Why Are Coins Painted RED?

In this video I learn why coins are painted red. Some junk silver coins are painted red. Junk silver quarters and junk silver dimes can be painted red. These coins were painted red so that a business owner could put them in the juke box and get their coins back when the money was collected.
Topics I cover in this video: red coin, red coins, why are coins red, junk silver, junk silver coins, junk silver coins painted red, silver coins painted red, silver, silver coin, silver coins, red silver coins, red silver, red paint on silver coins, why is there red paint on coins, red paint on silver coins, junk silver quarter, junk silver dime, junk silver red paint, junk silver with red paint, silver stacking, silver store, silver shop, coin shop, coin, coins, coin dealer, coin store, local coin shop, coin video

[@dewilew2137]

A quarter had the purchasing power of over $2 in 1960, so I don’t blame them, I’d want my quarter back too! 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@cjhoward409]

I’ll still pick up any coins I see laying around

[@Xalerdane]

I wish I lived in a time where saying something cost a dollar actually meant something.

[@jinoh7418]

Late 80s and esrly 90s the dollar could still buy things. ​@@Xalerdane

[@RobotDCLXVI]

Thanks, (("federal" reserve))

[@apolloorosco6852]

@@Xalerdane Whopper's use to cost 99c

[@rlwright2002]

You are correct, friend They also used the Red quarters for the pool tables as well.

[@vicep322]

So cool! Did not know that!! Wow!!!@

[@SimirJohnson]

And washing machines

[@KeweenawPatriot]

When I was in elementary school in the early 80s they tought us how to use money using painted coins. A different color for every denomination.

[@kellyford9141]

Free pool night.

[@bigbrother9531]

And newspaper dispensers. They'd use the red quarter to open the box and refill with todays newpapers.

[@BaboLocas58]

No way!! I have a red quarter myself and I’ve always hung on to it because of how unique I thought it looked. I’m never letting it go now. Thanks for the history lesson 😃

[@podchicane571]

Frame it so it remains your house coin! (And for a cool decoration)

[@ItsMeSadeNYC]

Omg! I got rid of mine. I had no idea 😮

[@amg9163]

@BaboLocas58 I'm just seeing this video and said, *_"I've seen those!"_* That's cool that you've kept yours. I spent mine shortly after having it in my hands. 😐

[@susancoelho658]

I think I..... Will put red nail polish on my Quater.. 😊.... Cause I can't remember how many I had in my hands before!! 😅

[@shavitabrown7989]

I feel the same way!!!

[@ChloeCarter-kd7gz]

Investing in gold and silver seems like a good move, especially with the current market uncertainty.

[@LeahLewis-ny9iu]

Absolutely, gold has always been a safe haven asset in times of economic turbulence.

[@ScottLarrry]

But is gold from of investment ? I've heard stories of people wasting money because they didn't understand the market.

[@EricaWaters-lr6zw]

That's true. Without proper guidance, it's easy to make costly mistakes.

[@OliverLiam-px3vx]

DESIREE RUTH HOFFMAN is the guide you're looking for. Her expertise in financial planning can help navigate through the complexities.

[@ChloeCarter-kd7gz]

I've heard of Desiree Ruth Hoffman. Isn't she known for her comprehensive approach to financial planning?

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

Honestly the most surprising part to me is that the rental companies would be considerate enough to give back the house coin instead of just claiming it like you’d expect these days

[@JamesTierce]

And why is that? Most types of crime are lower when the statistics are correctly accounted for. What people don't want to accept though is that most street crime that people experience is because son called law abiding citizens Create motivation & even an industry for crimes to occur, this is done by the law abiding citizen manipulating drug addicts and such. If a catalytic converter is stolen it is because a law abiding citizen had theirs stolen and so because most of the so called law abiding citizen types are conservative psychopaths, instead of paying full price for a new converter? They pay a drug addict or a homeless person to steal them. Which creates a repeating cycle as long conservatives keep entering the system in order to save some money. The same sort of situation occurs with insurance fraud and Grand theft auto. Most of the time you hear about someone getting their car stolen? It's taken somewhere but is rarely ever stripped entirely. They just make sure that the insurance company will total it.. this is used to make additional funds and when their is major mechanical problems they can afford. All crime is an illusion

[@killerkitten7534]

Hard to believe tbh

[@charlievaldo5508]

Two words: Inflation and greedy nowadays my friend.

[@terrykrugii5652]

We've lost our courtesy to the damn machines. We used to be human

[@bowl1820]

It wasn't just about being considerate, It helped the rental company make money. Buy having the owner helping induce customers to play the machine.

[@hammerslap5639]

my grandma made us carry a painted quarter and never spend it. her reason was "if you end up completely out of money and are in trouble, you have your last quarter to call her" I gave my daughter that same painted quarter in a framed picture of my grandma with the words "I'll always be just a call a way".

[@jasonmelhorn8917]

Thanks to your comment I just realized where the saying "down to your last red cent" came from

[@barbaracabrera207]

Precious story!!! TFS! Austin TX USA

[@daijadivine3393]

That’s so sweet. ❤ Heart warming.

[@jeanlee9569]

My dtr looked genuinely shocked and asked if I really used one of those dirty public phones!!! I was shocked in return that she called it dirty! Kids……🤷🏻‍♀️🤣🤣

[@maxinef6654]

Love ❤ the story 😊

[@thumbalinamom]

I always wondered why those quarters were painted red. Thank you for the information. You’re never too old to learn something new!

[@marcellepesek3038]

@thumbalinamom: Exactly my thoughts, too! I used to think it was done by people who just liked to mess with things, like some who write on a Dollar bill just to deface it. I'm glad to learn that it was done for a good reason. Thank you. We do learn something new every day! You'll be doing yourself and your brain cells a favour! Good wishes to everybody on our great planet.

