Funny money?

[mcdonaat]

Or really, money that you haven't seen in forever.

Went to the bank, and got $50 out - 20 $2 bills, mixed dollar coins, and a few 50-cent pieces. I like the old 50-cent pieces, and can remember seeing the old Frankin half dollar pieces as a kid. Thoughts on strange money?

[vtk]

My family made a trip to Canada the first year they minted Toonies.  We were going to keep some as souveniers, but my dad spent them. I guess they're common, but they were from the first year...

[realjd]

$2 bills are fun, and it's been years since I saw a 50 cent coin. $1 coins aren't particularly uncommon though. I tend to get them regularly from parking garages, train stations, and change machines.

I'll go get a bunch of $2 bills every once in a while just for fun. It's always fun seeing store clerks' reactions when I send them.

[Stephane Dumas]

I remember the time we got 1$ and 2$ bills. There was a time we got 50¢ coins as well. I still one 25¢ coin commemoration who celebrate the 100th anniversairy of the RCMP in Canada.

[Scott5114]

I buy $2s by the strap (100 bills = $200). Most banks (but not credit unions) will order as many as you want as long as you call in advance and give them a few days to get them in from the nearest FRB.

[corco]

For whatever reason, a lot of Mexican nationals down here hand out two dollar bills as tips. I think at some point a lot of them made their way down to Mexico and just sat in a bank because most are series 1976 and crisp.

The occasional American also tips with a two as a gimmick (it's like "hey! that's neat, you're giving me a decent amount of money" and then you remember that if it were two ones you'd feel like they're cheap), but I'd say like 10% of Mexican nationals I've helped have tipped with two dollar bills.

[mgk920]

I remember the time we got 1$ and 2$ bills. There was a time we got 50¢ coins as well. I still one 25¢ coin commemoration who celebrate the 100th anniversairy of the RCMP in Canada.

Aren't those 1973 C$0.25 coins still fairly common in circulation?  I do know that the RCM ('Royal Canadian Mint') is working on swapping out all of their coins (C$0.05 through C$2.00) from a before a couple of years ago with their new high-techy ones.

As for here in the USA, since the end of the gold standard in 1933, we've had about an 80:1 overall inflation - $1 then had the buying power that about $80 has today.  And yet, the slate of coins then was much the same as today, except that until 1933 we also had common circulation coins for $2.50 ('quarter-eagle'), $5 ('half-eagle'), $10 ('eagle') and $20 ('double-eagle').  50¢ coins ('halves') were more common in circulation than were quarters and nearly all everyday commerce was done with coins *only*.  To have even one $1 banknote in the wallet was to be carrying 'real' money around, much like having four $20s in the wallet today.  A double-eagle had about $1600-1700 in equivalent buying power today, similar to its modern-day bullion gold price.

Also, before the 1930s, we also had banknotes up to $100K - that's nearly $10M in today's money!

For today's slate of coins to match the utility of those of the 1920s and before, we would be using coins for $1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 (nothing smaller) and gold coins for $250, 500, 1K and 2K.  The smallest banknote would be $100.

Amazing.



With $2s, whenever I get some, I'll first process them through http://www.wheresgeorge.com (like I do a lot of my other cash) and then use them as tips.



Mike

[The High Plains Traveler]

 When I was a kid, Franklin 50 cent coins were as common as other change. After JFK's assassination, Congress quickly moved to remove Franklin and replace him with Kennedy. I guess for a while the Kennedy half dollars were treated by the public as commemorative coins rather than common currency, and they fell out of use. I can't remember the last time I saw one. As the point above was made, up until the 1930s we had coinage worth many dollars at a time when that was real money, and now our coinage effectively stops at a quarter dollar. I am personally all for the dollar coin, as I've seen how convenient it is in other countries that use coins for their main unit of currency.

[SP Cook]

When I was a kid, Franklin 50 cent coins were as common as other change. After JFK's assassination, Congress quickly moved to remove Franklin and replace him with Kennedy. I guess for a while the Kennedy half dollars were treated by the public as commemorative coins rather than common currency, and they fell out of use. I can't remember the last time I saw one. As the point above was made, up until the 1930s we had coinage worth many dollars at a time when that was real money, and now our coinage effectively stops at a quarter dollar. I am personally all for the dollar coin, as I've seen how convenient it is in other countries that use coins for their main unit of currency.

Excelent post.

There is a whole group of people that are convinced that 50c pieces are somehow "collectable".  Untrue.  They have no value over their value as money, and, in fact, since many 100s of times of these are kept out of circulation than other coins, are likely, generations from now when they actually reach a collectable age, to be worth far less than other old coins.

