Funny money?

[Molandfreak]

Get rid of the penny, nickel, and quarter. Establish a new currency equal to 10 of the old one. Dime->penny, half dollar->nickel, dollar->dime.

I approve!

[florida]

I regularly go through rolls of nickels and pennies looking for old dates and die varieties. Two of the most recent "funny money" finds would be an Indian Head Cent and a dateless San Francisco minted Buffalo Nickel (later revealed to be from 1921 after some acid treatment).

[mgk920]

I regularly go through rolls of nickels and pennies looking for old dates and die varieties. Two of the most recent "funny money" finds would be an Indian Head Cent and a dateless San Francisco minted Buffalo Nickel (later revealed to be from 1921 after some acid treatment).

Yea, the only major flaw in an otherwise *OUTSTANDING* coin design - the date on the Buffalo nickel should not have been placed on the highest part of the coin.  At minimum, it should have been incused.

Mike

[ghYHZ]

"Rounding"  has started in Canada and the lowly Penny is officially on its way out! February 4 th was to have been the first day that the penny would no longer be needed in a cash transaction but some businesses have started rounding already. 

For example my Subway lunch today came to $9.93 and I was given a nickel back from a $10 bill. If it had been $9.92.......I would have received a dime back or would only have to pay $9.90.

And it's only for cash transactions. VISA, MasterCard, Debit electronic transactions are still for the actual amount. 

[formulanone]

Speaking of the title, the a mysterious 1913 Liberty Head Nickel just sold for $3 million. One-hundred years old, and still one of the most strange-but-true stories in the world of numismatics.

I had a rather-beaten-up 1908 nickel which I found in my change back in 1981, which launched my interest in coin collecting, so I've always had a spot for the design and it's big "V" on the reverse.

[Desert Man]

I'm for the abolition of the US penny, no longer as neccessary in purchasing power like it was before. Then we debate on how to make change if an item is priced 99 cents, how about we learn to adjust to the new economic reality of pennies are darn useless. Prices can end in "0"s and "5"s to take off the heat of a penniless consumer society. The penny has to go into the trash bin of history or else we carry around loose change that won't buy anything alone.

[mgk920]

If you think that the USA 1¢ is a worthless chip of scrap metal, howabout the Uzbekistani 1 Tiyin?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359



OTOH, according to that linked article, the lowest-value coin with the highest buying power is currently from Norway (1 Krone).

Mike

[Molandfreak]

OTOH, according to that linked article, the lowest-value coin with the highest buying power is currently from Norway (1 Krone).

Norwegians are smart! They got rid of the ore coins a long time ago because they were worthless

[algorerhythms]

If you think that the USA 1¢ is a worthless chip of scrap metal, howabout the Uzbekistani 1 Tiyin?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359



OTOH, according to that linked article, the lowest-value coin with the highest buying power is currently from Norway (1 Krone).

Mike

They changed that article from when I read it... I'm pretty sure when I read it there was a coin from Afghanistan at the top of the list. Also they've added the UK equivalents. Before the list only showed US equivalents.

edit -- I see why they changed it now. Whoever wrote the original version of the article messed up the currency conversion and thought the 1 Afghani coin was worth ten times what it's actually worth.

[agentsteel53]

OTOH, according to that linked article, the lowest-value coin with the highest buying power is currently from Norway (1 Krone).

Norwegians are smart! They got rid of the ore coins a long time ago because they were worthless

I'd be okay with getting rid of everything under a quarter.

I'd even be okay with getting rid of coins in entirety.  the only place I ever spend them is parking meters, and the credit-card ones are getting more and more prevalent these days.

the only time I have a positive feeling towards coins is every several years when I count up all my loose change and discover I have about $350.  otherwise, I hate coins.

[oscar]

"Rounding" has started in Canada and the lowly Penny is officially on its way out! February 4 th was to have been the first day that the penny would no longer be needed in a cash transaction but some businesses have started rounding already. 

For example my Subway lunch today came to $9.93 and I was given a nickel back from a $10 bill. If it had been $9.92.......I would have received a dime back or would only have to pay $9.90.

And it's only for cash transactions. VISA, MasterCard, Debit electronic transactions are still for the actual amount.

Are Canadian retailers doing rounding for electronic purchases too?  I can imagine some customers deciding at the last minute whether to pay in cash or with plastic, depending on whether rounding helps or hurts them on a particular transaction, if retailers don't round electronic purchases too.  (I can especially imagine me doing that.)

Also, are Canadian pennies still in circulation at some level, or have they completely disappeared from circulation?  And if I pick up stray Canadian pennies in U.S. circulation, will I have trouble getting Canadian retailers to accept them (at least five at a time) next time I'm up there?

[ghYHZ]

Are Canadian retailers doing rounding for electronic purchases too?

Electronic Transactions are still for the actual amount. Only cash transactions are rounded.

