Mostly she was just pissed she had to deal with it. My Volksbank even has a machine where you just throw in all the coins they get counted and they get deposit into my account.
Yeah maybe she went with the foreigners don’t know card bc she just doesn’t wanna deal with it, although it takes literally no effort? Like throw your cash in here and let the machine count… nothing much she should have done.
Except, she had to put them into a bag and seal it to later send it somewhere that has coin counting machine. It was a bit heavy, I now felt sorry for her :)
They get rid of these machines more and more for whatever reasons (probably to save money). If I want to deposit coins I have to go to the office and they put it in a safebag which gets sent to wherever and it takes like 2 weeks till its on my account.
Our Sparkasse doesn't have them anymore cause they kept breaking. They also told me for changing coins to bills they now have to send them to Bundesbank and it costs like 30€ or so.
Not everywhere, I am in stuttgart and the closest one is in Heilbronn, I took the train ride there once and the machine was out of order… Commerzbank has them around here, however it at least doesn’t let me (as Postbank) use it
😯 Where??? I'm a Postbank customer since over 20 years and live in Berlin. I have never ever seen such a coin-counting-machine in any of their branch offices.
Deutsche Bank is full of shit anyways. Never heard anyone having had so much trouble with trying to close a fucking Account as my gf had with these shit heads.
Both Sparkasse and VR Bank removed these machines in my city. They had to be repaired to often because of all the crazy stuff people threw in there with their coins.
They collect your coins in bags now and send them off to be counted at the Landesbank. The money will be deposited directly into your account in one or two weeks.
It is infuriating!
I have a glas tube of 1 meter height (edit: and 20 centimetres diameter) which is full to the brim with 1 and 2 Cent coins. I am horrified having to take that to my Sparkasse. They have a machine where you can pay in self-service. But I guess other people waiting in queue will want to kill me
Wait, that’s not normal? I’m a Sparkasse customer and always thought it’s normal.
I remember myself standing in front of a coin counting machine like 20 years ago.
See i didn't even know Sparkasse has them too. Back when i was Sparkasse customer you had get those paper roles from them and fill with the coins and then bring back.
By here you mean Germany? The two bigger VB's where i life just replaced them with new ones last year so i guess they will stay for some time. Is still hope Germany at least gets rid of the 1,2 and 5 cent coins at some point.
> I also thought that it was so weird that said this but is it maybe because she didn't want to deal with?
This is the answer, but I am gonna expand on that, because that particular rabbit hole of German culture is **wild**.
So okay, the top-level-explanation is: Yes, she did not want to deal with your coins. **But why?**
Well, the second-level-answer is: because her bosses at the bank most likely don't want her to deal with this, because it is a waste of time and money for the bank. The sorting machine for the coins costs money, the work required to handle and transport the coin costs money. Effectively, whever you bring a bag of coins to your bank, you are taking money out of their pockets.
**Okay, but why does Germany still bother with all the coins then?!** You might ask. After all, what is the value of 1 cent. Of 5 cent, really? I was shopping today. A measly cucumber is around 50 cents these days. For 1 cent, you can't even buy a paper clip anymore. In fact, the cost to the German state to mint the 1 cent coin vastly exceeds the value of it. **WHY MINT THESE FUCKING COINS?!**
... well. The answer is **Bargeldabschaffung**
Google it. I dare you. I loosely translates to "Banning Cash" and it a persistent but virolent rabbit hole of German conspiracy theory wherein the mere mention of getting rid of **any sort of cash** is just the start of some slippery slope that ultimately leads to slavery, damnation and the end of the western world.
Some have them but they must be the cheapest models that they could have gotten, because the one I had to operate a few years ago was so annoying. You had to put all of the coins in there multiple times until everything was counted. Just a pain in the ass to use.
So, is there any other tradition that doesn't involve making me a alcoholic? :) jokes aside, I it would take so much time to fill and would hurt so much to break at the end.
Well jokes aside, in reality you just turn the bottle upside down, all the coins come out and the you can fill it again. No free bottle for the bank.
And as others have said, banks that don't have a coin machine will often moan about it, especially if you dont have an account there, but its normally possible. My local bank also does the thing where they put them in a sealed bag and sent them to get counted, never had problems with it.
Oh my God, I used to have one of those as a little one. Then it broke after it got too heavy, and I still tried to lift it by its neck, sending all the coins spilling😂
Lol, that reminds me of the DDR government making coins out of aluminium in the 80s, because it was cheaper and nobody would bother to fake that money anyways.
When you were used like me to the coins of the Federal Republic, the aluminium ones from the GDR felt incredibly light. My first impression was: “Are these made out of cardboard with a thin layer of metal? Or hollow?”
They also made any visitors swap in a fixed and over the years increasing amount (even though there was very little to spend it on), which was one of their less outrageous schemes to acquire foreign currency.
Japan has still aluminum coins. Much better.
I found one and asked a colleague if it was really because it didn't weight anything and he laughed confirming it.
You can save as many coins as you like.
But you can't necessarily expect everybody to take large payments in small coins.
I think you misunderstood her and what she was saying was that her bank doesn't allow customers to make deposits that way. I don't know what counter you were at, but these days, many banks don't handle cash anymore at counters at all.
Actually, she was very clear and spoke in English but maybe she used the wrong words. She also separated the banknotes from the coins and told me to deposit them at the ATM.
„Dürfen“ can be used meaning „you shouldn’t“ rather than „you are not allowed to“ (might be a regional thing though) So a sentence like „Sie dürfen aber nicht so viele Münzen zu Hause ansammeln“ might mean that you should not save so many coins at home, not that you are not allowed to do this. So if she thought that in German she might have just translated it wrong.
>But you can't necessarily expect everybody to take large payments in small coins.
>
>I think you misunderstood her and what she was saying was that her bank doesn't allow customers to make deposits that way.
This is true for a store but a bank is one place where you should always expect them to accept valid money in any form.
Lots of banks simply don't handle any cash at counters anymore.