[@dianasummers6075]

Exactly. We owned a bar and that's what we did, it would also encourage customers to play more music with their own coins.

[@rembo318]

How so? Yall play crappy music on purpose or something? Lol

[@reverse_engineered]

@@rembo318 When people realize there is a jukebox, they become interested in playing their favorite music. Without music playing, they may not realize there is a jukebox. It's the same reason arcade games have an "attract" mode where they will periodically make loud noises - get your attention so that you think about playing it.

[@johnny-becker]

Back in 2005, I used to work for an arcade, and we used house coins when a customer claimed their money was eaten by the game cabinet. This also served as letting the owner know that particular machine was having sporadic problems, but not every time.

[@duramaxdad]

That’s how we got quarters as a young kid when dad’s pockets were empty. Kept the 3 boys happy and dad too.

[@johnny-becker]

@@duramaxdad Well, it's a dern good thing I now make 10x the amount of money I did then 😉

[@duramaxdad]

@@johnny-becker Money makes life easier for sure. We didn’t have much growing up so I made up for it as an adult. Life’s good man.

[@Tomsonic41]

Arcades still have 'house coins' these days, but usually it's some specially branded token rather than a painted coin. Modern coin mechanisms are more sophisticated, so painting a coin would cause it to be rejected.

[@marcludwick512]

Can you do that to money? Is it legal to deface it?

[@nikkirogers5991]

This is the type of cool knowlege that gets lost over generations. Thanks for keeping it alive!

[@raimbowbow8337]

Good point. I first heard of it in a book about crime lab techniques that I read in the 70s. Ever since then I've saved the mostly red and blue painted ones I came across. Over the years, I stopped seeing any more. I wish I could find a copy of that book. It had some cool info in it.

[@tracywilliams3405]

I REMEMBER

[@RB2331]

I agree that’s a great story. I had no idea because I’ve I’ve seen a few red quarters. That’s a wonderful story. I would’ve never imagine that and I miss jukeboxes now you shoot pool people have a pool stick in one hand and their phone in the other things have changed and definitely not for the better.

[@sabrinalabruja04]

@@raimbowbow8337what was the book called?

[@dm-jz7se]

I remember seeing red quarters before when I was young, and I had no idea why they were that color. Thank you.

[@kittyfruitloop8264]

I love little history nuggets like this, thanks!

[@liquidsunshineiam]

A place called campus Casino that many of us kids played hours and days and weeks and years of foosball and Dan Holcomb. The owner actually would use the red quarters for comped games and for employees to use and play against regular patrons. and they were always floating around Fort Collins, Colorado as a result of basically only Dan was the one that I only personally knew using red quarters back in the 70s and 80s. I seemed to always have a lucky red quarter my pocket back then and I still find one on occasion.

[@TheRoadhammer379]

In your story you didn't need to say "actually would".

[@michaelboykin9881]

Game rooms and arcades in the 70s did that also. If someone lost a quarter in a game or pool table the owner would put red coins in to give the person their play. When the coin boxes were emptied out, they got them back.

[@Arcella1981]

I always saw them just open the machine and flip the coin lever to give the person a play

[@richardvinsen2385]

I have a Defender arcade machine (from 1983). To rack up credits, I just open the coin box and flip the switch.

[@cliftonbarringer2961]

@@Arcella1981 Not all employees had a key to open the machine. They just made change.

[@gamesonastick]

We still do it at the place I work lol

[@rollguy341]

Yeah they were arcade coins if you saw any up to about 1999 that is where they came from. Rarely a place a a jukebox so this guy is kinda right but how many juke boxes did you see? You probably saw way more arcade stores than 1 jukebox. So he is wrong overall, they came from arcade machines.

[@nelliehagen5267]

At 61 year’s of age.I finally found out why some quarters are painted red.Thank you for the explanation for this.

[@greghunt7724]

We're the sane age. I too didn't know this

[@matthewvarnam4302]

I know about 25 of them so called quarters that are red my brother and I painted red just to see how fast and how far money would travel.....I've never in my life heard of this story but I do know that my story is true....lol

[@koidwi1150]

SAME!!! …But I’m not saying my age!!!🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@sweetsheila6071]

I always wondered about this as well.

[@matthewvarnam4302]

@@sweetsheila6071 Well I know for a fact the my brother and I did this for a test years ago just to see how fast and how far out they go....we didn't use fingernail polish like most of these people claim to have done we used what we had it was Red house paint ....I think it was like 25 or so quarters we did....we didn't think that any of the Stores would even Except the quarters and we thought that we lost out on our money...lol...but they took them....we did it as kids when we stayed in N.C and many many years later we seen some in the state of G.A when I first seen one I called him up and told him you wouldn't believe what I just ran a cross he said what and I said remember them Red quarters we painted he was like yeah what about it I said I just ran cross one he started laughing.

[@iorifori91]

his explanation is very easy to digest + his calm and gentle demeanor. I wish I had a teacher like him

[@davidbenderman3134]

Waitresses would paint the quarters like this. And the jukebox owners would give them back to them. And each Waitress would have their own colors to get their money back.

[@jimdavidson7771]

When my Dad retired and sold his neighborhood bar, his favorite customers were given a shot glass and a red quarter to remember the place, and the good times spent there. That was over 40 years ago. In a recent thread on a local community forum, someone asked if anyone remembered my Dad's place, and I was astonished how many people starting sharing stories about the bar and my old man.

[@frostedbutts4340]

What a nice story. Did you think about taking over the bar?

[@duramaxdad]

It’s great to have Dads brought up esp around good memories. I had a great Dad. Loved by many. Sounds like you did too.

[@SPHYNX99752]

❤ memories are priceless.

[@heatheri7858]

​@@duramaxdad my dad was the best too! I had a poem called 'my old man' in his memorial card...