There also are people that value $2 bills, "star notes" (notes where a number is replaced by a star in the serial, which is simply a part of the accounting system and has no meaning), "double Texas notes" (notes bearing the "FW" mark indicating being printed in Fort Worth rather than Washington, and being from the Dallas FR branch)  and other such.  None are collectable.

As to $1 and $2 coins, we have to go there.  A $1 bill today is worth about what a dime was in the 50s.  If somebody had proposed a 10 cent note back then, he would have been laughed at.  But that is what we are doing, printing (at a much higher cost than coins) notes that have a very low purchasing power.  The lowest purchasing power of any note in a major country.  We need to do what Canada did.  Just reclaim all of the $1s as they come into banks and issue $1 and $2 coins.  Within a couple of years, it will be taken care of.

[kphoger]

Also, before the 1930s, we also had banknotes up to $100K - that's nearly $10M in today's money!

I was under the impression the very large denominations were only for bank transfers, not as actual pocket money.

FWIW, I stop in at the bank regularly and exchange any cash I have for $1 coins and $2 bills.  That's not very much, though, since I rarely carry more than a few dollars in cash.  And I've never requested more than the tellers actually have in their drawers at the time (no jokes, please).

[kphoger]

I used to have a Polish bank note that said 10000, and another one that said 10.  One was old currency, the other was new currency.  It just looked like a lot of money.

[Stephane Dumas]

I remember the time we got 1$ and 2$ bills. There was a time we got 50¢ coins as well. I still one 25¢ coin commemoration who celebrate the 100th anniversairy of the RCMP in Canada.

Aren't those 1973 C$0.25 coins still fairly common in circulation?  I do know that the RCM ('Royal Canadian Mint') is working on swapping out all of their coins (C$0.05 through C$2.00) from a before a couple of years ago with their new high-techy ones.



Mike

Unfortunately, they had became more and more rarer over the years.

And we'll drop soon our 1¢ coins.

Btw, did someone saw once the Liberty dollars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar  or some community currencies used in some American cities as well as Canadian cities like Calgary and Toronto? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_community_currencies_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Dollars There also the Canadian Tire money used to shop in Canadian Tire stores. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_money

[vtk]

I think I heard recently of a US move to stop minting pennies and nickels.  Makes sense to me, but is it really happening?

[1995hoo]

I remember the time we got 1$ and 2$ bills. There was a time we got 50¢ coins as well. I still one 25¢ coin commemoration who celebrate the 100th anniversairy of the RCMP in Canada.

Aren't those 1973 C$0.25 coins still fairly common in circulation?  I do know that the RCM ('Royal Canadian Mint') is working on swapping out all of their coins (C$0.05 through C$2.00) from a before a couple of years ago with their new high-techy ones.



Mike

Unfortunately, they had became more and more rarer over the years.

And we'll drop soon our 1¢ coins.

Btw, did someone saw once the Liberty dollars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar  or some community currencies used in some American cities as well as Canadian cities like Calgary and Toronto? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_community_currencies_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Dollars There also the Canadian Tire money used to shop in Canadian Tire stores. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_money

I have a 1982 MacPuffin Dollar from Cape Breton Island (it has the Canso Causeway on the back and was worth $1 on the island until October 15 of that year) and a Newfoundland Dollar from that same year (has a picture of a train called the "Newfie Bullet").

When you talk about strange money, I have two banknotes from Zimbabwe. One is denominated at $10,000,000,000,000. The other is denominated at ten times that ($100 trillion). Neither is worth even USD$1 in real terms if you went to a currency exchange!

[rickmastfan67]

My family made a trip to Canada the first year they minted Toonies.  We were going to keep some as souveniers, but my dad spent them. I guess they're common, but they were from the first year...

Yeah, the 1996 Toonies are still very common in circulation right now.  You're lucky to ever find anything newer. (I've only seen 1 or 2 1997's & 1998's in circulation and I saved them.)

I remember the time we got 1$ and 2$ bills. There was a time we got 50¢ coins as well. I still one 25¢ coin commemoration who celebrate the 100th anniversairy of the RCMP in Canada.

Aren't those 1973 C$0.25 coins still fairly common in circulation?  I do know that the RCM ('Royal Canadian Mint') is working on swapping out all of their coins (C$0.05 through C$2.00) from a before a couple of years ago with their new high-techy ones.

