The Complete Handbook of Coin & Bill Counters

Decent overall, but the chapter on installation felt a bit thin for my situation - I run a small retail shop and just needed something simple. The first chapter really is the best part; it explains how the machines actually work without all the jargon. I wish they had spent more time on basic ' will this thing count my cash drawer in under ten minutes' type questions. It's a useful book, just not as practical for a small operator as I hoped.

I'm a hobbyist coin collector and I picked this up mostly out of curiosity. It reads more like a textbook for a cash-room manager than a guide for someone like me. The spec tables and the talk about 'total cost of ownership' are interesting, but I skipped a fair amount. If you work in retail banking or run a busy till, this is probably a five-star book. For me, it's a bit too much.

This is the first book I've found that explains the difference between a UV sensor and a magnetic ink sensor without sounding like a sales brochure. I manage a busy restaurant and I used the buying framework to get a machine that suited our volume rather than the cheapest one on the shelf. The troubleshooting section saved us a service call already - it was just a jammed roller, not a broken machine. Minor gripe: the glossary is good, but it could have used a few more wear-part terms.

I respect the neutral, technical tone, but I felt the book was a bit too cautious. It spends a lot of time explaining things I could have figured out, like 'test the machine with your own cash' - which is obvious if you run a vending route. The first chapter is solid, and I did use the maintenance checklist to set up a monthly cleaning routine. It just didn't blow me away. It's a reference, not a revelation.

I bought this for our credit union's cash-handling team to have behind the counter. It's genuinely neutral - it doesn't push one brand, and it doesn't overstate what a cheap machine can do. I particularly liked the concrete scenarios in the choosing chapter, because they matched our situation exactly: high volume, multiple denominations, and a staff that isn't full of gearheads. It's a bit dry in places, but it's a reference book, so that's fine. Four stars because I wish the photo examples were better.

Finally, a book that treats cash counters like the precision instruments they are. I run a cash-in-transit operation and we've been through four different machines - the maintenance chapter alone is worth the price. It walked me through a sensor-cleaning routine that cut our false counts by maybe 70%. I also appreciate that the authors clearly know the difference between a 'counterfeit detector' and a machine that just notices something is off. This is now the standard onboarding reading for our new cash-room hires. Absolutely recommend.