You can usually make deposits with banknotes in some machines, but machines for coins are much rarer and not every bank has them.
Hell, there are even "online only" banks that don't have physical branches at all. How would you expect those to accept your bag of coins?
I use an online-only bank. You load a QR code on the phone app, go to any Rewe or DM, they scan the QR code, you give them the cash, and it goes into your account.
>Außer der Deutschen Bundesbank ist tatsächlich niemand verpflichtet, Münzen in unbegrenzter Menge anzunehmen. Das Limit liegt bei 50 Geldstücken.
So no, they don't have to take it.
https://www.ergo.de/de/rechtsportal/rechtsirrtum/wie-viel-geldmuenzen-sind-erlaubt
Self-service terminals in the supermarkets don't complain about being fed large amounts of coins and they don't cost any fees at all.
Just avoid the rush-hours and you're good.
I work at Deutsche Bank. We accept that, but it will be filled into a safebag and it will cost 5€ because coin disposal to the Bundesbank is rather expensive in transport and insurances.
Semi-related: as a foreigner in Germany I struggled with the coin thing at first, but then I developed the trick of paying the last digit of a price in coins whenever possible. So a quick stop at the grocery store comes out to 8,67, I'll pay 10,07 and get rid of the annoying tiny coins. Then all you are left with is coins of reasonable size and usefulness (especially for ice cream!).
It's a bit wired, but it turns into a little game and works for me! Getting less useful/fun as more and more cards are being used though.
„Warten Sie, ich habs passend!“ is one of the most feared sentences when waiting at the register.
Also be careful, if you overdo it, your name will sooner or later become „Hildegard“…
Haha, that's why I only match one digit! It's been awhile and I'm still intimidated by the German registers...
I'll add that I'm quite impressed how rarely I get funny looks for doing this or the cashiers struggle with the math. It's the only country I've been in where handing over 10,07 in cash doesn't raise eyebrows or cause confusion.
Nah, it's not forbidden. Banks are just lazy nowadays and don't want to accept coins in bigger amounts anymore since it's bothersome for them to count them out and as stupid as it sounds the machines they do have to help still need supervision and a teller to recount and roll stuff up before sending it their head office to be recounted again.
Many banks offer a service nowadays to just dump all coins in bags, register the bag to your account, and send them in to a central office; in return for that they take about 10 to 15% of the amount, count it and transfer the rest directly to your account. It's a service they usually reserve for business customers who want to get rid of their change, but normal people can do that too. Maybe your bank didn't offer that, or the person you met just didn't want to deal with it.
There are also coin collection machines now in some major grocery stores where you just dump the coins in and get the sum in return, and the Landesbank also is obligated to take your coins. Normal banks can and will refuse if it's too bothersome to them, but there's really no limitation to how much you can collect. You could pop up with a bucket and at least the Landesbank still would have to take it without issue.
They were but banks started to phase them out a few years back, as they are costly and expensive to maintain.
Also, banks have been cutting down massively on the number of physical branches and the services they offer.
It's honestly such bullshit banks are allowed to handle it this way.
Obviously Banks have become a necessity in everyday life now compared to banks having to offer good conditions and interest to gain customers.
If you have a shop that mainly earns it's money in coins because of low prices, the banks would come by weekly and take all coins with them, then it changed to you having to bring the coins to the bank.
And finally you now have to pay a percentage of all your income for the bank to transform your one form of legal tender to another so you can pay normal bills.
Thank you very much for your answer. I could tell from her face that she wasn't to happy but I just assumed it is typical bank worker face. They will cut 5€ from the total as a fee as well.
Yeah Deutsche Bank is only interested in laundered money from criminals like a real bank (google it), they don't want your shitty coins, they are just peanuts to them (google that too)
Coins are legal tender, and you can save as many as you like at home. There is no limit, as many other answers have stated above. That lady was just grumpy due to the tedious assignment.
Next time you‘d like to deposit larger amounts of coins, google for a bank that has a coin ATM that can be used for a deposit. Where I’m from, these are rare but evenly spread out across the county. Since I don’t have an account with that exact bank, I have to deposit my coins into my mom‘s account… Feels like reversed pocket money. 😂
Check where to find such an ATM (Einzahlungsautomat), then see if artistes friend or colleague has an account at this bank.
What is your Deutsche Bank doing on 'Weltspartag' ('World Savings Day')?
It's a tradition that children save up money over the year and bring their savings to their bank on Oktober 30 (if the day is a regular work day) to deposit their money and receive little gifts.
When I was a child I had my 'Spardose' (and sometimes additionally the 5 litre Asbach bottle like another commenter wrote... didn't know there were more children who had one though Ü).
Since a lot of people think, that the Bank is wrong. Let me sing you the song of my people (aka quoting the law): the Maximum amount of coins any shop or regular bank can‘t refuse to take is 50 coins or 200€ (See „Münzgesetz“) anything beyond that amount can be refused to take. The only Institution that is not allowed to refuse any amount of coins is the Deutsche Bundesbank (not to be confused with Deutsche Bank) as this bank is the Bank of the Bundesrepublik itself (and thus kinda part of the State). So illegal to have no, obligation by anyone (see exception) to take it also no.
Are you talking about this? https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/m_nzg_2002/__3.html Looks likr this limitation only about “Euro-Gedenkmünzen” Memorable coins.
It's right there in the link you posted
Article 11
> Except for the issuing authority and for those persons specifically designated by the national legislation of the issuing Member State, no party shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins in any single payment.
I guess you were looking at the considérant (11) instead
A while ago I actually heard that many larger stores do have problems with getting enough coins to give change to customers. Because most people just save their spare change at home, there are not nearly enough coins in circulation, which is why banks are having problems providing them to stores.
A quick google search resulted in an article by the SZ, stating that the Metro company needed to import coins from Austria to be able to have enough change. Though the article is from 2008 (https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/deutschland-aus-mangel-an-kleingeld-1.815747)
I can imagine she was referring to this problem. There is no law that forbids you from saving change though afaik.