Nope, those 1973 RCMP quarters are very rare in circulation.  I was lucky to find one once every 4 years when I visited Canada in change over the past 15 years.

[algorerhythms]

I think I heard recently of a US move to stop minting pennies and nickels.  Makes sense to me, but is it really happening?

It'll never happen. Congress would have to approve it, and they would never do so.

[Special K]

There is a whole group of people that are convinced that 50c pieces are somehow "collectable".  Untrue.  They have no value over their value as money...

Untrue.  The value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

[oscar]

I have a 1982 MacPuffin Dollar from Cape Breton Island (it has the Canso Causeway on the back and was worth $1 on the island until October 15 of that year) and a Newfoundland Dollar from that same year (has a picture of a train called the "Newfie Bullet").

Until 1949, Newfoundland was independent of Canada, and had its own official currency and coinage.  I have a few samples (bought from a coin dealer, not in circulation).

[SP Cook]

There is a whole group of people that are convinced that 50c pieces are somehow "collectable".  Untrue.  They have no value over their value as money...

Untrue.  The value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Umm, OK?  There are no people willing to pay more than the monetary value of any modern US 50c coin.  So they have no collectable value and are unlikely to ever have one.  They are worth exactly 50 cents.

[vtk]

There is a whole group of people that are convinced that 50c pieces are somehow "collectable".  Untrue.  They have no value over their value as money...

Untrue.  The value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Umm, OK?  There are no people willing to pay more than the monetary value of any modern US 50c coin.  So they have no collectable value and are unlikely to ever have one.  They are worth exactly 50 cents.

How about that whole group of people that are convinced that 50¢ coins are collectible?  Wouldn't some of those people be willing to pay more than face value for such a coin?  Or are you now going to assert that every last one of these people builds their collections entirely from coins they find in circulation?



This is random yet seems oddly appropriate:

"How about that money?"

"No way! That's Lois's rainy day fund!"

[ctsignguy]

I used to tell some Canadian friends of mine that you cant take a country seriously when they call their basic money "loonies' and 'toonies'...

[Alps]

I am a coin collector so I could point to a lot of strange examples in my possession. Some of the more notable finds in circulation:
A mint condition 1969 dollar bill
A 1970 S dime from a proof set (in the corner of a dept. store)
A 1970 S quarter from a proof set (in change)
I forget the year, but I have a D over S double strike penny (not at all sure how that happened)
One wartime silver nickel (duplicated my already completed set)

I've never found any of the prior issues of coins in circulation except for dollars, where Anthonys would still turn up with Sacs for several years. I imagine you can't find Ikes anymore because dollar rolls have probably all adapted to the smaller size.

[Scott5114]

There is a whole group of people that are convinced that 50c pieces are somehow "collectable".  Untrue.  They have no value over their value as money...

Untrue.  The value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Umm, OK?  There are no people willing to pay more than the monetary value of any modern US 50c coin.  So they have no collectable value and are unlikely to ever have one.  They are worth exactly 50 cents.

How about that whole group of people that are convinced that 50¢ coins are collectible?  Wouldn't some of those people be willing to pay more than face value for such a coin?  Or are you now going to assert that every last one of these people builds their collections entirely from coins they find in circulation?

I get people all the time exclaiming how rare/valuable the $2 bills I spend are. Funnily enough, I can never sell them one for $4.

[SP Cook]

How about that whole group of people that are convinced that 50¢ coins are collectible?  Wouldn't some of those people be willing to pay more than face value for such a coin?  Or are you now going to assert that every last one of these people builds their collections entirely from coins they find in circulation?

Since I, and anyone, can obtain an unlimited amount of 50c pieces at exactly 50c per at any bank, they would be extremely stupid people.  One might as well say that because a few dolts think McDonald's Big Macs are "collectable" it makes it so.  The are, rather, worth whatever you local McDonald's sells them for.

[SP Cook]

BTW, for a real goofy system, go to the UK.

Coins are issued by the mint, as everywhere.  Notes are a different story.  In England and Wales, notes are issued by the Bank of England, which is the government the same way the US Federal Reserve is.  But the rest of the country is totally weird.  The BoE will issue a not really for circulating BoE note for many millons of pounds to one of three (for Scotland) or four (for Northern Ireland) private banks, or to the governments of its remaining pound using territories (Jersey, Gurnsey, Man, Gibralter, Falkland Islands, St. Helena) who then have the right to issue notes up to that value, which are totally different from one another and from BoE notes.  in Scotland and Northern Ireland, all will circulate together.  So you might get change in a mix of five totally different designed currencies.