[@TommyShlong]

Very cool story. Where was the bar?

[@susanrinaldi9131]

My husband worked for a juke box company and I would paint a roll of quarters every couple of months with red nail polish for him to give to his customers so they could play music. What a wonderful memory you brought back for me

[@79klkw]

❤ I love these type videos. Sometimes the comments are as good as the video!❤

[@earthsucks9555]

Hey Susan What song did you or your husband select on one of those Wurlitzers?

[@jenjohnson2204]

😊

[@susanrinaldi9131]

In diners they had a small box with selections at each booth. We dated in the late 60’s so Beatles or 4 Seasons were always the choice

[@VioletSun77]

So cool❤

[@kathrynlester2352]

Thank you for finally answering a question I've had since back in the 1960s.

[@gharrison8875]

I love learning new and interesting things. Thanks for this tidbit because I have often wondered why someone had painted the quarter.

[@jobycat]

My Mom would say "you talk more then a juke box full of red quarters" Very cool History! Thanks Harry!!

[@UniquelyUbiquitous-yg3xl]

I LOVE IT! I will add this to my life’s sayings. 🙏

[@pinnacleexpress420]

I dont get it

[@mydude3254]

@@UniquelyUbiquitous-yg3xlwhy? So you can explain what it means to the person when they don’t know what it means? Also other paint colors were used as well.

[@DrownInLysergic]

​@@pinnacleexpress420He literally explains it in the video rétard

[@pileofrd1]

Riiiiiight

[@danfarris135]

My dad worked for a vending company that had pinball games also in the 70’s. Each week he gave me $5 in red quarters to spend at the roller rink. Best of times! Miss you dad.

[@cc1k435]

The roller rink is where I remember painted coins from! 😂

[@TrippyOriginals]

5 bucks a week in the 70's? That wasn't no small chump of change for a kid back then either!

[@powertothesheeple5422]

Sounds super sketch after hearing who the red quarters actually belonged to.

[@PersuasiveEuthanasia]

@@powertothesheeple5422lmaooo

[@krisraps]

Your dad actually kept the red quarters, ah ha, hooligan :D But Hey, Its for His Kid, In My Book It Flies

[@tyrahoytt7264]

Awesome information shared! 😍

[@kilroy75633]

They had red and blue quarters in the coin push game at carnivals. It represents so many extra credits towards a big prize.

[@underthetornado]

Also laundry coins were painted red so apt managers could get them back as their laundry was free.

[@shan4078]

Way back in early 70's I was the manager of an apartment complex. We had washers and dryers that took quarters. My laundry was free as it was part of my compensation. My quarters were painted red and the owner would return them to me.

[@4thegloryofthelord]

Were they actually painted with real paint, or painted with a red marker? Just curious.

[@shan4078]

@@4thegloryofthelord I'm not sure, I didn't paint them. It wasn't the whole quarter, just a large red dot on the face of the quarter. Maybe nail polish.

[@steveaustin2686]

I've seen red quarters at commercial laundry mats too.

[@pattybecerra5733]

We did this!! It’s so cool all those quarters still exist, I think I have come up on one red quarter in my life since then and they should be collectors items

[@SRMoore1178]

I sometimes wondered if they were blood stains.

[@arlenethomas1167]

I remember getting those same painted red quarters in change, when purchasing something from the store, in the past, but never knew why they were painted red. Thanks for the history lesson!

[@joshmcgootermier2301]

Recall seeing these every now and then. So cool to learn this.

[@MP-qn1jw]

Quarters are also painted to mark "prize" quarters in a change machine. I knew a laundry that said, "If you get a red quarter it is worth a free wash or dry." Not just for jukeboxes.

[@lornabowles495]

That made sure they got it back! 😊

[@user-xd2ky4it8m]

Pinball too

[@DragonPheonix13]

makes sense and is another i never heard of nor thought of.

[@SharonHF]

That’s actually a really cool piece of history :) I’ve been in retail for 20+ years and handled so much cash (including quarters with bits of color on them) and had always assumed some kid had done it out of boredom or crafting !

[@DragonPheonix13]

likely some exist from this as well but mostly businesses for business purposes.

[@cbeautifulworld11]

I thought so too - kids with nail polish! 😂 The truth is much more interesting.

[@ErnestoMoboJr.]

Your cute 😊

[@geemanbmw]

Lol that's awesome! I use to paint my matchbox & hot wheels cars with my moms nail polish and totally screw them up back in the 70s , good times

[@StayPositive-sd8op]

yea, its like when i would get dollor bills there would be writting all over it. when we were younger we were at the bar having drinks a bunch of us and we decided to put a friend's name and phone number on it with a little message which om not sure if he got any calls after

[@bingbong1222]

I always wondered this when I was a kid. I would always find red and blue painted quarters at the bars my mom worked at..

[@_Peremalfait]

Very interesting to know. I've seen red quarters but never thought that much about it.

[@jeanvignes]

I was born in the mid-1950's. My grandmother owned a café in Mississippi, and she would give us children "red quarters" to play the jukebox or the pinball machines when we were visiting her. Actually, we were not allowed to play the pinball machines at first as these were real gambling machines with payouts, etc. Only when these gambling machines were replaced with merely fun pinball machines were we allowed to play them. She always wore bright red fingernail polish and she would use her own polish in order to touch up the "red quarters" to make it easy for the workers from the company that placed the machines in the café to sort out her quarters. Wow. Brings back some very fond memories from sixty years ago of my dear grandma Inez! Thank you!

[@darlenel1434]

Brings back fond memories for me, too. I can thank my Aunt Agnes for that. 😊

[@happenstancially4132]

That’s a memory! Wasn’t from that era, but was told about those pinball machines. I think there was one not in service in the local lodge where my dad grew up, along with the pull knob cigarette dispensers! Edit: just looked up the machine, and I have played them! It was still in service at the bar, and I loved that machine!!

