Dollar Coins in Normal Commerce
GFH
one. My bank does not have any. The local post office has never seen
one. I live near Charlottesville, VA.
Does anyone know of a location where these coins are in common use?
GFH
Mr. Jaggers
U.S. dollar coins are in heavy use in various Latin American countries, most
notably Ecuador, because the native coinage is considered to be unstable and
therefore less desirable. Since the small-size version of the dollar was
introduced in 1979, they have been essentially a complete fizzle in their
country of origin, no matter which design you name. There was a brief
period, at the beginning of the Sacagawea design, when Walmart gave them out
in change by the millions, and a period of years when dollar coins were
given as change in postage vending machines in the lobbies of USPS. The
post office in my town yanked its vending machine last year, so that was the
end of that locally, but I can't speak for any other location.
The most common reason given for their lack of stateside use is the
preference for the paper dollar, in spite of its higher net cost, due to the
reality that metal dollars are heavier than paper ones, and the fear that
metal dollars rapidly wear holes in pants pockets.
James
Bruce Remick
"Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote in message
news:hu5mt...@enews6.newsguy.com...
Basically, due to inflation we've come to regard coins mostly as pocket
change rather than as useful money to spend. IMO, were we to mint $2 and/or
$5 coins, that attitude might change, even if the equivalent bills were
still available. Otherwise, the rare dollar coin in change typically goes
into the jar with all the dimes nickels and quarters to be cashed in for
"money" at the appropriate occasion.
Mr. Jaggers
Your use of the pronoun "we" definitely does not include yours truly. I
have no change jar on my hoosier. I don't even have a hoosier.
Granted, I spend change as quickly as I can, for the holes in the pants
pocket reason, but a dollar's worth of coin buys the same as a dollar bill,
and I refuse to treat them with disdain. Heck, I still bend down to
retrieve a corroded cent from a muddy gutter. Then I do what I can to get
rid of it. The number of astonished looks I get from store cashiers
increases as I calculate, in advance, how much coin I will have to tender to
make it so I get only bills in return.
James the Peripatetic Mathematician
Michael G. Koerner
They're commonly used in workplace breakroom vending machines here in the
Appleton, WI area, machines that sell full lunches and take up to $20 notes,
using them for making change.
Also, the toll machines in the downtown Appleton parking ramps use them for
making change - they take up to $20 notes (note, labels on the machines say up
to $10s, but they do take $20s). It's a LOTS better than getting 76 loose
quarters (four short of two rolls) back for the $1-to-enter parking rate.
--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
Mr. Jaggers
Egad, out of nowhere came mein frau just a few minutes ago, bearing a Baggie
containing some $18 in cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters that she has been
accumulating, beseeching me to give her paper for it. Under those
circumstances, the only proper response is, "Yes, Dear." But now I've got
about a pound of metal to carry around. I'll get my revenge, though. Just
wait until she has to repair my pocket.
James
'crow really isn't all that bad if you smother it with ketchup'
Bruce Remick
"Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote in message
You're getting dangerously close to joining "we".
Mr. Jaggers
I just got rid of $4.26 of it, lots of it pennies, at Wallyworld self-check.
Not yet ready to consult a seamstress, nor to rent acreage on your hoosier!
James, Lighter of Weight
Bruce Remick
"Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote in message
Don't dispair. There are many other ways and places you can store
accumulated change.
>
> Granted, I spend change as quickly as I can, for the holes in the pants
> pocket reason, but a dollar's worth of coin buys the same as a dollar
> bill, and I refuse to treat them with disdain. Heck, I still bend down to
> retrieve a corroded cent from a muddy gutter. Then I do what I can to get
> rid of it. The number of astonished looks I get from store cashiers
> increases as I calculate, in advance, how much coin I will have to tender
> to make it so I get only bills in return.
