Anybody have a "Chawly Changer" coin dispenser?

[hyeTotum]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Welp, I just took the plunge /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smoker5.gif (so to speak) and I'm on the hook for three of 'em......

BTW, it took every fiber of my being to resist ordering the McGill Coin Changer with Black Vinyl Bumpers at the same time!!! (Every newsstand and trolley-car operator in the fifties had one!!!) Soooooo Metro-Retro! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Chawly]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Wingerr,

In reference to your question,

"Just out of curiousity, how would it hold up to a drop to pavement fully loaded? I'm don't plan to test it, but since it looks rather Lexan-ish, how would it fare?"

When I got fifty drops from waist-high on concrete, fully loaded, without breaking, then I knew I had found the right plastic. It was chipped, scuffed, and ugly, but the ledges still were there to hold in the coins. So, then I threw it down as hard as I could. Remarkably, the parts separated, but didn't break.

The plastic is an elastomer modified acrylic. A pure acrylic would be much prettier, but it would shatter. The elastomers make this plastic a little foggy, but it has the long life (without discoloring) of acrylic.

The buttons are made of high-impact styrene.

 

[Wingerr]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Good to know, thanks!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Bucky]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

[ QUOTE ]
Chawly said:
SUPER THANKS to Lurker for starting this message string, and also to Bucky who got the string going in a positive way and for starting strings elsewhere about my Chawly Changer. I appreciate all of the comments from all of you, whether good, bad, or off-subject. No, I don't make much money on this product, but I sure have fun reading all of these messages.

Thanks guys!
Charlie

[/ QUOTE ]

A quality guy and a quality product. Someone who patents his own original idea then tries to produce and sell the product himself, deserves as much free publicity as possible if you ask me.

I hope this thread has put your name out there just that little bit more and I am glad to see you on this forum.

Bucky

 

[Lurker]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Thanks for the input, Charlie. And thanks for the great changer and great service! I wish you much success. These things are terrific. I am going to keep you in mind whenever I need gifts.

 

[Aloft]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

I've got a McGill coin changer. . . the one shown on the same web page as the Chawley Changer. If you want to make an impression (whether bad or good, I don't know!), just start pumping out coins using the McGill. The cashier probably won't forget you. . . I got mine when I was defense for a chief's initiation (you Navy and Coast Guard types will know what I'm talking about) and the Master at Arms was quite impressed. Got it 20 years ago, and it's a bit rusty but still works great.

 

[paulr]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

If I accumulate a lot of change I just go slightly out of my way to spend it. For example if I spend $1.63 at the store I'll pull out a handful of change and count out the exact amount, rather than handing over a couple of dollar bills and getting back yet more change. This method doesn't slow anything down (it takes you a little longer to pay but you don't have to wait to get change back) and you get rid of change fairly quickly. The idea of carrying a coin changing gizmo seems silly to me. I've seen some counting machines in banks where you just dump in a bucket full of mixed coins and the machine automatically sorts and rolls them, and that would be fun to have at home, but I certainly don't feel like I need one.

 

[Chawly]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

[ QUOTE ]
Bucky said:

... Someone who patents his own original idea then tries to produce and sell the product himself, deserves as much free publicity as possible if you ask me....

Bucky

[/ QUOTE ]

Once again, thanks for the kind words. But, here you've given a great opportunity for me to change the subject. You might have noticed that the patent is no longer mentioned on my Web site. Also, the patent number is no longer on the Chawly Changers. That's because the Patent Office charges a very large maintenance fee on patents every four years. And, each fee is much larger than the last. My patent wasn't paying for itself, so I stopped paying maintenance and let it expire. We grow up with the impression that if you invent something and patent it, you will be an instant millionaire. But, the truth is that companies don't care to purchase private inventors' patents. In order for them to be interested, you would have to first make a large fortune with your invention, and then become famous with it. One customer of mine said he invented stuff and wrote patents for the company he worked for, and all he got out of it was a paycheck. What he needs to know is that that is as good as it gets in most cases. I think that his situation is really great. Imagine being able to spend your time creating stuff and getting paid for it too!

As for my situation, I'm not independently wealthy, I'm just independently impoverished! But, since freedom was always more interesting to me than money, I guess I'm on my way to what I've always been after.

 

[paulr]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Hey Chawly, you might look for Don Lancaster's book "The Incredible Secret Money Machine" (available printed or in web form on his site, Google for it). He's an electronics entrepreneur whose take on the patent system is that it's more trouble than it's worth, and you should just go ahead and make your product. He gives lots of sound advice about how to make and market stuff economically. He's a little weird about some things, but quite fun to read.

http://www.tinaja.com/ Don's site.

