Yay! Have over $80 in change to take to a coinstar machine for an Amazon gift cert!

[DixieGal]

Sort of diagonally on topic...

In Tangier, we had trouble finding mementos to bring back home to the family. There just isn't a fridge magnet and postcard stand to be found. Anyhow, this man with a pushcart set up a stand along the tour route. He was selling sets of obsolete coins for 1 or 5 euros, depending on whatever the man chose to charge. They were nicely glued to a piece of cardboard, safely sealed in ziploc bags. The coin sets made nice souvenirs.

And now back to the previous discussion.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Harry, most US banks will not accept a large amount of coins, even if they are rolled. And, if they do they also charge a fee. Although I can't imagine it would be as high a 9% at a bank.

But, as someone said, that I forgot, if you get the gift card from the coin machine there is no fee. That was what my wife said I think.

BOb

Yep. If you get cash, they take a cut but not if you get a giftcard. Our change jar paid for about 1/2 of DH's Kindle.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I wish we would go ahead and stop printing paper $s. It has been put off three times now... due to people not wanting to change. But, to me we are just wasting money printing $1 notes. I also thing we should stop making pennies too. This would allow room in the cash draw for the $1 coin better.

There's a slot for the dollar coins in the change drawers now, look at the thing the next time you see a cash register -- they usually keep rolled money and paper clips and coins they don't know what else to do with in that slot. My theory is that modern tills are based on a design from when half-dollar coins were fairly commonly used that never got updated.

Besides, if they quit printing dollar bills, they'll have an extra slot from that to keep rolled change in.

The only question I have is are we sure that the coins are cheaper to make than the paper bills? I suppose they would be in the long run, given the greater durability of coins vs. paper bills ....

I'm sure there are studies that have definitively answered the question, of which I am blissfully unaware.

I'm not in favor of getting rid of pennies, however -- that would mostly empty my change jug ... especially after my wife raids it for quarters.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Maybe you need to drop a hand full of $1 coins in it to make up for that.

Originally Posted by NatCh

But I like those! I like to use them as part of a tip at restaurants. No real reason for it, I just find it amusing.

My hubby and I are $1 coin advocates. We have a standing order at our bank for 4 rolls of dollars at the beginning of each month. We use every opportunity to spend them and get them into circulation. They are used for tips when we eat lunch. At one local restaurant, one of the waitresses actually asks us to sit in her section so she can get more dollar coins. I use them when I dash into a convenience store to purchase a soft drink. All those small purchase where you'd either pull out a stack of ones or rummage in your pockets for $.89.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Here in the UK we have a £1 and a £2 coin (our smallest note is £5) and the same is true in the Euro-zone countries too - €1 and €2 coins.

Whenever I visit the US I must admit that I find having to use $1 bills for such small value transactions is inconvenient; personally I find coins to be more convenient. There don't seem to be very many $2 bills around either, which makes it even more awkward.

Any idea why there's resistance to a $1 coin? It would seem to be very sensible. After all, you've had 25c coins for goodness knows how long, and 30 or 40 years ago that had the same "buying power" as $1 does today.

I think the major resistance comes from people who haven't had the experience of living for any period of time without $1 bills. It is highly likely that when I spend a $1 coin in a store that the store will *not* give it back as change. So unless someone actively seeks out the coins, they'll never see one. (Well, unless she's Natch's waitress or mine.) And the lobby to keep the $1 bill is from those folks who invested so much money in developing and deploying the "dollar bill" thingies on vending machines. Every time I've tried, the machines have accepted the $1 coins, so that wouldn't be an issue, but I think that people don't know that most vending machines are ready to accept the coins. I haven't tried throwing the $1 coins in a toll basket, but I regularly use them at the manned toll booths in NY and NJ.


Funny story. About 15 years ago when we lived in Orlando, the toll on the East-West Expressway went up from $.50 to $.75. I drove up to the manned toll booth and handed the toll-taker a Susan B Anthony dollar. She snarled at me "it's 75 cents!". I just smiled sweetly and said, "yes, and I'm waiting for my change." She hadn't really looked at the coin and assumed that I had given her a single quarter. The new "gold" color introduced with the Sacajawea dollars and now being used for the US President's series make it much easier to visually identify the coin as "not a quarter". Unfortunately, the US still doesn't have a good system to assist the sightless. I really like the UK system:
1, 2 are round and copper -- small, large
5,10 are round and silver -- small, large
20, 50 are septagonal and silver -- small, large

(Hmmm... the spell-checker wants me to use heptagonal instead of septagonal. I can see that heptagonal is used more often, but septagonal is still a valid word. Does anyone know the reason why heptagonal would be preferred?)

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by NatCh

There's a slot for the dollar coins in the change drawers now, look at the thing the next time you see a cash register -- they usually keep rolled money and paper clips and coins they don't know what else to do with in that slot.

DOH! You are right of course. I was thinking about the slots for paper money. I know there was a big problem when the $2 bill was being brought back and hyped this was a big complaint. Also, removing the $1 note from the till would allow for a slot for $100... it used to be that these went under the tray in the draw because you got so few of them (from my time at McDonalds I recall) but now adays you see alot more hundreds being used.

