The Baht Dilemma
Christian Feldhaus
back? Not "any" coin, of course -- I only need the 10 baht pieces.
OK, I don't really need them. But they would save me a lot of money ;-)
According to an article in the Dutch newspaper "NRC Handelsblad" these
bimetallic 10 baht coins are accepted as 2 euro coins by most vending
machines. Which is great <ahem> because 10 baht is only about 25
(euro-)cent.
The dilemma of the vending machine manufacturers: They could adjust the
machines so that they refuse the baht coins. But that might also rule
out some "real" 2 EUR coins.
More (in Dutch) is at
http://www.nrc.nl/geld/1006496405617.html
http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/economie/1006412389418.html
So when somebody tells you he is going to Bangkok for a vacation, you
may now assume a second "fishy" reason ...
Christian
Alek
strangely mentioned that the next feature would be about the coins'
similarities but that we here in Asia wouldn't get it as we switch to
Australia at that time!
Anyway I searched the net and found that the coins are suspiciously
similar:
Both round, milled edge, 25.75mm diameter, 8.5 grammes. And,
amazingly, both look the same: copper coloured middle, silver coloured
ring. Well done our glorious Eurocrats for spending years and millions
of our tax money on researching suitable new coins only to come up
with a 2 Euro design identical to a Thai coin one seventh its value.
They really are a bunch of clowns. How are we going to get rid of
them?
Anyway, I suppose I'll set up a coin collectors shop here supplying by
post coins of regional interest to numismatists around the world.
4 x 10 Baht coins for 2 Euros. Any takers???
Philip Newton
Feldhaus) wrote:
> If anybody here goes to Thailand, could s/he bring me some baht coins
> back? Not "any" coin, of course -- I only need the 10 baht pieces.
I got one :)
A colleague of mine recently got back from four weeks in Thailand, and
when she returned, I asked her whether she had any 10 baht pieces left
over. It turned out she had one left, which she gave me. So now I have a
real fake 2 euro coin :P
It'll be interesting to compare it to the real thing when I pick up my
starter kit, hopefully on the 17th. (I don't know whether I'll have the
chance to see "real live" euro coins before that.)
Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <nospam...@gmx.li>
That really is my address; no need to remove anything to reply.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Christian Feldhaus
> Both round, milled edge, 25.75mm diameter, 8.5 grammes. And,
> amazingly, both look the same: copper coloured middle, silver coloured
> ring. Well done our glorious Eurocrats for spending years and millions
> of our tax money on researching suitable new coins only to come up
> with a 2 Euro design identical to a Thai coin one seventh its value.
The problem is not the "Eurocrats" in general. (Who would that be
anyway?) The euro coins are made by 15 different mints, and apparently
there are subtle differences between the coins. Most vending machines
are set up in a way - don't know about the details - that they recognize
and accept all coins from Euroland. You could adjust that recognition,
but then some "foreign" euro coins might literally fall through ...
As for the future, of course nobody in the European Union could keep any
non-EU country from introducing a coin that "works" like one of our euro
or cent coins. So the problem persists, in any country and currency.
> They really are a bunch of clowns. How are we going to get rid of
> them?
Since they are primarily appointed by the national governments, we
should start by getting rid of those national governments ;-)
> 4 x 10 Baht coins for 2 Euros. Any takers???
Now if we could find somebody who pays the postage ... <g>
Christian
Christian Feldhaus
[about the 10 baht piece]
> It'll be interesting to compare it to the real thing when I pick up my
> starter kit, hopefully on the 17th. (I don't know whether I'll have the
> chance to see "real live" euro coins before that.)
Now that you have the real ones <g>, what do you think? Do they look and
feel exactly alike?
Christian
Philip Newton
They feel pretty much the same, but are not exactly identical in
appearance. There is a tiny gap betweeen the central gold-coloured part
and the outer silver-coloured part; someone I showed it to said it
looked as if it wasn't produced so carefully. Or perhaps it's just a
sign of age.
The rim is also different; instead of the milled edge of the 2 € coin,
the 10 baht coin has mixed milled/smooth sections, similar to the 1 €
coin (but each section is shorter; the milled parts only have five
ridges each).
