Money

[Johnny Pneumatic]

Not sure if this is the right sub-forum for this, but what the hell.

Paper money bothers me. It's not the fact that its actually worthless. It's the fact that it gets crinkled up, etc. and won't go into machines. I've gone hungry because a machine won't take my $5. Paper money fades, gets ripped and if washed it can be ruined. Metal coins don't fade (except for copper ones), don't get torn and getting wet doesn't hurt them. They also last a long time. I've spent quarters minted in the '50s. I've gotten pennies from the '30s that were still in circulation etc. So, why is it that we have paper money at all? Why not just coins? Are people really so weak that they couldn't bear to carry a few tens of grams in coins? If it's the counterfeiting thing being easier with a coin, well, put a hologram on it if its for a denomination larger than $1, €1, ¥120 etc.

[godfry n. glad]

In the electronic world, money has only the weight of the tool necessary to access it....usually a credit/debit card.

[Freddy]

In the electronic world, money has only the weight of the tool necessary to access it....usually a credit/debit card.

Yeah, paper money is on its death knell.

[Sock Puppet]

godfry's quite valid point notwithstanding, if it's between paper money and all coins, I'll keep the paper. I'm not carrying one of those damned man-purses.

[Crumb]

I'm not carrying one of those damned man-purses.
What if you called it your "ball sack"?

[Sock Puppet]

Then it would be confused with my wife's purse, where my testicles are normally kept.

[Dingfod]

I have taken as much as $1200 in cash with me on vacation road trips. That would be a large bag of coinage. I can't imagine flopping that 10 pound sack of coins on the counter at the Conoco Travel Stop and counting out Sacagawea dollars to pay for my tankfull of gas and cola slurpy.

Nevermind, I just imagined it.

[ChuckF]

I couldn't flip through $97 in coins the the same way I flip through $97 in small bills and make myself believe I actually have some money.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

godfry's quite valid point notwithstanding, if it's between paper money and all coins, I'll keep the paper. I'm not carrying one of those damned man-purses.

So you're a nudist then? One of the few reasons I wear clothes is the pockets.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I have taken as much as $1200 in cash with me on vacation road trips. That would be a large bag of coinage. I can't imagine flopping that 10 pound sack of coins on the counter at the Conoco Travel Stop and counting out Sacagawea dollars to pay for my tankfull of gas and cola slurpy.

Nevermind, I just imagined it.

Surely it wouldn't be so bad if there were $5, $10, $20, $25, $50, $75 and $100 coins? Also make the coins thinner, but out of a more durable metal, say stainless steel. Maybe the high denomination coins would be made of inconel - would help to prevent counterfeiting along with the hologram the coin bears because it's a *very tough* metal to tool and it's expensive.

Anyhoo, electronic money cards are the way of the future it seems, but I do like coins. Maybe they could make the card out of metal. It could be engraved and all pretty and has the smart chip inlaid somewhere in it.

[Dingfod]

I already use an electronic money card, it's called a debit card.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I already use an electronic money card, it's called a debit card.

Tell me more about this "debit card".

[Joshua Adams]

I must say this is the worst idea ever. Is it that hard to check your pockets before throwing your pants in the laundry?

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I must say this is the worst idea ever. Is it that hard to check your pockets before throwing your pants in the laundry?


Surely sticking a live hand grenade up one's rectum is a worse idea than this.

No, but like all faulty humans I sometimes forget. Also, I cannot control all the other people that tear up the money I get ahold of. Most of the damaged cash that comes into my possession wasn't harmed by myself.

[Dingfod]

I already use an electronic money card, it's called a debit card.

Tell me more about this "debit card".Well, it's not really an "electronic card", but I buy stuff using the card, the merchant gets paid electronically, the money comes right out of my bank account. It eliminates need to carry any money around, let alone a big bag of coinage.

[ChuckF]

Also, I cannot control all the other people that tear up the money I get ahold of. Most of the damaged cash that comes into my possession wasn't harmed by myself.
I haven't had big problems with mutilated cash. I can't remember the last time I've gotten a bill I couldn't use.

Also, coins are easier to lose than bills. I don't think I'd want $50 in change falling out of my pocket when I lean back during a movie. But I'm all about some electronic transactions. (Especially credit card - I'm addicted to the rewards points.) I only use cash on very small purchases and when I shop at locally owned small businesses - it saves them the transaction fee on the credit/debit transaction.

[California Tanker]

I got quite an education on the massive lobbying that goes on in order to keep paper money as the standard: Basically all the reprinting and re-issuing that goes on is good business. Once a coin is minted, that's it. It's in circulation for decades. A note lasts a couple of years before it's shredded and a replacement note is printed. Basically, there's money in money.

I'm a definite fan of the dollar coin, but it has to be sufficiently different from all others in size. I can stick my hand in my pocket in the UK and know for a fact that I'm holding a pound coin without 'feeling around.' Ditto a 50p piece. Old Irish coins were the same way. The Saskawathingy (Can't be bothered to spell it right) coin is too close to quarter sized.

NTM