So, we all know how damned useless 1 yen and 5 yen coin are, right? Even vending machines won’t take them! What I’ve always done is build up a collection of them then dump them into my bank account. At least, that’s what I ***used*** to do, I don’t think I’ll bother now though.
Back when I lived in Saitama, I used Saitama Risona and I don’t recall there being much in the way of fees to this. And why should there be? The machine is doing all the work! But I’ve moved to Ibaraki since then, and now I use Japan Post. And just the other day, a noticed a strange double withdrawal of 330 yen, right around the time when I deposited some cash into 2 ATMs.
Yep! It turns out you get charged 330 yen to deposit cash into Japan Post ATMs! And since you’re only allowed to deposit 100 coins per transaction, this means that if you’re depositing largely 1, 5 and 10 yen coins, that means you’re only able to deposit around 400 yen total. So you lose well over **HALF** of what you deposit, thanks to these ridiculous fees. Also, to further twist the knife, Japan Post ATMs make you put the coins in a tiny slot, despite the machine having the ability to open up into a larger bucket, just like the Saitama Risona ATMs do.
Does anyone have a better solution to get rid of tiny, worthless coins? It’s not at all worth the effort to go to the ATM to deposit them, you might as well throw them out on non-burnables day.
33 comments
Just use them at 7 eleven automatic machines each time you go there. You can over pay with too many coins and they will give you back money in optimized change.
I’d also like to know what people do besides just paying with 1,000 1 yen coins at 7-11..
Why don’t you just use them when you buy stuff like everyone else?
> So, we all know how damned useless 1 yen and 5 yen coin are, right?
no? you can use them to pay for things. are you just breaking bills for every purchase because you are too lazy to count?
I just work out how to get decent change back. I rarely have more than about five one-yen coins in my wallet, and a similarly low number of 10’s. I’m hopeless at maths but this is really not hard to do.
I don’t really use cash in Japan anymore so I guess I rarely have this problem. You can avoid the huge pile of coins by using things like Suica or debit/credit card to pay. But I use up my smaller coins when I pay for things like my utility bills (cause I’m too lazy to set up automatic withdraw) or when I go to places that are cash only. This isn’t a big enough problem to get this angry over. If you have time to deposit them in your Japan Post account, then you have time to go to a convenience store and pay in coins.
But Japan Post ATMs have English language option, and you have to push OK button to get to the next screen, and the last screen before transaction explicitly states that there’s a 330 yen fee for coin withdrawal/deposit. There’s no fee if you use only banknotes.
I guess they introduced the fee exactly to prevent small coin dumps.
I don’t really have this problem anymore since I started paying for most things with Suica payments.
Furthermore whenever I buy something that is 120 yen, or 154 yen… It’s as simple as giving them my 200 yen, plus the extra yen coins (20 one yen coins, or 4 one yens for example) to round out the difference and get rounded change.
I find it very easy to get rid of the accumulated coins, you just have to be slightly proactive.
10 yen coins I use in drinks machines.
There’s a lot of places like Kurasushi that also have the automatic coin deposits, so I chuck them down there whenever I get the chance
But yes, jp post is dumb af. It’s 2023… ATMs shouldn’t need to charge you anything for a domestic transaction. ATMs in the UK don’t do it unless they’re privately owned ATMs out in the middle of nowhere.
> Does anyone have a better solution to get rid of tiny, worthless coins?
Yeah, when the bill at a convenience store ends with a digit numbering from 1 to 9 I use them?
You missed this happening in 2020-2021?
I mean just do what everyone else does and carry a coin purse and use the little automated coin counting machines at check out.
Now the ones who’re really getting screwed is charities who collect spare change.
If you’re really incapable doing maths with single digits to spend them, just start chucking them in the charity boxes at conbinis and McDonald’s and stuff.
Take them to the combini to donate in the little box at the register.
I used to have kilos of coins at home and would routinely need to go to the JP Post to deposit coins.
I then bought [this coin holder](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%90%BA%E5%B8%AF%E7%94%A8%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9B%E3%83%AB%E3%83%80%E3%83%BC-Olycism-%E5%B0%8F%E9%8A%AD%E3%81%AE%E6%95%B4%E7%90%86%E3%81%AB%E4%BE%BF%E5%88%A9-%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%92%E5%88%86%E9%A1%9E%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B-%E7%89%87%E6%89%8B%E3%81%A7%E5%8F%96%E3%82%8A%E5%87%BA%E3%81%9B/dp/B08H1Z62VT/ref=sr_1_5?crid=23BNWL5BN0MZK&keywords=coin+holder&qid=1702216313&sprefix=coin+holder%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-5)off of amazon. I barely have enough coins to fill it up. Convenience stores are good places drop your 1s and 5s into the machine (though don’t drop like 30 coins into the machine, cuz it’ll jam). But I just make it a game to try and spend the 5 1 yen coins if I have them.