I can imagine some customers deciding at the last minute whether to pay in cash or with plastic, depending on whether rounding helps or hurts them on a particular transaction, if retailers don't round electronic purchases too.  (I can especially imagine me doing that.)

What!........The most you're going to save is two cents!

I haven't seen a penny in a couple of months (nor want to!) but I'm sure they're still around.......I'm just surprised how fast they dried up in the coin holder in my car.

[bugo]

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.

I paid a quarter for a Venezuelan 20 bolivar coin.

[bugo]

Probably even rarer than $2 bills and half dollars are $50 bills. It's common to see $20 and $100 bills for large cash purchases, but you don't very often see $50 bills. I have seen them, but I don't think I have ever used one.

I see $50 bills all the time.  I occasionally see a half dollar or a $2 bill, and lots of wheat pennies.  I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

[1995hoo]

The ATM at the Citibank near my old office in DC dispenses $50s. Quite useful if you need to withdraw over $200.

The worthless thing I paid a decent sum for was paying $50 to get a Zimbabwean $100,000,000,000,000 bill that was worth less than $10 USD at the time.

[bugo]

When I lived in the north part of Kansas City, the nearby K-Mart (I believe it was on US 69) that had one of those machines near the front door that you put the coins in and twist the handle that usually have bubble gum, small toys in plastic bubbles, or other small objects had foreign money in it.  Bills and coins.  I believe the price was 50 cents (this was 2002.)  I was probably getting ripped off on my exchange rate but it was worth it to acquire money that I would not ordinarily be able to easily obtain.

[agentsteel53]

I see $50 bills all the time.  I occasionally see a half dollar or a $2 bill, and lots of wheat pennies.  I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

the other day in Boston, I received a $50 in change for the first time in my memory - discounting collector shows where 100s and 50s are just about the only thing circulating. 

I paid $100 for a $30 purchase (two tickets to the Prudential Building's observation deck) and was surprised to see the change come back as only two bills.

[florida]

It's not really stupid, given that I have never even seen a 50 cent coin in my entire life.

I have a couple lying around somewhere (of the Kennedy variety). I think my father found them in a shoebox at my grandmother's house or something... at any rate, they were pulled out of circulation 40 years ago. I didn't know you could still go to the bank and ask for them.

You wouldn't believe how many boxes of halves ($500 each) some serious coin roll hunters go through looking for silver ones.

[kphoger]

I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

Are Eisenhowers still valid money?  We have a couple we'd like to give to give to our son for lost teeth, but not if he can't spend them anywhere.  And, also, can you still get them from banks, or do they just float around out there?

[Big John]

I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

Are Eisenhowers still valid money?  We have a couple we'd like to give to give to our son for lost teeth, but not if he can't spend them anywhere.  And, also, can you still get them from banks, or do they just float around out there?

There are still legal tender, but are worth a little bit more as collectors items.  I don't think you can get one from a bank but float around.  They had almost no circulation except at casinos.

[akotchi]

I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

Are Eisenhowers still valid money?  We have a couple we'd like to give to give to our son for lost teeth, but not if he can't spend them anywhere.  And, also, can you still get them from banks, or do they just float around out there?

There are still legal tender, but are worth a little bit more as collectors items.  I don't think you can get one from a bank but float around.  They had almost no circulation except at casinos.

The banks will not have them unless customers bring them in to cash, and even then it is only a few.  (Most dollar coins are the smaller dollars, which are also no longer issued for circulation.)  Very occasionally, I will see them in coin drawers at convenience stores.  Same with half-dollars.

[bugo]

I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

Are Eisenhowers still valid money?  We have a couple we'd like to give to give to our son for lost teeth, but not if he can't spend them anywhere.  And, also, can you still get them from banks, or do they just float around out there?

Yep.  As far as I know, any American coin or bill is still legal tender no matter how old it is.

[kphoger]

I've gotten a couple of Eisenhower dollars in change.

Are Eisenhowers still valid money?  We have a couple we'd like to give to give to our son for lost teeth, but not if he can't spend them anywhere.  And, also, can you still get them from banks, or do they just float around out there?

There are still legal tender, but are worth a little bit more as collectors items.  I don't think you can get one from a bank but float around.  They had almost no circulation except at casinos.

The banks will not have them unless customers bring them in to cash, and even then it is only a few.  (Most dollar coins are the smaller dollars, which are also no longer issued for circulation.)  Very occasionally, I will see them in coin drawers at convenience stores.  Same with half-dollars.

I get the smaller dollar coins from the bank all the time (the presidential ones, especially).

[rickmastfan67]

and lots of wheat pennies.

Whenever I see them in circulation, I keep them.   And I personally keep a 1943 Steel penny in my pants pocket as a lucky charm.

[bugo]

Is a Series 1969A $10 bill in decent condition worth anything?