At Northern Specialty Supplies, we believe a little change can make a big difference. That’s why we’re proud to be collaborating with Global Coin Solutions in support of its initiative to take unwanted foreign currency and turn it into something positive. Here’s how.

Understanding the Reality of the Coin Industry 

There’s a universal truth for any business that handles large amounts of cash: whether you’re in parking, gaming, retail, air travel, or any other number of cash-handling industries, at some point, you’re going to end up with coins from other countries mixed in with your domestic currency. With US coins, this is less of a challenge since Canadian banks take them at face value – but the trouble in taking them to the bank is that, on any given day, the exchange rate means you could leave 35 cents on the dollar on the table. And even then, you’re still going to end up with a whole lot of coins from other countries as well – Europe, Mexico, South America, everywhere.

One of Canada’s largest transit authorities takes in nearly $1.5 million in cash each and every day. And each year, it ends up with over 1,000 kilograms of foreign coins – not including US currency. 

Unwanted Foreign Coins Pose Challenges for Businesses

When you get to the process of sorting your currency and your coin sorter ends up spitting out any unusable foreign coins, you’ll be left trying to figure out what to do with them. Generally, businesses either collect them, return them to the bank, and put that money back into their operations; they donate them; or they stash them away.

But there’s another problem. Coins are an unpopular commodity because they’re low in value, they’re extremely heavy and space-consuming, and unless you’ve got a whole lot of them, they often become more hassle than they’re worth. As a result, a massive amount of unwanted coin either ends up sitting around costing businesses money and space to hang onto, or, worse yet, they end up in a landfill, polluting the environment. In fact, our friends at Global Coin Solutions recently worked with a major Canadian parking enforcement authority to process nearly 1,300 kilograms worth of foreign coins it had accumulated over 10 years – and held onto in two 55-gallon drums – which had a value of over $25,000.

If you’re wondering what it means that GCS helped them “process” these coins, we’re glad you asked.

Using Change to Make a Difference 

Global Coin Solutions helps businesses make use of their unwanted foreign currency in a simple and productive way: by collecting it, repatriating it, and donating the retrieved money to charity. In its four years in business, Global Coin Services has processed more than 100,000 kilograms worth of mixed currency, including Canadian, U.S., and foreign coins and bank notes, worth roughly $8 million in donations, which have been returned to charities.

At Northern Specialty Supplies, we are proud to say that our 100% recyclable coin bags have been used to help collect this repatriated currency. And now, we are excited to announce that we will be working even more closely with Global Coin Solutions to provide our customers with the ability to offload their unwanted foreign coins in a way that reduces their carbon footprint and helps those in need. If your business has a surplus of foreign coin, we will work with Global Coin Solutions to collect and repatriate it on your behalf.

Together, we can turn a little change into a big difference in the world.

To learn more, or if you have unwanted foreign coins that you’d like to have taken off your hands, don’t hesitate to get in touch.