Of course, ten dimes or 20 nickels buys the same as a dollar bill. But
rhetorically, how many people leave home in the morning being sure to carry
the same pocket change they came home with the day before? I, too, will
pick up any penny I see on the ground, maybe because were both old enough to
never ignore this fortunate opportunity, regardless of the actual purchasing
power of a penny. Unless I happen to make a purchase where that penny will
be handy, I'll toss the penny in a jar with the others. Although I do have
a Hoosier, I don't keep my penny jar there. It's a secret. Your
implication that you will carry and use coins to avoid receiving more of
them in change sounds a little confusing, but let me ponder it a bit more.
I'm a lot slower than I used to be.
Mr. Jaggers
If I have, say $1 in change on me, I can be 99% certain that any purchase I
make will make some of it go away. What really gets me is to have 66 cents
and have the total owed end in .67.
James the Obsessive-Compulsive
GFH
> Also, the toll machines in the downtown Appleton parking ramps use them for
> making change - they take up to $20 notes (note, labels on the machines say up
> to $10s, but they do take $20s). It's a LOTS better than getting 76 loose
> quarters (four short of two rolls) back for the $1-to-enter parking rate.
One might have hoped that Appleton was up-to-date enough to use "easy-
pass".
GFH
Nick Knight
06/02/2010
Vending machines in post offices tend to use these for change, at least here
in Cleveland.
Was in Boston a week or so ago. A little on the outskirts (Burlington/North
Billerica). Wanted to take the train downtown. Had to pay for parking,
which required $4 in singles or coins (no attendant on duty). Had to get
$20 in dollar coins from the change machine - 19 presendential dollars and 1
SBA. I paid part of the train ticket price that day with these coins, and
repeated the trip another day and used up the rest.
As someone else said, if vending machines are around, these seem to be
pretty common.
Nick
ste...@no.spam.sbcglobal.net
carkeys, lighter, and $5.67 in change (a little more than usual but a half
and two goldies). In my left, truckbox keys, pocketknife, 66 adapter, ink
eraser, and a 10' metal tape measure. At the end of a working day there will
be also various parts, screws, bridging clips and vrious label covers. This
has been my load for many years, and my pants go out at the knees long
before the pocket can give out. Ever heft a woman's purse ? A few goldies
would not make any difference.
Bruce Remick
"Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote in message
There's always that emergency penny in your loafer, although today I suppose
that space has been enlarged to accommodate dollar coins.
Bruce Remick
<sterrys@ no.spam.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:W5BNn.74540$304....@newsfe12.iad...
You oviously wear work pants made of a hefty fabric. All that pokey stuff
would soon cause a rub-tear in the outer material in most casual pants, even
if the pocket itself remained intact. BTW, around here you probably could
be arrested if caught with a "deadly" pocket knife. When I was a kid, most
every boy had a sheathed hunting knife which was perfectly okay to carry.
Our parents often bought them for us. Switchblades were frowned upon
though.
Personally, I've never hefted a woman's purse. I'm sometimes embarassed
enough about my own wallet.
Mr. Jaggers
Geez, I haven't worn penny loafers for 50 years. They were pretty cool when
I did wear them, though! Drove those 8th grade girls completely insane.
James the Dude
Bruce Remick
"Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote in message
When you were in the 12th grade? ;>)
Bruce
"loved those Snap Jacks".
Scott Stevenson
<lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote:
>Bruce Remick wrote:
>> There's always that emergency penny in your loafer, although today I
>> suppose that space has been enlarged to accommodate dollar coins.
>
>Geez, I haven't worn penny loafers for 50 years. They were pretty cool when
>I did wear them, though! Drove those 8th grade girls completely insane.
I had a boss about five years ago that wore them. I gave her a
couple of well-worn mid-teens wheaties to use in the loafers, and when
I saw her about a year ago, she still had them in.
take care,
Scott
David RUTAN
Transit authorities, like railroad stations might give them out in
ticket machines. Not sure about nation wide, but New Jersey does.
shreadvector
Yup. Round coins do not wear holes in pockets, especailly smooth edges
coins like Golden Dollars (and the incuse lettering does not abrade
pockets since it is incuse).
