If you’re in the vending machine industry, or collect money from candy, soda or other vending machinery, you probably have to handle and count a lot of money. Trying to count bills and coins manually, especially in the quantities found in vending machines, is difficult to do. Time constraints and errors pretty much make that impossible. What you need is a vending machine coin counter or a vending machine bill counter.

If you are shopping around for a reliable machine for your vending machine business, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

How many vending machines are you working with? If you only work with a couple of machines a day, a basic bill counter or coin counter will probably suffice. If you operate more than a half dozen or more machines, you will need a more robust machine or multiple smaller machines to get the job done quickly.

Do you have counterfeit bill issues? Many modern vending machines have built-in counterfeit bill detectors. If you use an older machine, or one that doesn’t incorporate this technology, you may want to consider using a bill counter with counterfeit detection capabilities. Most modern bill counters (equipped with counterfeit detection) have ultraviolet detection (UV), magnetic detection (MG) or both.

What types of coins do your machines handle? Be sure the coin counter or sorter you buy can handle all the denominations your machine handles. Most vending machines take just nickels, dimes and quarters, which most coin counting machines handle. If your machine takes dollar coins, tokens or other denominations, you will want to verify that the machine you are buying can handle those coin types.

Are bills pre-sorted by the vending machine? Most vending machines, that accept bills, keep counted bills in a stack. While some vending machines sort bills, most do not. The majority of bill counters give you a bill count, not a value count. This means if you put in 25 mixed bills, the machine will simply tell you that you have 25 bills. If you need the bill counter to also provide you with a value, you will need what’s known as a bill discriminator.

Now that we have answered a few questions, here are a few machines that I would recommend.

Recommended Coin Counters

• ABC110 Coin Counter & Sorter
• Cassida C200 Coin Counting and Sorting Machine
• Semacon S-120 Coin Counter
• Semacon S-530 Industrial Coin Counter & Sorter

Recommended Bill Counters

• ABC1150 High-Speed Bill Counter
• Cassida 5520 Automatic Currency Counter
• Cassida 6600 Money Counter
• Semacon S-1100 High-Speed Money Counter
• Semacon S-1400 Industrial Bill Counter

We offer a great selection of bill counters, coin sorters and counterfeit detectors that should help keep your vending machine business running efficiently. You can find our entire selection of money handling equipment here. Please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our money handling experts. They can help answer your questions and help you find the right machine for your business.

When shopping around for a bill or currency counter, you want something that is extremely reliable and durable…right? If so, you may not necessarily want to go with the cheapest money counter out there. While this isn’t always the case, you often get what you pay for. One high-quality line of bill counters you may want to use is made by Semacon.

Because Semacon bill counters go through rigorous testing, are made in high-quality manufacturing plants out of Japan and feature one of the best warranties in the industry, they aren’t the cheapest, however, they are considered by many to be the best.

Semacon bill counters go through a rigorous “burn-in” process. This means that bills are run through them to ensure that they will definitely work right out of the box. This is a huge relief for many businesses that need things to work right the first time.

Many Semacon bill counters are also made in Japan, rather than China. While this may not be a big deal for some people, Japanese factories are known for their state-of-the art facilities and excellent quality control. Quality is not sacrificed to make a buck.

While Semacon bill counters are not the cheapest currency counters on the market, they are by far some of the most reliable. If you consider that a cheap bill counter may last a few months to a year, and a Semacon machine will probably last several years, the Semacon money counter ultimately ends up being the best deal.

Semacon also offers one of the best warranties around. Their unconditional warranty includes limitless and free tech support and training (over the phone).

So who uses Semacon currency counting machines? These are just a few of the businesses that have high-volume counting needs that often rely on Semacon.

• Banks
• Credit Unions
• Casinos
• Vending Operators
• Amusement Operators
• Retail Stores
• Restaurants

Here are 5 great Semacon bill counters that you may want to consider using:

• Semacon S-1000 Mini
• Semacon S-1015 Mini w/ UV Detection
• Semacon S-1025 Mini Currency Counter w/ UV and MG Detection
• Semacon S-1100 Series Bill Counters (S-1100, S-1115, S-1125)
• Semacon S-1400 Series Bill Counters (S-1400, S-1415, S-1425, S-1450)

At ABC Office we are currently offering some of the best prices available online for Semacon bill counting machines. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better price. If you do, let us know and we’ll match it!

