El Cortez and Ellis Island Make It Easy to Turn Spare Change Into Real Money, Fee-Free

By Scott Roeben, on March 24 2016
2 min read 6 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Casinos

The need to turn in one’s spare change for “real money” might not come up too frequently, but when it does, it’s nice to know there are still Las Vegas casinos that make exchanging coins for paper money easy.

Downtown’s El Cortez is one of those Las Vegas casinos. This casino on Fremont East still has coin-operated slots, but the cage won’t accept pennies or dimes for paper currency.

The casino does, however, have a convenient way to turn your coins into spendable cash.

El Cortez coins change sorter
The change sorting machine at El Cortez symbolizes what humankind can achieve if we’re able to take our eyes off the Kardashians for a damn second.

The machine sits pretty close to the main casino cage, just outside the casino’s intimate high limit slots area.

The machine takes a variety of coins, sorting them at high speed. If you’re a nerd for mechanical devices, you’ll find this one mesmerizing.

Here’s a look at the change sorter in action.


Granted, it’s possible we have far too much free time.

Once the coins are sorted and counted, the machine spits out a slip that can be cashed at the casino cage.

The best part? There’s no fee or commission.

This is a great casino amenity at El Cortez, and little touches like this are a great perk to build and maintain customer loyalty. A change sorting machine turns pocket change into cash that a guest can gamble with, so it’s a win-win.

El Cortez
Yes, wet coins are a concern. It’s downtown.

We went in search of casinos that take coins after the disappointment of learning one of our regular haunts, Suncoast, discontinued offering the service. (After all, why would you want to give players another reason to visit?)

We’ve also learned Ellis Island, just off The Strip, exchanges coins without a fee.

Not only that, if you exchange your coins for casino play, they’ll give you 110% of the value of your coins. To take advantage of the 110% deal, you need to be a member of the Ellis Island player loyalty club. Learn more.

Ellis Island coin exchange promotion
Shout-out to our fellow OCD sufferers. Staring at the 110%. Temples throbbing. Hands shaking. Lower lip trembling. Just let it go.

If you know of other casinos that exchange coins without a fee, we’d love to hear about them.