[@theonlyladybella44480]

I'm from Mississippi. What part of Mississippi?

[@ceoatcrystalsoft4942]

That is wild, I have never even heard of pinball machines being used to gamble. I always that they were basically just like an arcade machine for fun

[@juliemarie8356]

Awe, what great memories. God bless you and I hope you will be together again in heaven one day ✝️🕊️🙏

[@JasonBarnhart]

My dad owned a laundromat and paid a few people to wash and fold for customers. He tracked how much they had done with red, blue, yellow and green spray painted quarters. They got a bonus if they were fast.

[@yesroom6578]

My family did the same.

[@unbroken1010]

How you make a washing machine go faster 😂

[@TheAechBomb]

​@@unbroken1010laundromats have multiple washers, you can fill one while another is running

[@RobtheAviator]

@@unbroken1010you missed the part about folding I guess.

[@UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart]

So basically they were underpaid

[@Ramblin_Dan]

I love stories like this! Thanks for the info!

[@Alone_unafraid24]

That is so cool, neat how little pieces of history like that are just rolling around in some one’s center console

[@walterperlak2093]

This is so true. When I was a kid, my siblings and I would use nail polish to paint the quarters for my Dads Bar. Juke Box, Pong, games. My Dad owned the pool table so no red quarters there. We would help clean the bar Sunday morning before my Dad would open for business at 12:00. My Dad would give us the Red Quarters to use during the morning. Thanks for recalling a nice memory of my child hood.

[@muskrat3291]

Back in the 70s I worked in an arcade. We were required to play every pinball machine and game everyday and report any issues. We used painted quarters so we could account for test money vs customer money.

[@gamesonastick]

We still do that @ my work

[@Gee-zuss]

Same deal at my dad’s laundromat back in the day

[@aardque]

Being "required" to play games keeps you off the street.

[@timmullen8951]

That would be a good way to track whether all the games had been "checked" every day, that is, to make sure the employees were doing their job.

[@aardque]

@@timmullen8951 That you believe there could be consequences for not doing one's job of playing games.🤣

[@nickakers7985]

I forgot how refreshing it is to hear an older person explain something that younger people probably have no idea about without being condescending about it. Let’s normalize this, I’m normally pretty in tune with history, but this is genuinely a fact that I had no idea about.

[@sohara76]

I used to work at a video game arcade in the 90's and we used to use them as 'service credits' as well.

[@MarkB-vp9ki]

Haven't seen one of them for a long time, but I always saw them as a kid. Thanks for the history lesson.

[@michaeltheoret3842]

It's been quite some time since I've seen a red painted quarter. I'm thinking like mid-90s is the last time.

[@bluelight1319]

Same.

[@monermccarthy7198]

Interesting tide bit of history.

[@mrbongalong2788]

i remember seeing like one or two n figured someone dropped their change while painting or something

[@imanimaldonado1626]

I once found a red quarter painted over on a curb. Whoever repainted the curb red, didn’t remove the quarter.

[@CSpottsGaming]

Curb wanted to play some music so it used the curb coin, I guess.

[@DS-sh2lo]

i found one painted into the wall of my house once 😂

[@Paratrooper.3695]

That's harsh

[@DR-sv8ke]

That's government workers for yah.

[@John-ou4rm]

As kids we used to occasionally glue a coin to the ground. When someone tried to pick it up we'd yell "scab" etc... we thought it was funny. Analogue days 🤣

[@bigdaddygru]

I have seen these coins from time to time in my life. But at almost 50 years old I'm just now finding out why they are red! You truly NEVER stop learning new things!

[@fredflintstone505]

My parents owned a bar/restaurant. We used those for the juke box. When the guy came to collect the money from the juke box, they returned all the red quarters back to them.

[@stevenmorgan5579]

Red quarters were also used in video arcade games back in the '80s - '90s. I'd pay anything to re-live even one single day of the '80s. I'd go for any day from 1985.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

My Dad collected old machines from the 80s and quite a few of them had a button inside that you could press for free games. We'd have a little cup with coins to put in them, but that was mostly because opening up the machine for every game was annoying. You see them in modern arcades. If the machine eats your coin or something an employee could come, deal with the issue, and then press the button a few times to give you some free games.

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

I used to like the game Joust I forget the other one, asteroids Maybe, there was one gas station that I used to like to go and play, and then also the mall. When I was 10 years old we got to go to Circus Circus in Vegas, and I got to go, it was like the Holy Grail of video games. They had a city in Red Baron game I would have that in my own home if I could!!! Another place Panchos Mexican restaurant, when I would go there they had a couple of games that I really liked, the one I can't remember. Did you ever put a long thread on a quarter with a hole in it so you can try to play the games free?

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

​@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917those were the days!

[@T-RM]

Was it Centipede? Or PacMan? My brother did the quarter on a string ...he used it for games and the soda machines! ​@@jerrydonquixote5927

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

@KrystynaE1967 sure was Khrystynae!

[@ramire7heavenz252]

We didn't have red coins in our bar in Jersey. My grandfather said once the Mob put a jukebox in for you, it's only the beginning. So he bought his own. The old heads were way tougher than us 😅. Respect Grandad💪🏾👑

[@geraldobrien7323]

Yeah, they were like cats - feed them once, and they keep coming back, but over time that little cat turns into a ravenous lion.

[@BradyIsAfagInHeat]

Either way he was paying the mob. Jukebox or not

[@ChuckToddMeetThePress]

Your grandpa was full of crap. The mob took care of the neighborhood and make sure nobody got robbed or vandalized

[@krashd]

@@ChuckToddMeetThePress No, the mob robbed you weekly or ELSE you got vandalised.