You can find our entire selection of Semacon money handling equipment here. Please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions regarding Semacon bill counters.

When it comes to handling money, counting individual bills by hand simply doesn’t make any sense. Human error alone can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars over a long period of time. It also costs money to pay someone to count money. Most businesses, banks and other organizations, that handle money on a daily basis, use bill counters like the Cassida 85. We recently got a chance to break one out of a box and film a video demo.

Once we had the box in hand we tore into it. We removed the Cassida 85 and it pretty much worked right out of the box. There was no special assembly required. I have used dozens of different bill counters over the years and this one is very similar in setup and operation.

One thing that sets the Cassida 85 apart from much of the competition is the build quality. While a lot of the shell is made from plastic, it is built on a sturdy metal frame and features a lot of metal components. Even the plastic that is used feels and looks to be of a higher grade than what you usually see.

Money can be dirty, and much of it contains trace elements of narcotics, dust and a lot of other stuff you really don’t want to inhale. The Cassida 85 uses an air filtration system that helps keep the air clean while it flies through bills. This is also extremely nice for those of you who suffer from allergies.

Here is a video demo of the Cassida 85 in action:

The Model 85 is available in three different configurations. You can buy it as a standard counter, with ultraviolet counterfeit detection capabilities (Model 85 U) and with magnetic and ultraviolet counterfeit detection (Model 85 UM).

These are all 3 versions of the Cassida 85:

• Standard Cassida 85
• Cassida 85 U (Ultraviolet)
• Cassida 85 UM (Ultraviolet / Magnetic)

With variable speed counting, the Model 85 can count bills at speeds of 900, 1200 and 1500 bills per minute. Compared to the competition, this is screaming fast. It can also batch count and has a huge hopper that can hold up to 1000 new bills or 500 used bills. Few money-counting machines have this kind of capacity.

You can find our entire selection of bill counters here and counterfeit bill detectors here.

Counterfeit money has always been a problem, and as a result, the U.S. government has spent over a decade producing a new $100. This new bill is packed full of useful features, which I will cover in this article. As a result of this new design, many counterfeit detectors will either need to be updated or they will become outdated. Cassida, one of our leading counterfeit detector manufacturers, is prepared for this new shift in currency, as I will also discuss in this article.

The new $100 bill has many features that currently exist in the older bill, however, a few additional things have been added. These are the counterfeit prevention features you will find in the new $100 bill:

• 3-D Security Ribbon – A vertical blue ribbon, which goes through the middle of the bill, will change from bells to 100s as the bill is tilted back and forth. This ribbon is woven into the bill, not printed.
• Bell in the Inkwell – A color-shifting bell, that sits in a copper inkwell, will change from copper to green as the bill is turned.
• Portrait Watermark – A watermark of Benjamin Franklin is located on the right side of the bill. This watermark becomes visible when held in front of light.
• Security Thread – A security thread, currently found on $100 bills, is laid vertically through the bill. This thread can be seen when placed in front of light and will glow under a UV light.
• Color-Shifting 100 – A color-shifting number 100 is located in the bottom right corner of the $100 bill. This number will shift colors as the bill is tilted and moved around.

These are just a few of the most obvious counterfeit detection measures incorporated into the new bill. Many other features, less prominent, are also included. This includes microprinting, raised printing, FW indicators, Federeal Reserve indicators, serial numbers, symbols of freedom (such as phrases from the Declaration of Independence and the quill the Founding Fathers used to sign the historic document), a large gold 100 on the back of the bill and much more.

As previously mentioned, over a decade of research as gone into making the new $100 counterfeit proof. While the new currency will begin circulating within the next year, older $100 bills will still be considered legal tender. You can read more about the new $100 bill here.

As new bills are released into circulation, older counterfeit detectors become deprecated and useless. Luckily, many manufacturers make their counterfeit detectors upgradeable via a software update. Cassida has updated their entire line of currency counters and counterfeit detectors to handle the new $100 bill in advance.