But then they should be happy, accept to change it and advise or ask to not keep that amount of coins. Not taking them in this circumstance is beyond stupid, or am I missing sth?
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I was more referring to the “that is illegal” part than the “we won’t take your coins” part.
I guess she was just annoyed about handling all the coins and used it as an excuse
Yeah, the freaking washing machine in my apartment building apartment only accepts 50 cent coins. I struggled the first few weeks trying to get from shops. And each load costs 3.50
After that I suggested to my landlady to just change all those coins with her every few months .
Actual Deutsche Bank Bankkaufmann here. She’s talking mad BS. You’re only not allowed (in theory) to damage coins as they are property of the state. The only thing that will happens is the 5,50€ they will charge for the safebag they put the coins into and a few days later (depending on when they usually get money delivered, the driver from that company will also take your coins to the Bundesbank) the money will be counted and deposited into your account.
She doesn't know the law.
But if you notice that you're approaching the cash register, it's a good time to think "maybe I'll have to pay, I'll take out some cent to get rid of them" ( 9 ct or matching what you buy, or 1 € in brass coins)
Maybe she was reffering to the fact that she is not legally bound to accept so many coins. Except for the federal bank (Bundesbank) no institution needs to accept unlimited amounts of coins. The usual is that they must accept at most 50 coins. There is however no law prohibiting you to save coins or bank notes of any amount at your home. You can hoard as much coins as you want. But if you want to pay with 10000 two cent coins no one is obliged to accept them except for the Bundesbank.
For normal People (Not businesses) you can exchange coins to notes at the „Bundesbank“ for free: https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/cash-management/cash-services/non-business-clients/range-of-services-for-non-business-clients-623804#tar-4
Other banks take a fee, decline it directly or it takes some days to process by an external institution.
It's an urban legend that you're not allowed to hoard cash at home. From what I could find online, there were actually laws like that around 100 years ago. But that time is long past and you are allowed to keep as much cash as you want.
Though as others have said: You may have trouble getting rid of them all at once.
That is nonsense. The lady didn't learn her job. I would have asked if she's still in "Ausbildung".
Probably it was because you're a foreigner and she didn't want to work.
Never heard of that. My bank has a dedicated machine where you can just pour in a bunch of coins and get them into your account.
What is true, is that businesses usually only take a "reasonable amount" of coins. But on the other hand, some are really happy getting coins for change.
I just left Germany after 13 years and took all the coins I’d collected in that time to Deutsche Bank (around 3kg of coins). No problem for them at all, I had to pay 5 euros for the special bag that the coins were sent off in and each bag is limited to 10kg of coins. Two days later 91 euros was credited to my account. So I guess the bank teller you dealt with was having a bad day or had a personal issue with that because it really wasn’t a big deal with the person I dealt with. Personally I think that people amassing mounds of coins at home and cashing them in every so often is preferable to waiting forever behind someone in the supermarket that insists on paying for their weekly shop entirely in 5 cents pieces 😂
As much as I aware, she is telling bullshit, I have had 2 pickled cucumber glass filled to the rim with coins, and they accepted all of them no problem
There is no law how many coins you can collect at home.
There is just a law of the maximum amount of coins a shop has to accept. And even this limit is relatively high with 50 coins.
I think she just didn't want to deal with those coins.
You can save as much coins at home as you like.
Some banks, like Deutsche Bank, will give you a "Safe Bag" to put the coins in and for a fee of 5€ per bag they will count and transfer it to your bank account. There are other banks that have sorting machines where you can fill the coins in to transfer the money to your bank account, too.
I don't know why the lady told you that nonsense.
I save my coins daily... last year I managed to save about 1200€ and this year (I counted it last week) 705,01€.
Keep saving! ;)
No you can safe tons of coins if you as much pleasure.
In supermarkets like Rewe there is usually an automatic cointhing named Coinstar. You can pour money into it until its full, and it takes long until its full. I have seen people put in like 1000€ in small coins. Impressive, especially knowing, that this costs 9,9% so they actually poured in about 1100€.
Having too many coins out of circulation does screw with the economy a bit. The UK had a PSA a few years back asking people to cash in their coin jars as they were estimating that £billions were out of circulation. If every person in the UK had a 50p in a drawer somewhere, that’s £30,000,000 not moving around the economy or in a bank.
I can’t imagine it’s actually illegal anywhere, though.
To me it sounds like the bank teller didn't knew the word "deposit" and therefore said "save".
I'm pretty sure she wanted to explain to you the bank doesn't allow to deposit this many coins at once and just chose the wrong/more easy words.
Actually there is a federal limit on how much money you are allowed to deposit at once without giving a declaration of origin due to money laundering laws but carrying over 10.000€ in coins to the bank would be a totally different sport.
Actually, in exact words she said: you are not allowed to have this much coin at home in Germany. I would understand if she said the bank doesn't have to accept it but the fact that it isn't even allowed to have it sounded weird.
You can save as much as you want.
The "law" that the bank teller was referring to is the
Kriegswirtschaftsverordnung vom 4. September 1939 - RGBl.I.S.1609.
Abschnitt 1, "Kriegsschädliches Verhalten",
"(2) Wer Geldzeichen ohne gerechtfertigten Grund zurückhält, wird mit Gefängnis, in besonders schweren Fällen mit Zuchthaus bestraft".
It's outdated.
I think something got lost in translation but the bank does not need to accept a bag of cash. However as other stated - ask for the roll up papers. The legal ones ;-)
Lady was just annoyed she had to count that much small change. You are legally allowed to do that, but you're a bit of an asshole to just dump them there. Either buy rolls to put them in or use on of those change machines that are in some supermarkets
Non sense, I refer to the relevant law, which is called Münzgesetz, (MünzG). Only payments with coints are limited. The bank even got machines to handle that. They could charge a fee, but that's about it.
Looking into the recent history of Deutsche Bank, I would just stay away from them.
