batdorf; a man who applied for many coin related machine patents as early as his 1890 (Coin Operated Apparatus).[6] In 1908 he was granted patent number 358,670 for a "Spurious Coin Detector". A machine which he said could, "Provide a means whereby bogus, spurious or counterfeit coins will be rejected by the machine automatically even though they be of the same size as the genuine coins of the value for which the machine is designed to operate."[7]
By 1911 banks in the United States were using coin rolling machines. Some banks began to use standardized paper colors based on denomination. The machines were capable of culling counterfeit and damaged coins.[8]
Modern coin wrapping
In the United States, most banks offer empty rolls in every denomination (though it is becoming increasingly difficult for half dollar and dollar to be readily made available).
The rolls come flat and one side will have to be folded to allow for coins to be placed inside. When the roll is full, the top side will need to be folded. Typically, the full rolls are brought back to the banks in exchange for currency or to be deposited. The Royal Canadian Mint uses check weighers to verify the number of coins per roll.[9]
In the Eurozone, empty plastic rolls are used at banks in every denomination, with five-coin staggered rows. The five-coin rows and transparency make quick verification of contents possible, with a high degree of certainty. This results in less time spent processing coins, while the solidity and two-way closure system increase the number of times the coin roll can be used, effectively reducing its overall cost.
In Japan, machine-wrapped, plastic coin rolls are circulated almost exclusively, as handmade coin rolls are rare. Each roll holds 50 coins. Customers can change bills into coin rolls easily using automatic money changers at Japanese banks.
In the United Kingdom, coin rolls are not used. Instead, small plastic bags are provided free of charge at banks which are filled by the customer with the appropriate number of the same value coin as printed on the bag, with these bags also provided by banks when withdrawing amounts of money in coins. When depositing or changing, the bags are weighed at the bank to check they contain the right number.
Searching coin rolls
Often, coin collectors will ask for full rolls from the bank to search the contents in hopes of finding an interesting or valuable coin. Some collectors also save coins of bullion value, such as copper pennies and silverhalf-dollars. This practice is called coin roll hunting. It is also known as cherry picking. Full rolls are also requested by vendors to make change.[10] Some coin roll hunters look for mint-made errors such as double die coins. The error coins often have a high numismatic value to coin collectors.[11]
Bank rolls are vulnerable to a variety of scams, such as rolling slugs of no value or coins of a lesser value.[12] In 2018 a scammer in Canada hid washers in coin rolls which were supposed to contain two dollar coins.[13]
Currency: Bahamian dollar
The Bahamas has two different kinds of rolls with the same number of coins. One kind is distinguished by color, while the other is adorned with a light blue background with the Flag of the Bahamas. The rolls here are the ones distinguished by color.
Currency: Canadian dollar
Canadian coin rolls are very similar to American coin rolls, with the exception being that rolls for the half dollar do not exist while rolls for the toonie do.
Currency: CFP franc
Prior to 2021, French Polynesia and New Caledonia produced different coins under the same currency. Since December 1, 2022, these former coins and rolls they appeared in have been replaced by a new, single series of rolls and coinage.[15]
Currency: Sterling
The UK generally uses clear, reusable plastic bags in which a given quantity of coins is weighed. As the UK has traditionally relied on weight when counting coins, a conscious effort was made to ensure that the weight of 1p, 2p, 5p & 10p coins remained constant following the changes to their composition (from copper to copper-plated steel in 1992 for the 1p & 2p, and the 2008 change from copper-nickel to nickel-clad steel for the 5p & 10p coins). Relative densities of the respective metals meant that the thickness of the later coins was increased to maintain the coin's weight, thereby making coin rolls impractical; the differences in thicknesses are more notable in the 5p & 10p coins.
The proportional dimensions of pre-decimal coins continued past Decimal Day, meaning that the 2p and 10p coins weighed twice the 1p and 5p respectively; this correlation was continued when the 5p (1990) and 10p (1992) coins were reduced in size, leading to the situation that full bags of 1p and 2p coins, and 5p and 10p coins, have the same weight, and whilst banks discourage mixed coinage, it is possible to mix these denominations.
In the United States, it is also common for coin dealers and online bullion shops to produce their own rolls of pre-1965silver coinage for the purpose of selling them to customers; these rolls may be the same size and face value as those produced by banks, or may exist in half, full and double sizes.[16]
^"Coin Wrapper". petents.google. IFI Claims Patent Services. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^Annual Report: 1910 (1911). Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office USA Patent Office. 1911. p. 32. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^"Coin Operated Apparatus". patents.google. IFI Claims Patent Services. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^"Spurious-coin detector". patents.google. IFI Claims Patent Services. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^Johnson, Joseph French (1911). Modern Business: Banking. Alexander Hamilton Institute. p. 287. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