[@LongReachOne]

😂

[@ChristoAnd]

Used to see these more often as a kid. Nowadays you rarely see quarters from the 60s

[@amiblueful]

That's fascinating. I am going to appreciate any red quarter I get from now on!

[@dianacurry6248]

I finaly know why i have seen painted quarters in the past. Thank you!

[@edwardsullins5119]

Wow that brought back some memories. Back in 1975-1982, my mother owned a little restaurant/cafe here in Chicago, where I would help bus the tables, when I was a little boy around 6 years old, and we would use a red marker to mark the quarters for the jukebox or pinball machines when a customer would “lose” a quarter to the machine if it got stuck or didn’t register. That way we would get the quarter back from the vender. Typically, the coins would be split evenly when collection day came, minus our red quarters. There may have been more than a “few” times when my mom would let me mark a quarter red so that I could get a free play on the pinball machine or jukebox. I would love playing Elvis Presley songs on it. 😂

[@Paratrooper.3695]

Cool! I love hearing ppl's stories.

[@superturtle64]

This is the most wholesome comment story I’ve ever read, me and my fiancée road tripped to Chicago recently on a whim, and’s we found so much to love about the city, so it’s cool to hear a story from someone who was around then in the city. Cheers

[@jipseyip]

Awesome story

[@willcook1530]

​@@superturtle64Chicago is the best!

[@willcook1530]

Hey Edward, where abouts in Chicago and how long was the place there for?! I'm from there and love hearing stories about people and places from back in the day.

[@carrioncrow8191]

Junk silver is actually a currency that many stores would like to have

[@bitterellaselectricgroove8544]

When I bartended in the 1990s, we had red quarters for our jukebox. It was fun to give someone a red quarter to play a song if they ran out of quarters playing pool. Fun times back then!

[@MarieaMcMinnar]

That's actually really cool! I've come across a few red coins in my time, but never really put much thought into it.

[@monicaclark9581]

Now I know! I had an older friend who back in the late 90s who still had juke boxes in some businesses in Oregon. I was surprised because I thought they were extinct by then.

[@Beara-bear]

Did you see if they were silver

[@k.anderson5039]

Whenever i saw one They were always chipped & less than 1/4 still red

[@misterhot9163]

I’ve seen these over the years, and always wondered why some quarters were painted red. Thank you!

[@Falconofflight]

I remember back in the day. A friend of mine ran an arcade as a manager. They always had the red quarters in the machines.

[@johnbethea4505]

I had a game room and he is absolutely correct. We painted a certain amount of coins to use to keep the customers happy.

[@gratenate4932]

J.B. you are one of few older than myself...I'm thinkin'.... Our families owned a gas station, an ice cream store, and ran the local paper.

[@johnbethea4505]

@gratenate4932 I sold dip ice cream 🍦 cones in my store. I liked the old-fashioned paper.

[@gratenate4932]

@@johnbethea4505 Mmm.... old fashioned crunchy cones with the compartments in the bottom! Gotta "wolf" that part, or it'd leak all over ya!

[@theloanranger2632]

Who was collecting the money from your game room? Was it a "mafia type" company? It might sound like a silly question, I have just heard from history that the mafia controlled vending and gaming.

[@johnbethea4505]

@theloanranger2632 I am in a small town, and I was the only one here to even know mafia while in service. I counted out the money.

[@DU85]

I love hearing old facts like this

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

That probably explains why I've only seen a couple over the years. The ones I've seen were more of a maroon, I assumed it was the result of a sloppy painter.

[@bobcoleman9045]

Well it's not true it's locktite

[@theemperorsnaked2760]

I love how it highlights the value of money back then. I have some friends who make fun of me pinching pennies today. Thing is, those who laugh are those without savings while I have ample amounts put away.

[@Bdamazyn]

​@@theemperorsnaked2760 Curious, do you think a "cashless" money system would benefit society?

[@duramaxdad]

@@BdamazynIt would benefit those looking to control society. We can barter or trade without dollars, so no tax burden. Remove that and every transaction is traceable, taxable, recordable. Then phones will use that info against you. I mean for you.

[@dominickrischke7992]

Same with the arcades back in the day. If someone said they lost their quarter in a machine or it malfunctioned, the employee would put a red quarter into the machine to credit you.

[@cliffordparkenjr8979]

Red quarters were used by arcade workers in games when someone who said they lost a quarters in the game ,we called them case quarters

[@BucketHeadianHagg]

Okay, old person here: I knew this trick in 1968 when my parents owned a bar and always gave us colored coins to play the juke box. There were also "slugs" that were just junk in the shape of a nickel. It cost a two nickels to use the pay phone (decades before cell phones) or one nickel for candy dispensers!

[@DoubleDogDare54]

Yeah, all us kids back in that era and before carried slugs. I remember the Catholic kids being told if they used a slug in a candy machine it was stealing and they'd have to own up to it at confession.

[@Paratrooper.3695]

Wasn't life great? Seriously

[@user-wi8nc9wo3x]

I had a lot of slugs in Oregon. All over my sidewalk

[@BucketHeadianHagg]

@@user-wi8nc9wo3x lol! I knew it was coming! 😂 loveeeee youuuuu! ❤️

[@BucketHeadianHagg]

@@DoubleDogDare54 oh dang.. I’m going to HELL! (But my parents are the ones who gave me the fake coins, so it’s their cross to bear! Lol!)

[@YohielSpeaks]

"House coins" weren't used only in bars and/or restaurants. I've seen them used in laundromats also where the business owner did his/her own laundry or did laundry as a paid service yet another company actually owned the coin-operated machines. So the coins were painted (often with nail polish) to designate those coins to be returned to the business owner.

[@DragonPheonix13]

i commented something simular. thank you for telling yet another reason these exist as well as the one on the vid and mine and anyone else's that adds other reasons.