Cassida, a customer favorite, has been working with the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing since 2010 and completed calibration of all their machines in February 2011. This is a pretty huge advantage if you are in the market for either a counterfeit bill detector or a bill counter with counterfeit detection capabilities.

You can find our entire line of Cassida products here, our entire line of counterfeit bill detectors here and our entire line of bill counters here.

Please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions regarding Cassida and the new $100 bill.

Counting money by hand is a time consuming process. Accuracy can be dramatically improved, along with speed, by using an automated currency counting machine. The only downside of a standard currency counter is that they can’t catch counterfeit bills. If you need speed, accuracy and the ability to scan for counterfeit bills, consider a machine like the Semacon S-1015 Mini UV currency counter. This is my review.

Semacon may not know for making the cheapest bill counters available, but they are known for making some of the highest-quality bill counters around. Many of their machines are manufactured in Japan, where quality control is significantly higher than in other manufacturing countries. Their machines are “burned in” and tested prior to packaging, ensuring a working machine out of the box.

Semacon currently manufactures a wide range of currency counters, coin counters and coin roll crimping machines. You can find their entire line of money handling equipment here.

The Semacon S-1015 Mini UV is a compact currency counter, designed from the ground up to quickly count bills, tickets, coupons, paper and more. It is one of Semacon’s “mini” counters, designed to be more compact than standard currency counters and far more portable.

One of the biggest benefits of the S-1015 Mini UV is that it has ultraviolet counterfeit detection capabilities. If you have ever held a U.S. $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100, you’ll notice several UV features that glow. These same features are scanned by the S-1015 Mini UV. If these features are not present, the bill counter will promptly alert you to the possibility of a counterfeit banknote.

The digital display, located on the S-1015, is found on the top of the machine. This makes controls easy to access and data easy to read. This display will provide you with a running total on what’s going on. You can set the S-1015 to provide you with the total count of an individual stack of bills, or you can set it to provided you with an added total of several stacks of bills.

The control panel is easy to use. A bright green button turns the counter on and a red button stops the machine. A UV button allows you to toggle the counterfeit detection on and off and a batch counting button makes it easy to set up batch counting for various amounts.

Not only does this currency counter handle money, but it can also be used to count other denominations (including Canadian), as long as they fall within the 115 x 50 to 167 x 85 mm minimum and maximum sizes. This can also be used to count tickets, coupons and paper.

Overall I am very impressed with this counter. The build quality is exceptional, up to par for daily use. It should easily hold up for years and is perfect for use in grocery stores, retail shops, banks, credit unions and more.

You should be aware, however, that this counter will not provide you with the actual dollar amount of the bills being counted, just the total quantity. Few currency counters provide a dollar amount and those that do are called currency discriminators.

You can find the Semacon S-1015 Mini UV currency counter here and our entire selection of currency counting machines here.

If you handle currency on a daily basis, in excess of a few dozen bills, you may need an automatic bill counter. If you’re like most retail businesses, you probably handle well over a few dozen tangible bills per day. Banks, retailers and other businesses often have to count these bills at the end of the day. Manually counting money is not only slow, but also notoriously inaccurate. So are automated bill counters more accurate?

Bill counters use a special photocell to count bills. Paddles and rollers inside the bill counter pull bills into the machine. As the bills pass these photocells, the sensor lets the machine know electronically that a bill has been counted. The entire process takes microseconds, with many bill counters capable of counting thousands of bills per minute.

I have personally used over a dozen different brands, makes and models of bill counters. One thing they all seem to have in common is accuracy. I purposely run bills through currency counters repeatedly over and over to verify the accuracy. I have yet to experience an issue with a currency counter reporting a different number the 2nd or 3rd time running the stack through the machine.

So in answer to the question, “Are Bill Counters 100% Accurate?” I have to answer “yes” with a few stipulations. First off, the bills need to be either new or used bills that are completely in tact. The good news is that most modern bill counters have error detection.

Most modern bill counters will let you know if multiple bills have accidentally been pulled through, if a bill is torn in half or if the bill being counted isn’t the right size. This detection cuts down on pretty much every error out there. Many bill counters now even include counterfeit detection capabilities.

When I answer “yes” to bill counters being 100% accurate, I am also assuming that the bill counter is in 100% working condition. I have to admit though that I have never had a customer call back complaining that their bill counter isn’t accurate. If bill counters weren’t accurate, nobody would use them. It’s that simple.