 

[Lurker]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Charlie, that's interesting about your patent. I always thought a patent was like a license to print money, too. I guess the best way to protect your product is to make it better, market it better and provide it at a better price than any competitor would want to. Based on the absence of competition, you must be doing it right. I am surprised that a store like Brookstone or The Sharper Image hasn't picked up this product from you.

The high-capacity pocket changer you mentioned sounds neat. The original is serving me beautifully, but if I paid tolls or fed parking meters a lot, I could see the extra capacity being very handy.

 

[klattman]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

I'm hoping that Brookstone etc. do not get a hold of this idea, because if the patent really has expired, they won't help our poor inventor at all. (Then they can probably stop him from making them and then charge 20-25 bucks at their stores.)

Chawly, I will be buying these things as gifts for a long time, and I am very interested in the extra capacity version. Do keep us posted in the future.

 

[Chawly]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Thanks paulr, Lurker, and klattman. It's interesting you should mention Brookstone. I sent them a sample Chawly Changer about eight years ago. I was hoping they might want to distribute them. They didn't get back to me. When I called them, a secretary connected me to the appropriate person, but he put me on his answering machine. He never got back to me. Maybe I was too smalltime for them to be interested, maybe my wholesale price was too high, or maybe I insulted the dispenser they sold when I referred to it. Their dispenser had the same basic shape as the Chawly, but it was larger, twice as thick, and all of the cells could hold quarters. It only came in black, it used the old crescent-ledge system, and it sold for $8. I don't know why they don't sell it anymore.

 

[paulr]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

I really wouldn't worry about the patent stuff. This doesn't seem like a high volume enough product to get a big predatory corporation's appetite in gear. Look at the McGill changer on Chawly's website. I remember those things from when I was a little kid, so any patents on them have long since expired. And yet they still make and sell them and the market for them is probably about the same as it has always been.

Here's Don Lancaster's famous article against bothering with patents:
http://www.tinaja.com/glib/casagpat.pdf

And a larger collection of such articles:
http://www.tinaja.com/glib/newpats.pdf

 

[hyeTotum]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

A One-Word Product Review: AWESOME!!!

Elaborating...... Colors are ultra-retro -- sorta 50's "bakelite-looking." (The Aqua and Red are killer.....) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif Highest quality -- very professional -- not junk!!! Extremely handy and well thought-out. One of these will be EDC with me from now on! I highly recommend these for gifts to anyone!

Thanks, Chawly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[knickknack]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Has anyone tried this with Canadian coins yet? I suspect it would work, I think the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter are the same diameters.

Chawly, your website says no international shipments, but would you consider shipping to Canada? I was rolling some coins just now, and wishing I could get one.

 

[Lurker]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

I'm sure Chawly can answer this better than I can and his website states that they are for US coins only, but it is my recollection that Canadian coins are the same size as US coins. I think I have some Canadian coins at home-- I'll try to dig them up and try them in my changer and let you know how it works.

I think your Canadian $1 coins will be a problem, but it would help with the other coins (assuming they would fit).

 

[Lurker]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Hey Charlie, that's too bad about your reception at Brookstone. This is exactly the kind of product I would expect to find there. A rare item you never knew you needed until you found one. Maybe they would give it a closer look now that they don't currently offer one of their own.

 

[klattman]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

[ QUOTE ]
hyeTotum said:
A One-Word Product Review: AWESOME!!!

Elaborating...... Colors are ultra-retro -- sorta 50's "bakelite-looking." (The Aqua and Red are killer.....) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif Highest quality -- very professional -- not junk!!! Extremely handy and well thought-out. One of these will be EDC with me from now on! I highly recommend these for gifts to anyone!

Thanks, Chawly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]


I agree, I've been using this like crazy and it's much faster paying exact than waiting for the teller to count out change. I will never have to roll coins again. It's good to see such a well designed and thought-out product for a great price. Thanks Chawley!

Also, I guess it's true that this is too small for some big company to take over, but that's good for us and the many people we tell about such a fantastic product.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Chawly]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

Hey, you guys are FANTASTIC!

knickknack: I never measured any foreign coins to see if they would fit.
Lurker might be right about Canadian coins being the same size as US coins, but I can't warranty the product for fitting other coins. Like he said, the dollar coin is probably not going to fit. You also should compare coin thickness. If you want to try a Chawly Changer, email me at:
[email protected]
and I'll work something out.

 

[Lurker]

Re: Anybody have a \"Chawly Changer\" coin dispenser

I found some Canadian quarters and a dime from my last trip to Canada in 1995. They seem identical in both diameter and thickness to the US coins and they work fine in my Chawly Changer. I don't know about the pennies and nickels, but I am almost certain they are also the same. You should give one a try.