[@marymorales3454]

Yes I worked at a laundromat that used blue quarters to do the drop off laundry.

[@YohielSpeaks]

Some of my family relatives owned a corner store replete with an ice cream/soda bar and jukebox,@@DragonPheonix13. As far as I recalled, they too used painted coins in the jukebox; so that, when no one else was paying for music, they could play a few tunes.

[@chijohnaok]

I saw the same thing back in the 1970’s. My dad was the live in janitor at an apartment building that the family lived in. The washers and dryers were owned by an outside company. As the janitor, my dad had no responsibility to the upkeep of the machines. But a deal was worked out with the guy from the outside company. Dad would wipe the machines down every day to keep them looking sharp. He’d also call right away if it looked like a machine was acting up. In exchange my mom painted her washer/dryer coins with red fingernail polish. When the guy came every week to empty the coin drawers he would sort out any red painted coins and give them back to my dad.

[@shaRkMP]

Just commented this. I worked at a laundromat wash/dry/fold service & we used red quarters.

[@relaxman-tu1tp]

I didn’t know that Robert De Niro is working at the pawn shop 😂

[@rljpdx]

Very true. I worked at an arcade when I was younger and the quarters that belonged to the "house" were painted red for the express purpose of going in to the bill changer. I guess it's a form of accounting. Additionally, they could tally up the unpainted quarters, quarters they knew weren't originally their's and quickly estimate profits. Plus the arcade had vending machines as well and small area behind the desk was a makeshift kitchen for hotdogs, cup of noodles, and various candies. I can tell you running an arcade might be fun, but it's far from easily profitable. Especially with the huge additional expense of electricity needed to keep running the 30-50 games the arcade offered.

[@EM-mw2qr]

I used to be a cashier and I used to see these red quarters every now and then. I always thought it was just something that the silver did after a while. Very interesting to find out what it really is.

[@prophetforprofit1431]

A red quarter solved the murder of a bar owner when this guy was paying for beer at a nearby bar not knowing what it meant to have stolen red quarters 😮

[@dububro]

silver does turn brown and eventually nearly black (and sometimes other colors)

[@EM-mw2qr]

@@prophetforprofit1431 Wow!!

[@CheMechanical]

As a longtime member of a metal detecting club, we often paint coins and then plant them out in a large area with plain coins for people to find during a competition. Then, the specially marked coins can be redeemed for prizes.

[@Artyomi]

Holy hell there are metal detecting competitions? Wtf how and where do I join one?

[@PetGengar]

Geocache for coins???

[@ohthereyouarepeter1435]

​@@Artyomi my sentiment exactly... Where do WE sign up?! Lol 💰

[@neonmangoz]

I used to love geocaching ​@@PetGengar

[@paulaccuardi9071]

@@PetGengararen’t you supposed to leave something of equal or greater value when geocaching?

[@user-lg2of2ro9n]

I used to work at a carwash and the managers painted the quarters red to see if the workers were stealing from the customers.

[@myrany8407]

My dad owned a small apartment building when I was a kid. He also owned the coin op laundry machines on the site. He had each tenant paint their quarters with a different color of nail polish. Once a week dad would get the coins from the machine and return the painted ones to the appropriate tenant. Any unpainted meant a non tenant had used the machine and dad called it their payment for use of the machine and kept them. It was my job to sort the coins by color before they were returned.

[@RoderickBenneptt]

Painted coins were also used in testing payphones. The phone tech would call the operator and the operator would listen as the coins were inserted. Quarters, dimes and nickels gave a different number of beeps.

[@davidtruong9367]

I am today year old finding out the reason for red coins I’ve seen as a kid. Thank you for the wonderful explanation!

[@patrickdaly5068]

Same. I haven’t thought about those in years.

[@eyzmin]

not all, older coins are this way, these are silver. newer coins are marked like this for coin searchers to identify easily if theyve searched this batch before. You will see this A LOT with half dollars for that reason

[@Ethan.s..]

@@eyzminthe red quarter here was the last year they made them out of silver, 64.

[@davidtruong9367]

@@Ethan.s.. You….are now my coin and trivia Yoda.

[@_..-.._..-.._]

The “today years old” thing bugs me. Like when people say “it’s my birthday week” or “my kid is 14 month yearsold”

[@cynthiatatum5466]

Earlier video arcades also used “reds” when they wanted to give a customer a complimentary play. This way they could monitor how many games were being played for free.

[@GenXorcist76]

They had a place in Ann Arbor Michigan called pinball Pete’s. They painted their quarters as well. Back in the late 80s and 90s.

[@Broughden]

They were also used in the military back when we had coin operated pay phones. They were given to the soldiers, glued to a card with the unit's address and the local cab company's phone number on it, so the soldier could call a cab rather than drive while intoxicated. The card told the cab operator they would be paid, even if the soldier had no cash on them at the time the cab was called.

[@randyramey3430]

DID NOT KNOW THAT.

[@AuDHD_Mom]

That is really cool!

[@timhusk2913]

Yep I remember them or call the CQ

Wow! Thanks for staying that!

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

Thanks for sharing. 🫡

[@jimgarofalo5479]

One more use. They were also used in strip joints by the dancers. They used painted quarters in the juke boxes to play the music they were dancing to. The paint indicated which ones the dancers put it.

[@FakingANerve]

I can't tell if that was a misspelling or a freudian slip near the end there, but I'm here for it. 😂🍻

[@Don.Challenger]

Presumably, because they all had to dance their stage sessions (before table/lap dancing) and the sets were a standard number of songs (say 3-5 depending on time of day and number of dancers in house), the coins were mutual, provided for use in the dressing room, and only one coloring needed to distinguish customer from performers contributions. Later on or for larger venues they would have a DJ and booth, leaving the coin juke box ones for customers between sessions with the machine muted or paused during 'action' times.