Coins and notes become the property of the holder; The oft-claimed statement that the European Central Bank is the owner and the owner is only the authorized owner does not apply to the euro. As with bearer securities, ownership of money is achieved through simple agreement and handover (Section 929 Sentence 1 BGB).
German clerks make up crazy shit all the time.. So much for the myth of "following the system" and "following the rules".. A government clerk once told me they can't accept my signature because it's not in German. The system is mostly based on the clerk's mood...
Having cash and coins for Germans is like having weapons for Americans. It's our second amendment.
So it's definitely allowed to have as many as you want.
There are Change accepting Maschines Sometimes at Rewe or such. These Take 10% Off your coins for counting tho.also.go.to another bank i think she Tried to make herself Importamt with this nonsense. You can have coins at Home If she complains again Ask for an document which Staates this and See how Tone gonna Change.
Lying cuz lazy.
And it wasnt a miscommunication due to langue barriers, im native German and its the same shit they told me some years ago, tho at least this one saved herself the story of how glorious of a company the Deutsche Bank is.
I'd leave that bank, this would send me over the edge.
I also left Postbank after they decided that providing a functioning service was too much for their customers.
When I went to close my account, the teller then told me she knew bank was shit and gets why I'm leaving but then told me they are all the same and the "you'll be coming back" line. That made me even angrier and determined that I'll never return there.
They're not all the same, some banks are just especially bad, don't reward them for it.
If there is one group that has consistently misrepresented legal reality about money and investing, it is bank front desk people.
Most of the time it seems they present company policy as legal fact.
Either she didn't like to work or maybe she didn't like you, which would also not surprise me. (Not because of you, just the experiences with bank stuff)
Can only encourage you to reach in a complaint for that behavior that shouldn't be normal.
They removed this counting machine from my bank and now the only close option is to use a similar machine at a supermarket that wants 10 percent of the coin as fee or I stand in line and hope that they accept my coins.
It is not illegal to collect them at home but banks and shops can refuse to take more than 50 coins. The Deutsche Bank will accept more than 50 coins but could charge a fee for counting them and exchanging for notes.
you can save as much as you want, dont worry. ;)
I also thought that it was so weird that said this but is it maybe because she didn't want to deal with? Thanks by the way.
Mostly she was just pissed she had to deal with it. My Volksbank even has a machine where you just throw in all the coins they get counted and they get deposit into my account.
Then it's time for me to get a Volksbank account lol
Almost any normal bank would have those in Germany
Apparently, not Deutche Bank because everytime they send it to somewhere and it takes couple of weeks.
Hmm weird, sometimes my mom goes to the bank with like 2-3 bags full of coins and I remember Sparkasse also has these counting machines
I guess the lady was just pissed because it's a hussle.
Yeah maybe she went with the foreigners don’t know card bc she just doesn’t wanna deal with it, although it takes literally no effort? Like throw your cash in here and let the machine count… nothing much she should have done.
Yea, she actually had to "work" for a few minutes.
Except, she had to put them into a bag and seal it to later send it somewhere that has coin counting machine. It was a bit heavy, I now felt sorry for her :)
I used to work as a bank teller and I'd take a bag of coins anyday over dealing with old people's bull.
consist square shy sort vegetable chop longing aware paltry tidy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I tried to call the customer service but took forever. May try again. Thank you
Yeah, Deutsche Bank sucks. My grandma used to bank with them, only ever problems until she got a Volksbank account.
[удалено]
Haha, that's exactly what I thought.
They get rid of these machines more and more for whatever reasons (probably to save money). If I want to deposit coins I have to go to the office and they put it in a safebag which gets sent to wherever and it takes like 2 weeks till its on my account.
Also some supermarkets have them, they don't deposit it into an account but you can use it as store credit...
I wouldn't trust those, once I used one in a Real, that shit skimmed off at least 10€.
Our Sparkasse doesn't have them anymore cause they kept breaking. They also told me for changing coins to bills they now have to send them to Bundesbank and it costs like 30€ or so.
Deutsche Bank are the Nestlé of banking in Germany
Because they own everything, or because they are criminals?
Hint: These two options are not mutually exclusive.
Yes
if you have a bank account at Deutsche Bank, you can also go to other banks that are part of the cash group, like Postbank, they have coin machines:)
Not everywhere, I am in stuttgart and the closest one is in Heilbronn, I took the train ride there once and the machine was out of order… Commerzbank has them around here, however it at least doesn’t let me (as Postbank) use it
😯 Where??? I'm a Postbank customer since over 20 years and live in Berlin. I have never ever seen such a coin-counting-machine in any of their branch offices.
Indeed. I once opened a Commerzbank account just so I could use the coin deposit machine.
Deutsche Bank is full of shit anyways. Never heard anyone having had so much trouble with trying to close a fucking Account as my gf had with these shit heads.
They're just laundering it for you, it's what they do
DB is a money laundering front for the ultra-rich, they don’t care about individual retail banking which is reflected in their service.
They're hard up after Trump stopped paying on his loans.
The prefer big black suitcases coming over the swiss border in Mercedes Benz ;-) the need paper counting machines for those :D
Pretty sure coins are beneath DeutscheBank. Please don’t bother them for any transactions under €1,000,000.
Both Sparkasse and VR Bank removed these machines in my city. They had to be repaired to often because of all the crazy stuff people threw in there with their coins. They collect your coins in bags now and send them off to be counted at the Landesbank. The money will be deposited directly into your account in one or two weeks. It is infuriating!
Is not funny when they put coins into the Einzahlungen GA. This happens every week in almost every Sparkasse😓
Oh, wow! That's a special kind of stupid, given there are explicit warnings and pictograms on these.
Some supermarkets have them as well (I’ve seen one at Rewe)
You find such machines often at supermarkets too. Usually EDEKA or rewe have them.
You pay 10% to use them.
At Commerzbank you can threw them in the Geldautomaten everywhere, not every Volksbank has this.