You can find our entire selection of automated bill counters here, our entire selection of coin counters here and our entire selection of counterfeit bill detectors here.

When you think about bill counters, brands like Semacon, Cassida and Klopp are probably a few that come to mind. One of the most popular brands, however, is Magner. One of our most popular Magner bill counters is the Magner 35-3 high-speed bill counter. It has been around for years and has developed quite a reputation. This is my review.

Magner is a very popular manufacturer of bill counters, coin counters, coin wrappers and counterfeit detectors. They are well known for their Model 20, Model 75 and Model 75V. While these are all great machines, their most popular machine, according to our customers, is the Model 35-3.

If you have ever used a bill counter, you may know that one of the most frustrating things about using one is the issue of misfeeds. While this doesn’t occur with all counters, many require adjustments and finicky settings to work correctly. The Magner 35-3 works as advertised right out of the box. While there are some adjustments that can be made, few are required.

Magner claims that the 35 series is the longest-ever produced bill counter and the #1 best selling bill counter in the world. While I can’t confirm all these claims, I can tell you that it is a solid bill counter. Here are a few reasons why.

To begin with, it is accurate. You can take a stack of bills, place them in the hopper, and it will count them with extreme precision every time. When operating a business, accuracy can mean a big difference. When operating a bank, accuracy can mean someone’s job.

Speed shouldn’t be an issue with the 35-3. It has a variable speed motor, capable of counting bills at 600, 1200 or 1500 banknotes per minute. Simply select the desired speed from the control panel. As someone who has used several bill counters, I can vouch for the fact that 1500 bills per minute is screaming fast.

The Magner 35-3 is great at detecting flaws in bills and feed issues. It has a double, chain and half-note detection. It will also alert you in the rare event that a jam occurs. It also has 5 adjustable density settings, making this bill counter idea for use with not just US currencies, but foreign currencies as well.

The control panel is very easy to navigate. A digital display lets you know what’s going on at all times. The display also provides you with a total number of bills counted.

The Magner 35-3 can handle be set up for standard counting, batch counting or accumulative counting. Standard counting resets the machine every time a new stack of bills are placed in the hopper. Batch counting lets you tell the machine how many bills to count before stopping. Accumulative counting remembers previous counts and keeps them all tallied until reset.

You will want to be aware that the Magner 35-3 does not sort bills, it only counts them. It will give you a total number of bills counted, not a total value of bills counted. If you need the actual dollar value, and to have the bills sorted, you will need what’s known as a bill discriminator. Most people are fine with the total number of bills and bills are typically pre-sorted prior to counting.

From start to finish, the Magner 35-3 bill counter is a high quality and accurate machine. Considering how long it has been around, the fact that it has been time tested with customers and is made from high-quality materials, you will more than likely be highly satisfied with this machine.

You can find the Magner 35-3 automatic currency counter here and our entire selection of bill counters here.

If you still have questions about bill / currency counters, feel free to call and speak with one of our money counting specialists by calling 1-800-658-8788. Have a great day!

A few months ago I wrote an article about how the U.S. government has seriously messed up the printing of the new $100 bill (found here). That article turned out to be pretty popular with our blog subscribers. Since we sell bill counters and counterfeit detectors, I thought it would be appropriate for me to point out a few additional interesting facts about modern U.S. currency.

I have gathered together many of these facts from my own knowledge on money, articles I have read and from a great article entitled “All About the Benjamins” written by Rachel Arndt with Fastcompany.com magazine.

Did You Know?

• There are 4.42 billion more $1 bills in circulation than $100 bills.
• The U.S. printed 26 million bills a day in 2009, equaling $907 million dollars.
• Three of our currency denominations feature people who were never presidents. These are Benjamin Franklin ($100), Alexander Hamilton ($10) and Sacagawea ($1 coin).
• About 1 in every 10,000 bills in current U.S. circulation is counterfeit.
• About 90% of U.S. paper money has traces of cocaine on it.
• In 1910 there was about $3.1 billion in currency circulation in the U.S. Today that amount is about $888.3 billion in circulation.
• The $5 bill has the shortest lifespan of paper currencies, lasting about 16 months. The $100 bill has the longest lifespan at 73 months.
• It costs 1.6 cents to produce a 1-cent coin.
• The U.S. Mint ended up losing $2.2 million dollars making nickels and $19.8 million making pennies in 2009.
• Even with all the credit and debit cards used today, 35% of all U.S. transactions are still made with cash.

