I have not been able to find a location to exchange european and canadian coins. All the places I called including banks at JFK and LAX only exchange bills.Any suggestions in the NY area?

I don't think anyone will take them. I remember some airline accepting coins as donations while flying back to the USA. I was surprised, while in Heathrow, that they also took my coins along with paper - rotten rate but I didn't have to take it home. I still have a bag full of European coins.

TTT.

When I was in college I worked as a foreign exchange teller. People were always bringing in foreign coins and looking to exchange them. We did not do this and as far as I know, nobody does. So whenever I am returning from a trip, I always put the coins into the envelope for charity, as mentioned by nancy.

Yep - foreign coins are basically souviners. That is why all the airlines collect them for charity. They're totally useless unless you take them back on another trip to Europe/Canada.

American Express kiosks at most airports will, or at least recently used to accept one euro coins along with paper money for exchange.
There is a fee for the exchange, and a debilitated exchange rate.

This is where airport shops come in handy.....stock up on European candy and goodies!

And spend a few on a lovely glass of European wine before you have to board the plane

Giving it to charity though is a nice idea if you don't think you will be going back to Europe in the future (but hopefully you will).

On the whole, it's probably not worth the cost of handling, accounting for, storing and transporting miscellaneous coins. I did once see a machine for exchanging coins (?at Schiphol airport) but the rate of exchange would have been ruinous had the overall quantity and value of the coins I had not been pretty small anyway.

Actually, I keep coins in those little plastic film containers, marked for each currency, but that only works if you travel regularly.

Once again, I am surprised that you cannot find a place to do this type of currency transaction in the world's financial capital.

The local currency exchange that I use buys foreign coins. For example, today's rates show they will buy euro notes for $1.29 and euro coins for $1.04. For sterling, the rates are $1.89 and $1.12 respectively.

Find a friend or co-worker who's going to Europe (or Canada) and exchange with them. Give them a better than market rate on the exchange and remind them the coins will come in handy for little things when they arrive.
Otherwise, save them for your next trip or give them to young kids, who knows, you may start them on a coin collecting hobby.