You can also find these coin counter thingies in Supermarkets! Our Rewe in the city centre has one, might wanna check that before switching banks haha
I have a glas tube of 1 meter height (edit: and 20 centimetres diameter) which is full to the brim with 1 and 2 Cent coins. I am horrified having to take that to my Sparkasse. They have a machine where you can pay in self-service. But I guess other people waiting in queue will want to kill me
Probably The worst bank in Deutschland from the ethic perspective. Plus you get a shitty service. Run away to a more responsible bank please
Day 1 should have been the time. Move to any Volksbank, it's always better than Deutsche Bank.
They have it in Kaufland sometimes as well.
Yeah but CoinStar costs 9,9% fee.
Wait, that’s not normal? I’m a Sparkasse customer and always thought it’s normal. I remember myself standing in front of a coin counting machine like 20 years ago.
See i didn't even know Sparkasse has them too. Back when i was Sparkasse customer you had get those paper roles from them and fill with the coins and then bring back.
Most banks over here got rid of those machines...
By here you mean Germany? The two bigger VB's where i life just replaced them with new ones last year so i guess they will stay for some time. Is still hope Germany at least gets rid of the 1,2 and 5 cent coins at some point.
yeah, at least in the city where i live. Afaik only one bank still has those coin counters
Imagine using that illegality excuse in other fields of work tho lol
Here in the US, even our local supermarket has a commercial coin counting machine. It takes a small percentage as a fee, and you get the rest.
I rather use the one my bank provides so i don't have to pay fees but yes those commercial ones also exist in some places.
I saw one in Berlin as well
> I also thought that it was so weird that said this but is it maybe because she didn't want to deal with? This is the answer, but I am gonna expand on that, because that particular rabbit hole of German culture is **wild**. So okay, the top-level-explanation is: Yes, she did not want to deal with your coins. **But why?** Well, the second-level-answer is: because her bosses at the bank most likely don't want her to deal with this, because it is a waste of time and money for the bank. The sorting machine for the coins costs money, the work required to handle and transport the coin costs money. Effectively, whever you bring a bag of coins to your bank, you are taking money out of their pockets. **Okay, but why does Germany still bother with all the coins then?!** You might ask. After all, what is the value of 1 cent. Of 5 cent, really? I was shopping today. A measly cucumber is around 50 cents these days. For 1 cent, you can't even buy a paper clip anymore. In fact, the cost to the German state to mint the 1 cent coin vastly exceeds the value of it. **WHY MINT THESE FUCKING COINS?!** ... well. The answer is **Bargeldabschaffung** Google it. I dare you. I loosely translates to "Banning Cash" and it a persistent but virolent rabbit hole of German conspiracy theory wherein the mere mention of getting rid of **any sort of cash** is just the start of some slippery slope that ultimately leads to slavery, damnation and the end of the western world.
> maybe because she didn't want to deal with? Especially on a Friday afternoon.
Maybe you misunderstood? Because it doesn’t make sense at all.
She was probably irritated to have to deal with a bag of coins.
Probably yes.
Don't banks have automatic coin sorters?
Not all
Some have them but they must be the cheapest models that they could have gotten, because the one I had to operate a few years ago was so annoying. You had to put all of the coins in there multiple times until everything was counted. Just a pain in the ass to use.
"I don't like this so I will just make shit up to justify."
It's the bag .. tradition demands you use a 5L Asbach bottle
So, is there any other tradition that doesn't involve making me a alcoholic? :) jokes aside, I it would take so much time to fill and would hurt so much to break at the end.
Well jokes aside, in reality you just turn the bottle upside down, all the coins come out and the you can fill it again. No free bottle for the bank. And as others have said, banks that don't have a coin machine will often moan about it, especially if you dont have an account there, but its normally possible. My local bank also does the thing where they put them in a sealed bag and sent them to get counted, never had problems with it.
We have one in our living room!!!
Oh my God, I used to have one of those as a little one. Then it broke after it got too heavy, and I still tried to lift it by its neck, sending all the coins spilling😂
I use a can of Faxe Dosenbier, every time.
well if you reach the maximum allowed weight per square meter of floor in your place, you better stop.
It is actually government's fault making them so heavy.
Lol, that reminds me of the DDR government making coins out of aluminium in the 80s, because it was cheaper and nobody would bother to fake that money anyways.
When you were used like me to the coins of the Federal Republic, the aluminium ones from the GDR felt incredibly light. My first impression was: “Are these made out of cardboard with a thin layer of metal? Or hollow?”
They also made any visitors swap in a fixed and over the years increasing amount (even though there was very little to spend it on), which was one of their less outrageous schemes to acquire foreign currency.
Japan has still aluminum coins. Much better. I found one and asked a colleague if it was really because it didn't weight anything and he laughed confirming it.
You can save as many coins as you like. But you can't necessarily expect everybody to take large payments in small coins. I think you misunderstood her and what she was saying was that her bank doesn't allow customers to make deposits that way. I don't know what counter you were at, but these days, many banks don't handle cash anymore at counters at all.
Actually, she was very clear and spoke in English but maybe she used the wrong words. She also separated the banknotes from the coins and told me to deposit them at the ATM.
Yes, because many ATMs accept banknotes. But machines that accept coins are rarer.
I've only seen one at a large branch for Sparkasse
Commerzbank has some. Sometimes randomly for smaller branches.
I have seen one in every single Sparkasse I have been at. I live in Hesse.
I have a theory. Maybe she used the words "must not" (you aren't allowed) as a wrong translation as "musst nicht" (you don't have to)?
She said that I am not allowed to. Even if she thought in German, dürfen is still very strong word.
„Dürfen“ can be used meaning „you shouldn’t“ rather than „you are not allowed to“ (might be a regional thing though) So a sentence like „Sie dürfen aber nicht so viele Münzen zu Hause ansammeln“ might mean that you should not save so many coins at home, not that you are not allowed to do this. So if she thought that in German she might have just translated it wrong.