And the coin is not so shiny and the gold part is darker, but again,
that's probably due to age.
I tried to scan in the coins, so can have some impression. But the
colours don't look the same to me as in real life (for example, the euro
coin looks shinier on the reverse than on the front, even though I
scanned in the coins with the same parameters each time).
http://newton.digitalspace.net/baht-euro-front.jpg and
http://newton.digitalspace.net/baht-euro-back.jpg , each about 20K.
Christian Feldhaus
> The rim is also different; instead of the milled edge of the 2 ¤ coin,
> the 10 baht coin has mixed milled/smooth sections, similar to the 1 ¤
> coin (but each section is shorter; the milled parts only have five
> ridges each).
Ah, so they are not fully identical :-) Thank you for the info and the
scanned images! I just read that several manufacturers of machines that
accept euro/cent coins have adjusted or will adjust the coin testers, so
that the baht pieces will not be accepted. IOW, spend yours now <g>.
Tschüs,
Christian
Philip Newton
Feldhaus) wrote:
[10 baht pieces]
> spend yours now <g>.
Not very likely :)
If I had two of them, perhaps, but since I only have one, I don't want
to lose it in the internals of a machine, for whatever reason. I prefer
keeping it for the curiosity value.
Cheers,
Philip [de, en, el (fr)]
Patrick Ahrer
Feldhaus) wrote:
>Ah, so they are not fully identical :-) Thank you for the info and the
>scanned images! I just read that several manufacturers of machines that
>accept euro/cent coins have adjusted or will adjust the coin testers, so
>that the baht pieces will not be accepted. IOW, spend yours now <g>.
Didn't they say at first that when they do that 2 € coins minted
elsewhere wouldn't work as well?
patrick
--
[de], [en], [es]
Christian Feldhaus
> Didn't they say at first that when they do that 2 ¤ coins minted
> elsewhere wouldn't work as well?
Yes, but apparently the software can be adjusted so that all "legal"
coins are accepted:
http://www.rp-online.de/special/euro/2001-1211/euro_automat.html
Don't know how expensive this "finetuning" is, though ...
Tschüs,
Christian
Patrick Ahrer
I wonder if it isn't more expensive than simply losing some money if
people use a Baht coin from time to time. I don't think that very many
of these coins are in European's pockets.
Patrick Ahrer
<andy.r...@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
>Thailand used to be the new Ibitha.
Travelling there is a little bit more expensive, though. So I am not
sure if there are really so many people who actually go there. ;-)
BTW, it's not really our topic, but I am actually not happy about the
fact that you can't say that you'd like to travel to Thailand anymore
because people will always think that you're a sex tourist. I am simply
fascinated by the south-east asian region (including Thailand) and
because of that I'd like to visit some places there (and that does not
include Bangkok's brothels).
>I think it's moved to Iceland now.
Really?
andy roberts
I think it's moved to Iceland now.
Andy R [en,fr]
--
http://www.europa.usenet.eu.org
Europa.* is the usenet hierarchy for europe wide
topics without language restrictions.
andy roberts
>On Sun, 30 Dec 2001 12:47:43 +0000, andy roberts
><andy.r...@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Thailand used to be the new Ibitha.
>
>Travelling there is a little bit more expensive, though. So I am not
>sure if there are really so many people who actually go there. ;-)
>
these days, and Thailand is a popular destination for young people who
stay for a few weeks or more including a "full moon party".
>BTW, it's not really our topic, but I am actually not happy about the
>fact that you can't say that you'd like to travel to Thailand anymore
>because people will always think that you're a sex tourist. I am simply
>fascinated by the south-east asian region (including Thailand) and
>because of that I'd like to visit some places there (and that does not
>include Bangkok's brothels).
>
So it's just the sunshine, island beaches, cheap living and drugs then .
>>I think it's moved to Iceland now.
>
>Really?
>
Well only for the trendy elite with plenty of money perhaps, but I heard
it does have a very exciting and innovative music scene in the summer
months. Then there's the unusual geography with glaciers, volcanoes and
spectacular geysers. I'd love to go there some time.
>patrick