Those are some pretty interesting facts. Even though only 1 in every 10,000 bills is counterfeit, this can vary from city to city and state to state. It is still a good idea to verify the authenticity of your bills by scanning them with a counterfeit bill detector. You can find our entire selection of counterfeit bill detectors here.

If you are a business that continues to conduct a lot of transactions using cash, you may be in need of a bill counter. At ABC Office we carry a huge selection of bill counters found here.

Do you know any fun or interesting facts about money? Feel free to post your thoughts and ideas in a comment!

Currency counters, sometimes called bill counters and money counters, are used by banks, retail stores and other organizations to count banknotes. These machines are designed to be extremely accurate. So how does a currency counter actually work? Here are a few details that may help answer that question.

To begin with, all currency counters have a special hopper where bills are placed. The amount of bills that can be placed in the hopper vary. As a general rule, a bill counter can usually accept about half the used bills as it can new bills. If your machine can accept 100 new bills, it will usually accept about 50 used bills.

Most bill counters use some sort wheel or roller to pull money into the machine. The bill counters I have used utilize a rubber wheel that has special groves on it, making it easier to pull the bills in without jamming. Some bill counters require fanning of the bills before they are placed into the machine.

As the bills are pulled into the currency counter, special fanning wheels separate the bills. These fanning wheels look a lot like a circular plastic claw. As these bills are run through the machine, the pass in front of an optical sensor that detects the edge of the bill. As each bill runs past this sensor, it is counted up and added to a final tally.

The entire counting process, from start to finish, takes just milliseconds. Many currency counters can count on average 1,000+ bills per second.

Additional Features

Some currency counters are now available with optional counterfeit bill detection. This is done by implementing magnetic ink detection (MG) and ultraviolet bill scanning (UV) properties. Both of these technologies catch most counterfeit bills. Currency counters with counterfeit bill scanning technology with utilize MG scanning, UV scanning or both.

Many currency counters now offer the option of batch counting. This means you can tell the machine that you want it to count 10 bills and then stop. This may be for organizational or storage reasons. Once the counter has counted 10 bills, you remove the stack and it begins counting again. The batch amount can be changed by the operator.

Many people don’t realize this, but most currency counters can be used to also count coupons, tickets and other paper. Just be sure the material you are counting fits within the bill counter’s size specifications.

Many customers ask me if currency counters will sort bills or provide the monetary value of the bills counted. The majority of currency counters do not provide you with the value of the money counted. They typically give you the total number of bills counted. If you need a machine that sorts and provides a dollar value of the money counted, you will need a currency discriminator (aka bill discriminator).

You can find our entire selection of currency counting machines here. Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any currency counter questions.

There are a log of bill counters out on the market, some of which tout features like dust extractors, shields and filters. So do you really need these special filters to properly count money? I’ll explain why you may or may not want these features.

To begin with, money is dirty. Just think about where it has been. It sits at the bottom of purses, in wallets, on the floor, floating around in a pocket next to who knows what. Money contains germs, dust, trace elements of narcotics and more.

As money runs through a bill counter, particles on the bills can become loosened and become airborne. I have found that this dust can agitate people who suffer from respiratory ailments and allergies. Most people, however, won’t notice much difference.

If you are sensitive to dust, I do highly recommend using a bill counter with either a dust extractor, a shield or a combination of both.

Dust extractors on bill counters are fairly rare, however, manufacturers like Cassida and Semacon both manufacture counters with dust extracting filters.  The Semacon S-1400 series of bill counters are prime examples of machines that combine both dust extractors and shields.

Another great option, that is more common than dust extractors, is a protective shield. Bill counters with shields have a special plastic cover that is pulled down during the counting process. This keeps bill dust from becoming airborne.

I wouldn’t count a bill counter out for not having these features as I don’t personally notice a difference either way, but it is nice to be aware of your options.

You can find our entire selection of bill counters here. Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any bill counter questions.