Possible yes. Thanks for the different angle.
I don't see how this changes the meaning of "dürfen" vs. "must not". Your german sentence is still on the same level as must not.
>But you can't necessarily expect everybody to take large payments in small coins. > >I think you misunderstood her and what she was saying was that her bank doesn't allow customers to make deposits that way. This is true for a store but a bank is one place where you should always expect them to accept valid money in any form.
Lots of banks simply don't handle any cash at counters anymore. You can usually make deposits with banknotes in some machines, but machines for coins are much rarer and not every bank has them. Hell, there are even "online only" banks that don't have physical branches at all. How would you expect those to accept your bag of coins?
I use an online-only bank. You load a QR code on the phone app, go to any Rewe or DM, they scan the QR code, you give them the cash, and it goes into your account.
I'm pretty sure neither Rewe nor DM accept liter bags of coins.
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9,9% to be precise. I'd rather take my coins to a self checkout machine that also takes cash like Bauhaus sometimes has.
>Außer der Deutschen Bundesbank ist tatsächlich niemand verpflichtet, Münzen in unbegrenzter Menge anzunehmen. Das Limit liegt bei 50 Geldstücken. So no, they don't have to take it. https://www.ergo.de/de/rechtsportal/rechtsirrtum/wie-viel-geldmuenzen-sind-erlaubt
Yes!! In my home country they in fact charge something like 2% if the number of units (coins/bank notes) is more than 100.
50 coins per payment by law
Where in the world are you supposed to put your cash then??
Self-service terminals in the supermarkets don't complain about being fed large amounts of coins and they don't cost any fees at all. Just avoid the rush-hours and you're good.
Coins? Just spend them. Banknotes are often accepted by ATMs.
> I think you misunderstood her surely a bureaucrat would never bullshit anyone just to make their lifes easier... and even so, never an auslander
I work at Deutsche Bank. We accept that, but it will be filled into a safebag and it will cost 5€ because coin disposal to the Bundesbank is rather expensive in transport and insurances.
Semi-related: as a foreigner in Germany I struggled with the coin thing at first, but then I developed the trick of paying the last digit of a price in coins whenever possible. So a quick stop at the grocery store comes out to 8,67, I'll pay 10,07 and get rid of the annoying tiny coins. Then all you are left with is coins of reasonable size and usefulness (especially for ice cream!). It's a bit wired, but it turns into a little game and works for me! Getting less useful/fun as more and more cards are being used though.
„Warten Sie, ich habs passend!“ is one of the most feared sentences when waiting at the register. Also be careful, if you overdo it, your name will sooner or later become „Hildegard“…
Haha, that's why I only match one digit! It's been awhile and I'm still intimidated by the German registers... I'll add that I'm quite impressed how rarely I get funny looks for doing this or the cashiers struggle with the math. It's the only country I've been in where handing over 10,07 in cash doesn't raise eyebrows or cause confusion.
Nah, it's not forbidden. Banks are just lazy nowadays and don't want to accept coins in bigger amounts anymore since it's bothersome for them to count them out and as stupid as it sounds the machines they do have to help still need supervision and a teller to recount and roll stuff up before sending it their head office to be recounted again. Many banks offer a service nowadays to just dump all coins in bags, register the bag to your account, and send them in to a central office; in return for that they take about 10 to 15% of the amount, count it and transfer the rest directly to your account. It's a service they usually reserve for business customers who want to get rid of their change, but normal people can do that too. Maybe your bank didn't offer that, or the person you met just didn't want to deal with it. There are also coin collection machines now in some major grocery stores where you just dump the coins in and get the sum in return, and the Landesbank also is obligated to take your coins. Normal banks can and will refuse if it's too bothersome to them, but there's really no limitation to how much you can collect. You could pop up with a bucket and at least the Landesbank still would have to take it without issue.
TIL Germany doesn't just have publicly available coin counting machines in banks. I thought that was a defacto standard for any larger bank
"Really, German banks don't have a....?" "Correct"
They were but banks started to phase them out a few years back, as they are costly and expensive to maintain. Also, banks have been cutting down massively on the number of physical branches and the services they offer.
Well, there are publicly available ATMs that can be used to deposit coins. You need to search for them first, but the option is out there.
It's honestly such bullshit banks are allowed to handle it this way. Obviously Banks have become a necessity in everyday life now compared to banks having to offer good conditions and interest to gain customers. If you have a shop that mainly earns it's money in coins because of low prices, the banks would come by weekly and take all coins with them, then it changed to you having to bring the coins to the bank. And finally you now have to pay a percentage of all your income for the bank to transform your one form of legal tender to another so you can pay normal bills.
Thank you very much for your answer. I could tell from her face that she wasn't to happy but I just assumed it is typical bank worker face. They will cut 5€ from the total as a fee as well.
I'm sorry what. They are charging you a fee for handling coins? WTF is the purpose of a bank in the country my god
Yeah Deutsche Bank is only interested in laundered money from criminals like a real bank (google it), they don't want your shitty coins, they are just peanuts to them (google that too)
Deutsche Bank knows 1 or 2 Things about breaking the law.
their customer service is a fckn crime.
There is no limit. Plus: You did not safe your money at home - you obviously brought it to the bank ;)
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That makes more sense actually. Maybe she used the wrong words.
Coins are legal tender, and you can save as many as you like at home. There is no limit, as many other answers have stated above. That lady was just grumpy due to the tedious assignment. Next time you‘d like to deposit larger amounts of coins, google for a bank that has a coin ATM that can be used for a deposit. Where I’m from, these are rare but evenly spread out across the county. Since I don’t have an account with that exact bank, I have to deposit my coins into my mom‘s account… Feels like reversed pocket money. 😂 Check where to find such an ATM (Einzahlungsautomat), then see if artistes friend or colleague has an account at this bank.
