From Coin Collection to Cash: One Man’s Star Wars Piggy Bank Journey

In a delightful tale that resonates with anyone who’s ever saved their spare change, Eli Piatt of Portland, Oregon recently experienced the satisfying conclusion to a decade-long saving ritual. After ten years of faithfully depositing coins into his beloved Star Wars piggy bank, Piatt finally decided it was time to cash in his collection. The result was both impressive and somewhat bittersweet, as he discovered both the power of consistent saving and an expensive lesson about coin conversion services. His story, shared on social media platform Threads under his handle @jsun4hees, quickly captured the internet’s attention as people resonated with the childlike joy of filling a piggy bank combined with the adult reality of service fees.

The numbers tell a compelling story: Piatt’s decade of casual coin collecting amounted to an impressive 4,945 individual coins totaling $686.61 – nearly $700 accumulated just from spare change over the years. However, his decision to use a Coinstar kiosk at his local grocery store came with a significant cost. The machine charged him a processing fee of $89.16, reducing his final payout to $597.45. While still a substantial sum, many social media users were quick to point out that the 13% service fee could have been avoided with a bit more planning or knowledge of alternatives. Piatt himself acknowledged this oversight, telling The Post that while he knew gift cards were a fee-free option at Coinstar, he found “no good options” at the particular store he visited. The significant fee became what he described as an “expensive lesson about reading fine print and taking your time” – a sentiment many of us can relate to when convenience trumps careful consideration.

Coinstar kiosks, those ubiquitous green machines found in grocery stores across America, offer a convenient but potentially costly service. The machines quickly count loose change and convert it to cash vouchers, gift cards, or charitable donations. While many users appreciate the convenience factor – no need to sort, count, or roll coins by hand – the cash option comes with the hefty percentage fee that caught Piatt by surprise. What many consumers don’t realize, and what social media users were quick to point out to Piatt, is that Coinstar offers several fee-free options. Choosing to convert your coins to an eGift Card, donating to charity, or transferring the funds to certain partner bank accounts allows users to keep 100% of their coin value. This information might have saved Piatt nearly $90 had he been aware of all his options or found a location with gift card choices that suited his needs.

The social media response to Piatt’s experience revealed a community eager to share alternative approaches to handling accumulated coins. Many users suggested traditional banking solutions, with one person noting, “You can go to any bank and not pay the $90 — don’t even have to have an account,” though this advice isn’t universally applicable as banking policies vary widely. Another person suggested, “Some banks, not all, have change counters… open an account with the money and they will do it for free,” highlighting how financial institutions sometimes offer free coin counting services, particularly to account holders. Perhaps the most creative solution came from a user who recommended using self-checkout machines at grocery stores to process coins when paying for purchases, effectively letting the machine count the coins without any fee. These suggestions represent the collective wisdom of people who have navigated the coin-to-cash conversion process and found ways to maximize their returns.

Reflecting on his experience, Piatt shared his plans for the future with refreshing honesty: “Next time I empty my piggy bank, I will for sure roll the coins myself.” This old-fashioned approach – manually sorting coins into paper rolls for bank deposit – requires time and effort but avoids service fees entirely. Many banks still accept properly rolled coins from customers without charge, though policies vary by institution. Piatt’s candid admission that “I do wish I had taken the time to roll the coins and take them to a bank because I did not know the fee would be that steep” resonates as a reminder that convenience often comes at a price, and sometimes the traditional way of doing things still offers the best value. His experience serves as a gentle cautionary tale about balancing convenience against cost when handling personal finances.

This story about a Star Wars piggy bank and its contents transcends the simple narrative of counting coins – it touches on universal experiences of saving, decision-making, and learning from financial choices. For ten years, Piatt dropped coins into his themed bank, perhaps never imagining they would eventually amount to nearly $700. His experience highlights how small, consistent actions can lead to significant results over time, whether in saving money or other aspects of life. It also illustrates how sharing our experiences, even financial missteps, can create community learning opportunities. As Piatt discovered, not even “Jedi-level patience” can overcome certain financial realities, but knowledge shared through community wisdom might help others avoid similar pitfalls. Whether choosing to use a Coinstar machine, rolling coins by hand, or finding creative alternatives, the story reminds us that every financial decision comes with tradeoffs between time, effort, and monetary value – a lesson as valuable as the coins themselves.