Car keys poke holes or wear holes in pockets. Especially the newer,
extremely long and jagged keys.
Another way to wear a hole is to carry around a nice sharp-cornered
BEP strap of bills. Those corners will (eventaully) wear through
average pockets.
Jud
> "loved those Snap Jacks".
OMG! I haven't thought of those in years! Yeah, I had a pair, but they
hurt my feet, so one pair and done!
Jud -Sneaker wearer-
Coingirl
I loved Snap Jacks, too. And I had a pair of mustard colored penny
loafers. I know it sounds weird, but they matched a lot of my spring
clothes. But that was a FEW years ago.
And, I work in Iola, about an hour northwest of Appleton. The vending
machines in the breakroom take dollar coins and the change machine
gives them out. Sometimes I change a $5 bill just to get the coins.
But if you travel too far out of the area people don't seem to
recognize them and don't realize they are worth $1.
Bruce Remick
"Coingirl" <debbie....@fwmedia.com> wrote in message
news:55c09e15-2044-4428...@t10g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
They made for great dress shoes-- easy on and off-- for those of us who
otherwise tromped around in those Marlon Brando-type engineer boots and
"dungarees" with the cuffs exposed. In my neighborhood, the Italian kids
discovered them first and the rest of us followed because we considered the
Italian kids to be the coolest dressers.
Michael G. Koerner
> Mr. Jaggers krabde zich op het hoofd en verklaarde te 2-6-2010:
>> GFH wrote:
>>> Are dollar coins being used in normal commerce? I have not seen even
>>> one. My bank does not have any. The local post office has never seen
>>> one. I live near Charlottesville, VA.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know of a location where these coins are in common use?
>>
>> preference for the paper dollar, in spite of its higher net cost, due
>> to the reality that metal dollars are heavier than paper ones, and the
>> fear that metal dollars rapidly wear holes in pants pockets.
>
> 2 Euro and 1 British pound) and they (we) don't carry around coins in
> huge amounts in our pockets. There are wallets (the ladies and gents
> wallets are not alike, the ladies ones are smaller) for that purpose.
> And even then, we don't have that much change with us. Not in pants
> pockets, nor in wallets. We spent it, when it comes to use ;-)
>
> The idea of an one Euro bill is ridicolous around here, specially
> because we are well acquinted to coins. And how to use them ;-)
>
> The 5 euro bill is the smallest bill we have in the Euro-zone.
> Everything less in worth is in coins. 2, 1 Euro. 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1
> Eurocent. Keep in mind that some states have banned the 2 and 1 Eurocent
> shortly after their release. Like Finland and The Netherlands. They're
> not minted anymore. But still in use in the Euro-zone in countries where
> they still use that denomination, like Malta.
The UK has a widely-used £2 coin, too.
Your observation is valid - with high-value coins, you are much more likely to
'spend up' to whatever amount is needed for a 'small-time' purchase (ie, lunch
or a beer), using up and recirculating the coins in your pocket or purse and
lightening their loads, rather than 'spending down' with a banknote and
receiving lots of small coins in change (adding weight to your pocket or
purse) in countries with low-value banknotes (ie, here in the USA).
The effect was so pronounced in Canada when they introduced their C$2 coin in
1996 that their mint did not have to produce any new C$1 nor C$0.25 coins for
at least another 4-5 years. Demand on the Royal Canadian Mint for new smaller
coins also dropped precipitously.
Relayer
> Are dollar coins being used in normal commerce? I have not seen even
> one. �My bank does not have any. �The local post office has never seen
> one. �I live near Charlottesville, VA.
>
> Does anyone know of a location where these coins are in common use?
>
Fr many years, upon arriving home from wrk, I emptied my change into a
coffee jar and started new each day and cashed them in at the end of
the month. 90% of the time, it was between $80 and $90 dollars. What
it told me was my buying habits month to month were basically the same