EDIT: imagine this is like a weapon, and when you get home you reload it with your stock of coins. You will quickly get all your coins spent.
The just throw a couple of handfuls in while shopping. If I did an extra ¥250 for example I’d only get 3 coins back
My wife checked said it was 500 coin limit per day before they charged you at a typical bank. I have a coin bank and when it gets full I take them to the atm and it always comes in under the 500 limit but I mix in 10 yen coins… pain in the ass
Use any of the e-money/QR payment/Apple Pay/Google Pay/Credit Card available here. I don’t even use cash that often anymore.
I think some donkihote branches have a machine where, despite it being an obnoxious ply small coin slot, you can throw change in and add it to your Suica or other kind of card. I’m not sure about ibaraki but surely somewhere……
I just came back from overseas, had issues with cash back home and my cards not being set up as contactless, and tried to change up my foreign currency. Pppffftttt. Took me forever to deal with. And then they wouldn’t accept coins, only notes. So I’ve got several bags of coins now. SMH
” 330 yen ” is considered ”
# goddamned highway robbery!”?
Harshly put but needs to be said:
1) why aren’t you using them? It can actually be a fun game to see how much you can round up/down your pay so that you have less coins than before you paid. It’s like Puyo Puyo with money. Helps you practice quick calculus too. I literally never have more than 12 coins of any kind on me at a time because they’ll be mixed with bills to round it up.
2). Many konbini and supermarkets have automatic machines for this exact purpose. If they don’t have it in your side the staff definitely does. Not sure how this never occurred to you.
3). I think it’s about time you graduate from having the economic sensibilities of a teenager mowing lawns and stop using a toy bank like Japan Post, just sign up to a normal bank like SMBC, more accessible and you get credit and debit cards to go with it like, you know, a proper adult.
Just use them to charge your IC card???
I didn’t know about the 100 coin limit, maybe that explains why the machine spat everything back out when I tried 🤷🏻♂️😫
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the only other way I know to get rid of them is chucking them in the machine when I buy things at 7 eleven, and hope I get less out than I put in 🐸
With credit cards, pay pay and Suica I probably use cash 1-2x a month. Coins can be deposited in the ATM at Mitsubishi bank if you have an account. I throw any loose change I may have when I pass by
The rest of the world needs to do what Canada did and just stop producing pennies or the equivalent. No need for a ¥1 coin.
I just donate my ¥1 coins at the boxes next to the cashier in the convenience stores though.
When I pay cash I just make sure to pay the first digit if I have the small change.
Like if it’s 733 yen I might pay 1003.
If you do it diligently you should never have more than 4 1s, 10s and 100s and a single 5 50 and 500 at max. You can even separate the 1s and 5s for fast access and use the bigger coins at vending machines
I filled a 1 litre bottle with coins every few months. Dump them at 7/11 bcos thank god they have that option. 1 yen and 5 yen are nigh useless. I’m guessing that there is a huge population of 40+ users here, that’s why they prefer physical cash than paying with card.
How do you still collect so many coins in daily life transactions these days? I know there are still many cash-only merchants but as soon as I get coins, I’m dumping them on some poor kid at the combini or local super. I don’t think I’ve had more than 10 coins at one time since I went mostly cashless years ago.
If only supermarkets and convenience stores had self-service tills where you can use small coins. Wait!
There are Coinstar machines in Japan, which if you’ve never used one before, converts all your coins into larger bills for something like a 10% fee. I dump all my pocket change into a piggy bank when I get home at the end of every day and cash it in at the end of the year and use the money to buy Christmas presents. Anyway, you’ll lose some money, but you’re paying for the convenience.
I save all sorts of coins and every 2 years or so I just go to ATM machines in Mizuho bank and I dump them in my bank account one handful at a time. Sometimes it can take up to one hour and the guard becomes suspicious haha cause I fill like 2 or 3 ATM by doing this. But in the end it’s ~2000$ !
I just use my coins when making purchases. Seems like the obvious answer. Why don’t you do that?
As others have mentioned, 7-11 lets you dump your coins at checkout. As for cash, I like to let it burn a hole in my pocket.
The machine is just a metal box. There’s an OL inside who does the needful.
Why do you think these things stop working at closing time.
I’m with everyone else, if you have a huge stack of 1 and 5 yen coins then that just means you’ve never bothered to pay exact change.
Carry 3 or 4 1 yen coins and a 5 in your wallet. 5 tiny coins don’t take much space. The next time something comes to xxx7 yen, give them the 7 yen, or at least 2 (so you get a 5 in change). It’s not hard. If you do this you should never have more than 5 1s or 2 5s at any one time.
If you really don’t know how to count to 10 then just dump them all into the cash register at any supermarket or conbini – the machine will work out your change and give you any extra back in the minimum number of coins.
And if even that’s too hard, you can always just count them in advance then buy something you know the value of. Like, go buy a postage stamp, they’re 84 yen. Pay with a 50, 4 5s and 14 1s if you want.