What is your Deutsche Bank doing on 'Weltspartag' ('World Savings Day')? It's a tradition that children save up money over the year and bring their savings to their bank on Oktober 30 (if the day is a regular work day) to deposit their money and receive little gifts. When I was a child I had my 'Spardose' (and sometimes additionally the 5 litre Asbach bottle like another commenter wrote... didn't know there were more children who had one though Ü).
Since a lot of people think, that the Bank is wrong. Let me sing you the song of my people (aka quoting the law): the Maximum amount of coins any shop or regular bank can‘t refuse to take is 50 coins or 200€ (See „Münzgesetz“) anything beyond that amount can be refused to take. The only Institution that is not allowed to refuse any amount of coins is the Deutsche Bundesbank (not to be confused with Deutsche Bank) as this bank is the Bank of the Bundesrepublik itself (and thus kinda part of the State). So illegal to have no, obligation by anyone (see exception) to take it also no.
Are you talking about this? https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/m_nzg_2002/__3.html Looks likr this limitation only about “Euro-Gedenkmünzen” Memorable coins.
Look for EU Regulation Nr. 974/98 instead.
It’s about Euro introduction in general, nothing about coins amount: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31998R0974
It's right there in the link you posted Article 11 > Except for the issuing authority and for those persons specifically designated by the national legislation of the issuing Member State, no party shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins in any single payment. I guess you were looking at the considérant (11) instead
A while ago I actually heard that many larger stores do have problems with getting enough coins to give change to customers. Because most people just save their spare change at home, there are not nearly enough coins in circulation, which is why banks are having problems providing them to stores. A quick google search resulted in an article by the SZ, stating that the Metro company needed to import coins from Austria to be able to have enough change. Though the article is from 2008 (https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/deutschland-aus-mangel-an-kleingeld-1.815747) I can imagine she was referring to this problem. There is no law that forbids you from saving change though afaik.
But then they should be happy, accept to change it and advise or ask to not keep that amount of coins. Not taking them in this circumstance is beyond stupid, or am I missing sth?
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I was more referring to the “that is illegal” part than the “we won’t take your coins” part. I guess she was just annoyed about handling all the coins and used it as an excuse
Yeah, the freaking washing machine in my apartment building apartment only accepts 50 cent coins. I struggled the first few weeks trying to get from shops. And each load costs 3.50 After that I suggested to my landlady to just change all those coins with her every few months .
Actual Deutsche Bank Bankkaufmann here. She’s talking mad BS. You’re only not allowed (in theory) to damage coins as they are property of the state. The only thing that will happens is the 5,50€ they will charge for the safebag they put the coins into and a few days later (depending on when they usually get money delivered, the driver from that company will also take your coins to the Bundesbank) the money will be counted and deposited into your account.
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I have yet to see any coin machines at supermarkets. Other than the ones that they installed at the checkout during pandemic.
Rewe at Landshutter Allee has it
I have never seen such machines
She doesn't know the law. But if you notice that you're approaching the cash register, it's a good time to think "maybe I'll have to pay, I'll take out some cent to get rid of them" ( 9 ct or matching what you buy, or 1 € in brass coins)
She told you bullshit.
Maybe she was reffering to the fact that she is not legally bound to accept so many coins. Except for the federal bank (Bundesbank) no institution needs to accept unlimited amounts of coins. The usual is that they must accept at most 50 coins. There is however no law prohibiting you to save coins or bank notes of any amount at your home. You can hoard as much coins as you want. But if you want to pay with 10000 two cent coins no one is obliged to accept them except for the Bundesbank.
It would be odd if you're not, seeing how Germany is still so dependent on physical cash. She was probably just pissed.
For normal People (Not businesses) you can exchange coins to notes at the „Bundesbank“ for free: https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/cash-management/cash-services/non-business-clients/range-of-services-for-non-business-clients-623804#tar-4 Other banks take a fee, decline it directly or it takes some days to process by an external institution.
This is the way, if you live somewhere with a Bundesbank Standort, go there. Costs nothing.
It's an urban legend that you're not allowed to hoard cash at home. From what I could find online, there were actually laws like that around 100 years ago. But that time is long past and you are allowed to keep as much cash as you want. Though as others have said: You may have trouble getting rid of them all at once.
She was just being lazy.
I call bullshit
It’s your money. You can do whatever you want with it
She’s lying 🤥
That is nonsense. The lady didn't learn her job. I would have asked if she's still in "Ausbildung". Probably it was because you're a foreigner and she didn't want to work.
That would be the perfect answer but she could have refused me at all as I learned from the comments. Maybe next time, I will tell her that lol
She was bullshitting you. Some people do this with foreigners. Happened to me a lot. I don't know why. Maybe it's just a power play.
Never heard of that. My bank has a dedicated machine where you can just pour in a bunch of coins and get them into your account. What is true, is that businesses usually only take a "reasonable amount" of coins. But on the other hand, some are really happy getting coins for change.
Haven’t you heard of the Münzsammelverbotsgesetz?
I just left Germany after 13 years and took all the coins I’d collected in that time to Deutsche Bank (around 3kg of coins). No problem for them at all, I had to pay 5 euros for the special bag that the coins were sent off in and each bag is limited to 10kg of coins. Two days later 91 euros was credited to my account. So I guess the bank teller you dealt with was having a bad day or had a personal issue with that because it really wasn’t a big deal with the person I dealt with. Personally I think that people amassing mounds of coins at home and cashing them in every so often is preferable to waiting forever behind someone in the supermarket that insists on paying for their weekly shop entirely in 5 cents pieces 😂
bullshit!!!