[@HiHi-gg5hr]

@@Don.Challengerdamn bro how many times have you gone?

[@pmuppuehtemulov]

@@HiHi-gg5hrwell apparently since back when they had jukeboxes which could not have been less than 50 years ago. i personally go what i think to be a modest amount, say 3 times a year. calculate that by fifty and you have 150. that's assuming he went and/or goes as infrequently as i do, but his knowledge of the system seems to suggest a lot more times than that.

[@Kittra.kaibyo]

​@HiHi-gg5hr We should try asking him how it was when they were using wooden nickels or if everyone still rode their horses home afterwards.

[@Starshadow]

I worked in a bar in the early 1970s where we had stage dancers(I was one) and customers did not get control of the jukebox. We dancers did and we used bar quarters so we picked the songs we each danced to. It’s kind of nostalgic when I find a bar quarter.

[@user-fp6ex9wj9b]

They were used for lots of things. My father in law was manager of an apartment complex, and painted his quarters blue that he used in the washers and dryers in the laundry rooms. The complex didn't own the machines, but the owner agreed to let the management of the complex do their laundry free in order to use the space for their machines.

[@Camel_Jockey]

This is the best thing I’ve learned probably in the last month of scrolling social media. I grew up in those times and wondered from time to time when I saw red coins and never asked why. Thank you for posting.

[@lyndlegarrett9814]

Same here. After 71 years, now I know about those red quarters.

[@josephducheneaux7607]

In the Army, It was a requirement in some of my units to have a red quarter in your wallet for an emergency call if you got in trouble off post or stranded.

[@The_Gallowglass]

why paint it though?

[@goon8o1]

Who would you call?

[@The_Gallowglass]

@@goon8o1 Ghostbusters

[@knownas2017]

@@goon8o1 ghost busters

[@bev1446]

@@goon8o1 Ghostbusters

[@HolyTeacup-bc9uc]

This guy who's being filmed has the warmth of Robin Williams

[@cynthiadegerlund8105]

I had five jukeboxes in my house growing up because my dad just absolutely loved them.

[@joelhoye5773]

My dad owned the bar in the 80s and the jukebox guy would leave us a $10 roll of red quarters every week, same for the Pac-Man and centipede machines.❤

[@MikeStone1503]

That's cool

[@thevitaminp]

same here. we were paid four quarters for helping clean on Saturday and Sunday

[@2chows1dude]

Made enough to buy a house too right? Ugghh now sucks so hard

[@michaelkozic4146]

In NJ When they raised the toll from a quarter to 35 cents people painted quarters red in protest

[@artiek1177]

Yes, especially on the Garden State Parkway.

[@franklinfx]

Yes I was gonna post the same thing

[@All_Loves_Lost]

LoL if they only knew what was to come 😂

[@user-cw3wm9lx7w]

When was that?

[@gregv3181]

When tolls were paid by throwing coins in the basket. Used to collect knockouts from electrical boxes on job site. Came in handy on the way back from AC a few times

[@ericatucker2683]

This was far more interesting than I am imagined it was going to be.

[@UltraKryptonian]

I had a red quarter and thought someone painted out of boredom. Interesting story! Thanks for sharing!

[@nodozhit]

Cool. That solved that mystery from the past because I remember frequently coming across some faded red painted quarters during the 80s and 90s.

[@ccol009]

Yeah for real. I remember coming across some in my sight and hand in the 1990’s.

[@charleswarner3194]

Extraordinary to see this practice identified in this video! In the 1980s I was 12-13 years old when my father got into the coin operated video game business and opened a video game room in our neighborhood, my father recruited my help to supervise and watch over the game room by giving me a $10 roll of quarters ALL PAINTED RED to allow me to play games and watch over the game room. I did get really good at a few of those games and there was even time when we had several coin operated video games at home with their coin doors open and unlimited play credits! It was a kids’ dream come true to have a dad who owned over 100 coin operated video games! My favorite games were Defender and Stargate, but I like all the other games too, like Pac Man, Asteroids, Tempest, Centipede and Donkey Kong to name a few. ❤ What a great time for a kid like me, like no other time in my life. 🎉😂😢😅

[@mameeocean6194]

Yes! I love this! I grew up in a town of less than 200 in a cornfield in north central Iowa. When I was about 8 years old, my Daddy bought the old DX gas station on the highway, at the end of our street. He had part of it sectioned off with 4 video arcade games. On Christmas 1982, Daddy and I got an Atari, which I still have and works as always. On Christmas 1983, I received a most coveted Cabbage Patch Kid. It was that same Christmas morning, I received the best gift of all time, in the bottom of my stocking... a Ziploc baggie full of quarters! It had snowed heavily, so Daddy and I geared up and trudged down to the DX after a big Christmas dinner. We spent the entire afternoon, until I blew my last quarter about supper time, playing Donkey Kong, Tarzan and Centipede. I can still feel that white roller ball controller of Centipede. The 4th game must've been beyond my skill level, since I don't remember it. It's funny to me now that those quarters brought more joy to me in the day with my daddy than any other gift and created such precious memories I'll never forget.

[@tlyoung1420]

Some gaming places for kids used to do that also. You gave them a dollar and got painted quarters to play the machines with.

[@nja3224]

I remember that from the arcade games in luncheonettes. They used to draw a line on a quartered with a black permanent marker and when the mob guys came to collect, they’d give the owner back the marked quarters. It’s how I used to play pinball and other games all day.

[@frankkarkoska8980]

That's exactly correct! My parents owned a bar in South Texas in the 1950s-1960s. There was a juke box and a small pool table that operated on quarters. The juke box also accepted nickels. That was the good ol' days. 😊

[@cappuccinosnephew1382]

Now it's a dollar a play or 3 dollars for five plays😬

[@JoseGarcia-fz8tr]

What part of south Texas ?

