Re:Swapping US $1 bills to coins would save 5.5b over 30yrs
by astrodust on Saturday March 05, 2011 @03:27AM
(#2291087)
It's a real nuisance to have US currency where there's stacks of identical looking bills that have wildly varying amounts, though usually after shopping they end up being heaps of $1 bills. You look like a gangster, but you only have $30.
Coins might be heavier, but they fit in parking meters, vending machines, and so on. Ten dollars in change isn't a whole bucket any more.
Re:Swapping US $1 bills to coins would save 5.5b over 30yrs
by rimantas on Saturday March 05, 2011 @12:23AM
(#2290889)
We got rid of anything paper below 10. So now 1, 2, 5 coins (and some for cents) and bills 10 and up. We used to have paper bills for 1, 2 and 5 before, nobody misses them.
I've been spending a lot of time in London recently, and it's shocking how much better things work with coins up to £2 and paper only for £5 and above. First of all, change suddenly is useful again, second of all, if you have paper money it's actually worth something. It used to be this way in the US too, I mean you actually used to buy things with a nickel or dime. Doing away with paper ones should not be such a big deal, it should be thought of as maintaining the status quo in light of inflation, but I guess it's a boiling frog situation.