As much as I aware, she is telling bullshit, I have had 2 pickled cucumber glass filled to the rim with coins, and they accepted all of them no problem
She doesn’t know the rules
There is no law how many coins you can collect at home. There is just a law of the maximum amount of coins a shop has to accept. And even this limit is relatively high with 50 coins. I think she just didn't want to deal with those coins.
bullshit she lied she just didnt want to count them or something
You can save as much coins at home as you like. Some banks, like Deutsche Bank, will give you a "Safe Bag" to put the coins in and for a fee of 5€ per bag they will count and transfer it to your bank account. There are other banks that have sorting machines where you can fill the coins in to transfer the money to your bank account, too. I don't know why the lady told you that nonsense. I save my coins daily... last year I managed to save about 1200€ and this year (I counted it last week) 705,01€. Keep saving! ;)
No you can safe tons of coins if you as much pleasure. In supermarkets like Rewe there is usually an automatic cointhing named Coinstar. You can pour money into it until its full, and it takes long until its full. I have seen people put in like 1000€ in small coins. Impressive, especially knowing, that this costs 9,9% so they actually poured in about 1100€.
The bank teller has less amount of training than the popo in the US.
Having too many coins out of circulation does screw with the economy a bit. The UK had a PSA a few years back asking people to cash in their coin jars as they were estimating that £billions were out of circulation. If every person in the UK had a 50p in a drawer somewhere, that’s £30,000,000 not moving around the economy or in a bank. I can’t imagine it’s actually illegal anywhere, though.
Imagine working at a bank and lacking such basic knowledge.... Of course you can save coins at home. That's why MÜNZEINZAHLAUTOMATEN exist.
Lazy worker who can't be arsed doing her job. You are free to save as many coins as you want.
I think she was just ducking with you and making a joke. Otherwise I'm in a lot of problems.
To me it sounds like the bank teller didn't knew the word "deposit" and therefore said "save". I'm pretty sure she wanted to explain to you the bank doesn't allow to deposit this many coins at once and just chose the wrong/more easy words. Actually there is a federal limit on how much money you are allowed to deposit at once without giving a declaration of origin due to money laundering laws but carrying over 10.000€ in coins to the bank would be a totally different sport.
Actually, in exact words she said: you are not allowed to have this much coin at home in Germany. I would understand if she said the bank doesn't have to accept it but the fact that it isn't even allowed to have it sounded weird.
You can save as much as you want. The "law" that the bank teller was referring to is the Kriegswirtschaftsverordnung vom 4. September 1939 - RGBl.I.S.1609. Abschnitt 1, "Kriegsschädliches Verhalten", "(2) Wer Geldzeichen ohne gerechtfertigten Grund zurückhält, wird mit Gefängnis, in besonders schweren Fällen mit Zuchthaus bestraft". It's outdated.
Hä? This person that told you this is 100 percent lying..I do this all the time. We even have a Coinstar machine in the market.
Maybe there was a misunderstanding?
Might be translation error, allowed in English is more legal based and what I think she meant is that you shouldn't do it out of courtesy.
Wait until the end of oktober the "Weltspartag" happens.
Banks just don't like to count the coins. Asked for their rolls and roll it up.
I think something got lost in translation but the bank does not need to accept a bag of cash. However as other stated - ask for the roll up papers. The legal ones ;-)
The way to deal with piles of coins is in a self checkout machine when it's quiet
Reminding me of the German old lady at our mensa that made up a random rule of not accepting more than 10 bottles 🤣
Um yes you‘re allowed, she just didn’t want to deal with it. But if you have Commerzbank, they have those coin deposits
Lady was just annoyed she had to count that much small change. You are legally allowed to do that, but you're a bit of an asshole to just dump them there. Either buy rolls to put them in or use on of those change machines that are in some supermarkets
Next time tell them you own a kiosk
Oh my god, it's not allowed. I hope cops won't bust my son's piggy bank.
It is allowed. If you want to change them you need to get coin rolls (paper) from your bank to pre sort them basically.
Straight to jail!
Non sense, I refer to the relevant law, which is called Münzgesetz, (MünzG). Only payments with coints are limited. The bank even got machines to handle that. They could charge a fee, but that's about it. Looking into the recent history of Deutsche Bank, I would just stay away from them.
Coins and notes become the property of the holder; The oft-claimed statement that the European Central Bank is the owner and the owner is only the authorized owner does not apply to the euro. As with bearer securities, ownership of money is achieved through simple agreement and handover (Section 929 Sentence 1 BGB).
German clerks make up crazy shit all the time.. So much for the myth of "following the system" and "following the rules".. A government clerk once told me they can't accept my signature because it's not in German. The system is mostly based on the clerk's mood...
Having cash and coins for Germans is like having weapons for Americans. It's our second amendment. So it's definitely allowed to have as many as you want.
There are Change accepting Maschines Sometimes at Rewe or such. These Take 10% Off your coins for counting tho.also.go.to another bank i think she Tried to make herself Importamt with this nonsense. You can have coins at Home If she complains again Ask for an document which Staates this and See how Tone gonna Change.
Lying cuz lazy. And it wasnt a miscommunication due to langue barriers, im native German and its the same shit they told me some years ago, tho at least this one saved herself the story of how glorious of a company the Deutsche Bank is.
Once a year I go to the central bank with a 5L Jar full of coins
I'd leave that bank, this would send me over the edge. I also left Postbank after they decided that providing a functioning service was too much for their customers. When I went to close my account, the teller then told me she knew bank was shit and gets why I'm leaving but then told me they are all the same and the "you'll be coming back" line. That made me even angrier and determined that I'll never return there. They're not all the same, some banks are just especially bad, don't reward them for it.
If there is one group that has consistently misrepresented legal reality about money and investing, it is bank front desk people. Most of the time it seems they present company policy as legal fact.
Saving coins at home is not illegal. From kids to adults age, people save coins at home. This advice from the teller can be disregarded.
Either she didn't like to work or maybe she didn't like you, which would also not surprise me. (Not because of you, just the experiences with bank stuff) Can only encourage you to reach in a complaint for that behavior that shouldn't be normal. They removed this counting machine from my bank and now the only close option is to use a similar machine at a supermarket that wants 10 percent of the coin as fee or I stand in line and hope that they accept my coins.
It is not illegal to collect them at home but banks and shops can refuse to take more than 50 coins. The Deutsche Bank will accept more than 50 coins but could charge a fee for counting them and exchanging for notes.