[@Marcel_Audubon]

a nickelodean

[@frankkarkoska8980]

@@JoseGarcia-fz8tr Agua Dulce. My hometown! 😁🥸

[@JoseGarcia-fz8tr]

@@frankkarkoska8980 that’s sorta south…. But you’re still like 1.5 hours from the REAL SOUTHERN TEXAS… nice to meet you, neighbor.

[@machinesandthings7121]

Coin phone technicians would also use painted coins to make a test call after they collected the coin boxes. Once the full coin boxes were sent to the coin collection center, the coin counters would remove the test coins and send them back to the individual collection techs for reuse. This was done right up into the early 2000's when most coin phones were removed.

[@bloodlove93]

i guess I'll be the only person to say it....i miss those phones in a weird way plus they were a great plot device in stories for anonymous calls or desperate situations etc.

[@stevegabbert9626]

@@bloodlove93 Tip: If there's a pay phone sitting at the end of the bar, sit at the seat that's closest, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. I was sitting at one when a really drunk guy walked up and plunked in $2.25. He waited and waited, got frustrated, slammed the receiver down and walked away. I heard the coins drop, so did the bar tender, I watched the drunk walk back to his seat. I looked at the bar tender, he shrugged his shoulders, I scooped out the money and found another seat.😂

[@BuddyTheWolfYT]

When I have a restaurant I will put in a coin phone

[@RivetHead999]

@@stevegabbert9626I got into phone freaking in 7/8th grade back in 1995ish and learned a couple tricks with pay phones. And we’d mess with the one in front of my middle school. One trick was tapping the receiver in a certain pattern, then you’d hear some clicks then a dial tone, and then you could make a free long distance call. I accidentally learned one day, after someone pulled the wires out from the back (no idea why, probably just someone being dumb and vandalizing) so, while waiting for the buses (usually had about 10 Min after dismissal, and all the kids were outside, was just chaos) and after seeing the wires, I tried to reconnect them. Cot a couple zaps, nothing too bad, then suddenly, all the change came out. Got about $5 in change the first time. So, I rescued the wires, figured out how they went to get it working, and every week, I’d cross them, and it would cause a short or something, and dump all the coins that were inside it. Got away with that for a few weeks until one day it was gone, and a new one was put up a few days later and couldn’t access the wires at all on the new one.

[@deanmires5194]

Also used as special coins for video arcade, when a refund was used for a broken game credit. Again so at the end of the day, those were put back into the "till" and we would track the number of refunds.

[@shellydehart8217]

That’s pretty interesting. I do remember seeing red quarters growing up.

[@GetrightTVVL]

Wish it were still like that that’s called hospitality and welcoming

[@MidStaryNight]

This is fascinating! I ended up with a red coin and a green coin as a child and I never knew why they were painted like that! But, I felt like they were special so I kept them all these years with the rest of my special coins. :)

[@daynasafranek7807]

I was going to mention I had a green one as well, at one time. It’s interesting to finally find out why they are like that! 😊

[@PhoenixHinds]

We had painted coins in arcades in the 80s. When people lost their quarters, we used the painted ones to put in the machines to give them the play they deserved and still keep it separate from the actual machine income.

[@KingWayne714]

Back when times were simpler 😢

[@tragedypimpsexposed]

Cool! Thank you for this. Probably the most interesting thing I've heard this entire month on YT. Thank you.

[@debbieomi]

I worked in a laundrymat that painted quarters for an anniversary celebration. Painted quarters were put into the change machines. I believe we had four colors, each signifying a service the customer would get for free. Each painted quarter was also marked in a specific manner, so people couldn't bring in their own colored quarters. Over the two week promotion, anyone who got a black quarter had their name pit in a drawing for a grand prize. They would receive a month of free laundry and dry cleaning plus about $500 in gift cards that the owner had purchased from local businesses.

[@amber_Forever16]

But if someone got a coin they would now know how to paint them, or was there just one of each?

[@PANZERFAUST90]

laundromat*

[@debbieomi]

@@amber_Forever16 "Each painted quarter was also marked in a specific manner, so people couldn't bring in their own colored quarters."

[@MisterMxyzptlk1972]

Thanks Harry, that was the most useful and thoughtful minute I've spent on KZbin in six months.

[@KoharuUchihaK]

I’m not trying to be rude or anything by saying this but this wasn’t useful you should totally start deep diving into nutrition and get away from big pharma …. I want everyone to learn the truth

[@kuddybeef777]

Idk if you were being sarcastic but Jordan Peterson, Jonathan Pageau and the gospel of Jesus Christ all have a wealth of spiritual nourishment that speak on how sacrifice and intention can bring the deep fulfilling peace and love of God. Hope this makes it's way to you, friend. God bless 🙏🏻

[@kuddybeef777]

I understand to non-believers I might sound crazy.. but understand that relationship with God is The most purposeful and useful thing we can spend our time on while on this Earth. God works all things towards the greater good. The spirit which calls us to our greatest gift to mankind.. even if that means dying to our own selfish desires and dying on our own cross, life will flourish through our sacrificial love and Jesus has faith that you are strong enough to overcome this world and all it's shiny material things.

[@Chris-dm1je]

If you like and comment on videos like these, they pop up more often. I'm seeing quite a few like this now, instead of faked up crap.

[@dk418]

I haven't ran into them in quite some time, but I remember in the 80's and early 90's strange red quarters. After 30 years, I finally understand why. lol, Thanks

[@TimEvans64]

I've come across a few of those quarters over the years. Very interesting story.

[@DamiAnPhilipp]

Yup! My grandparents owned a business that featured a jukebox. We would paint the quarters with red nail polish. My cousins and I used those- we felt very special.