BOb

[NatCh]

You may see them, but I certainly don't! It's all Yuppie Food Coupons 'round here.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

The new "gold" color introduced with the Sacajawea dollars and now being used for the US President's series make it much easier to visually identify the coin as "not a quarter". Unfortunately, the US still doesn't have a good system to assist the sightless.

Actually the "golden dollar" as they call it is specifically designed for sighted and sightless. This is why it is a golden color... hard to mistake for the silver color of the quarter. Also, the $ coin has no edge ridges to allow for a sightless person to distinguish it from a quarter. Of course, only a sightless person can tell me how easy that is to deal with.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Funny story. About 15 years ago when we lived in Orlando, the toll on the East-West Expressway went up from $.50 to $.75. I drove up to the manned toll booth and handed the toll-taker a Susan B Anthony dollar. She snarled at me "it's 75 cents!". I just smiled sweetly and said, "yes, and I'm waiting for my change." She hadn't really looked at the coin and assumed that I had given her a single quarter. The new "gold" color introduced with the Sacajawea dollars and now being used for the US President's series make it much easier to visually identify the coin as "not a quarter". Unfortunately, the US still doesn't have a good system to assist the sightless. I really like the UK system:
1, 2 are round and copper -- small, large
5,10 are round and silver -- small, large
20, 50 are septagonal and silver -- small, large

the euro coins have different sizes and colours (some are bicolor) and also have differently crenelated edges to help in identifying them without seeing them. my chiropractor is legally blind and he got a "practice" set of the coins before they were officially released, so he could have time to get used to them ; i saw him on the day he got them and he could already identify them all just by touching the edges.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by NatCh

The only question I have is are we sure that the coins are cheaper to make than the paper bills? I suppose they would be in the long run, given the greater durability of coins vs. paper bills ....

Yes, that is it exactaly. It does cost more to mint a $1 coin than to print a $1 note. However, the $1 note is about 18-20 months in circulation. Also, it is about 40% or more of the money created by the treasury. Where as the $1 coin has basically an unlimited life time in circulation.

Found this on a web site... (yes everything on the internet is fact)

It costs ~16 cents to make $1 coins, and each has a life span of about 30 years. It costs ~ 6.2 cents to make $1 bills, and they have a life span of about 21 months.

BOb

[texasnightowl]

Wow...didn't mean to stir up such a debate!

In the meantime, I did hit the Coinstar Machine...chose the Amazon eCertificate option... My grand total was $91.44 and it worked perfectly. The machine connected online, printed my receipt with redemption code and I just signed into my Amazon account to apply it.

[bbusybookworm]

You know, everyone could do what the Australian's Did and swithch to Polymer notes.

They would definitely have a longer lifespan

Seriously, back to the coins discussion, something similar happened in India, where they slowly stopped printing 5 rupee notes and minted coins insted.

So now, while you may occasionally run into an old fiver, the coin is the standard.

They're talking about issuing a Rs. 10 coin as well, as that is the not that currently gets the most circulation.

[RWood]

Around the Washington, DC area there are 2 banks offering free coin counting machines in their lobby (free to all, even non-customers.)

A penny costs the US Government slightly over a penny to make and deliver to a bank. Some wag suggested that we should follow Hong Kong's lead and go with a paper penny and a dollar coin.

As for the buying power of a dollar, I disagree with Harry's assessment that it is about the same as the quarter was 30-40 years ago. I feel it is more like the dime's buying power. (A quarter is $0.25, a dime is $0.10.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

You know, everyone could do what the Australian's Did and swithch to Polymer notes.

They would definitely have a longer lifespan

The other VERY sensible thing that Australia's done is to get rid of 1c and 2c coins. When you buy anything and pay cash, the total's just rounded up or down to the nearest 5c (which is now the smallest coin).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by RWood

As for the buying power of a dollar, I disagree with Harry's assessment that it is about the same as the quarter was 30-40 years ago. I feel it is more like the dime's buying power. (A quarter is $0.25, a dime is $0.10.)

You've just raised an issue that really bugs me, Wood - a coin that doesn't tell you what it's actually worth .

When I first visited the US, many years ago, I was completely baffled by this coin that just said "ONE DIME" on it. Nowhere does it tell you what this mysterious "Dime" is actually worth in terms of cents.

I'm sure that's something that would never even occur to people who've grown up with US currency, but believe me, it can baffle poor ignorant tourists like me .

[BookishDreamer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You've just raised an issue that really bugs me, Wood - a coin that doesn't tell you what it's actually worth .

When I first visited the US, many years ago, I was completely baffled by this coin that just said "ONE DIME" on it. Nowhere does it tell you what this mysterious "Dime" is actually worth in terms of cents.

I'm sure that's something that would never even occur to people who've grown up with US currency, but believe me, it can baffle poor ignorant tourists like me .

You're right! I'd never realized that the dime could be confusing.

Dreamer