Singapore Expats

Curious what everyone does with spare coins they get from trips outside Singapore.

Over the years, I’ve been sorting them into these containers from Daiso.

I’d like to donate them to UNICEF but that is only available on airlines that I almost never fly.

They lie around in a box mixed with all other foreign coins. And then they start getting mixed up with the Singapore coins. Especially the Malaysian coins since we go often.... Inlaws in Malaysia. Then on the rare occasion that I try to pay for something in Singapore using cash, I find Malaysian coins popping up....

One big mess. Not quite the solution you were probably hoping for

I just deposited around $1k worth of Singapore coins into the coin deposit machine at DBS. The machine found (and rejected) many foreign coins.

Might be worth noting, I got a message on the machine that the coin deposit fee is being waived for valued customers like me. Not sure if it applies to everyone. They normally charge $1.80 per 100 coins… that saved me around $45.

A couple of dozen coins couldn’t be accepted by the machine for no apparent reason, but I can spend those easily.

I've got a small spittoon shaped copper bottomed Stainless steel pot sitting here full up to the brim with over 1K in 1$ & 50¢ coins I've been putting off depositing them into DBS due to the charges (unless depositing them in a child saving account-if that hasn't changed). I wonder what the criteria for 'valued customer' is..

sundaymorningstaple wrote: ↑

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 11:34 pm

I've got a small spittoon shaped copper bottomed Stainless steel pot sitting here full up to the brim with over 1K in 1$ & 50¢ coins I've been putting off depositing them into DBS due to the charges (unless depositing them in a child saving account-if that hasn't changed). I wonder what the criteria for 'valued customer' is..

The ATM informs you before you deposit the coins, so you could try the menu option to deposit and see what happens before you lug down the coins.

malcontent wrote: ↑

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 2:17 pm

Curious what everyone does with spare coins they get from trips outside Singapore.

Over the years, I’ve been sorting them into these containers from Daiso.

I’d like to donate them to UNICEF but that is only available on airlines that I almost never fly.

I did the same as you, except that I've put them in little purses...and I'll try to bring along on trips just to try to use them. Otherwise, it's always just kept in the cupboards..

sundaymorningstaple wrote: ↑

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 11:34 pm

I've got a small spittoon shaped copper bottomed Stainless steel pot sitting here full up to the brim with over 1K in 1$ & 50¢ coins I've been putting off depositing them into DBS due to the charges (unless depositing them in a child saving account-if that hasn't changed). I wonder what the criteria for 'valued customer' is..

One other option is to give them to the primary school-aged grandkid(s?) to use in the canteen.

There are donations boxes at some airports.

malcontent wrote: ↑

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 2:17 pm

Curious what everyone does with spare coins they get from trips outside Singapore.

Over the years, I’ve been sorting them into these containers from Daiso.

I’d like to donate them to UNICEF but that is only available on airlines that I almost never fly.

I like how you label the coins in their currencies, I think I could do that too..it's so useful..

Someone was saying there is a large glass foreign coin donation bin at Changi… I think I’ve seen it before. I might bring these coins to the airport on my flight out next week.

malcontent wrote: ↑

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 11:10 am

Someone was saying there is a large glass foreign coin donation bin at Changi… I think I’ve seen it before. I might bring these coins to the airport on my flight out next week.

Let us know how that goes.

I flew home on an airline with the UNICEF bags/buckets.

I was imagining some guy opening up his carry-on suitcase and dumping container after container of coins into the bag.

And then seeing the flight attendant's back give out when he/she tries to carry the bag away...

I arrived at Changi airport terminal 3 on Friday night juggling 3 x 23kg bags, 1 very overweight cabin and a couple of kg’s worth of various coins from 5 continents. After immigration (where they now seem to have perfected their new passport-free exit process), I proceeded to the info desk and they directed me to the Changi foundation foreign currency donation box. It’s no longer the glass bin I remembered, but a white bin tucked away in the corner with one slot to insert foreign currency, presumably notes or coins - the box didn’t say. As I started to drop the coins in, the box seemed rather empty, but I did hear my first coins hit a few existing coins at the bottom. For the next 5 minutes I proceeded to dump them all in, then I threw away the containers that housed them. It was a great feeling to be rid of these coins, and I hope their donation does some good.

These days one can travel to a lot of places without any local currency (just use a credit card everywhere).

In places where you have to use cash and get coins, I usually try to spend most of them and then just leave what remains on the table in the last restaurant I'm at (I've always disliked coins).

That being said, there are some places where the train/subway tickets are not whole numbers and you need some coins to get a ticket (otherwise, you'll get a bunch of coins back when the machine breaks a larger bill). In which case, I will usually save a few coins for the next trip.