# American money is stoopid! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091 "2011-05-07T20:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/41 "2011-05-08T17:23:30Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Indeed a significant mental stumbling block – doing away with the single dollar note would look to many members of the public as a capitulation to the dollar’s reduction to “mere small change”. They would look upon it as some sort of harbinger of doom, telling tales of how when other nations did away with their _centimes_ or whatever it meant they were on their way down. > > I would find interesting the idea of the dime being the single fractional, prices being quoted as $1.8 or $296.3 OTOH the quarter creates a problem in that scenario as it breaks decimal progression, so you’d have to also interrupt minting of the quarter to create a wide-circulation .2 or .5 piece (or both) as intermediate between the 1 and the .1 I accept that you’re right in your first paragraph, but I don’t understand why. Is it because politicians and voters don’t understand how inflation works? Surely they know that deflation is unhealthy. (IANA Economist: perhaps they know something about deflation that I don’t and are working to return the dollar to its 1950s value.) Re: your second paragraph, Britain does quite well having a .2£ and .5£ coin, but I get the sense that changing the 1¢ / 5¢ / 10¢ / 25¢ set of coins is equally a harbinger of doom, but again I do not understand why. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/42 "2011-05-09T01:20:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And how exactly would this work for the talented street busker? > Now- You toss your coins or bills in the hat while someone plays a melody and/or sings a song. > Idealized Future- You listen, pull out your card, and the busker stops playing and/or singing and/or juggling to whip her phone out of the backpack, you make the transaction, the transaction is confirmed electronically, and she picks up her equipment to continue her routine. > Actual Future- Sorry, but it’s too much trouble to go through all that, and the bus will be here any minute, so screw it. How about—Behind the busker, there is a sign that says, Please send all contributions to [dancer99@yahoo.com](mailto:dancer99@yahoo.com). A couple of clicks on your phone, instant transfer to her account. Hold the phone up towards her and nod. She nods back knowing that you’ve tipped her. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/43 "2011-05-09T02:33:14Z")
Australia got rid of 1 & 2 cent pieces years ago. And despite the prediction beforehand of doom and gloom, rain of fire, blah blah blah, nothing really changed. Everything purchased with Cash is rounded to the nearest 5 cents. so 01 & 02 are rounded down, while 03 and 04 are rounded up. The rounding is only applied to the **total** of the transaction not individual items. The rounding also only applies to cash transactions, if you’re using a card you are charged the actual amount. There has been no “round all items of to something and 01 cent” to gain an incremental benefit to the store, on two points; - the rounding is applied to the total only, - the psychological benefit of the old trick of prices of _x_.99 still prevails. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/44 "2011-05-09T02:41:12Z")
I’m sure the hackers and signal interceptors will be very happy if/when we all go electronic. I mean, it’s not like businesses RIGHT NOW particularly care enough to protect customer information, even with lawsuit potential. Heck, they’ll probably write non-liability into their contracts. As for the subject at hand, it doesn’t seem opaque or uniquely American to me. It’d be a big change for no immediate purpose that is readily apparent to the average Joe. That kind of thing doesn’t seem to be tailor-made for welcoming with open arms. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/45 "2011-05-09T04:06:33Z")
> [@SSgtBaloo](#): > > Just why isn’t the American Treasury deciding to eliminate small change and introduce larger coin denominations? Damfino. I love dollar coins; I get them and spend them every chance I get. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/46 "2011-05-09T04:12:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The trouble with a card-only system is that there is currently no way to make card-to-card transfers. Paying the babysitter or the kid that cuts your grass, honoring the street busker for brightening your day while you are waiting for the bus, buying that cotton candy from the roving vendor while you watch the parade-these things make coins and bills necessary. Eventually, there will be a smart phone app for that. (In case I sound snarky…I’m being serious and I’m looking forward to it!) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/47 "2011-05-09T04:13:24Z")
As mentioned above, do you also foresee a time when everyone, even the poor, will have smartphones? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/48 "2011-05-09T04:42:27Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > As mentioned above, do you also foresee a time when everyone, even the poor, will have smartphones? I can certainly imagine a time when the homeless sell their smartphones for food or shelter. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/49 "2011-05-09T04:53:14Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > [http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/img5/175-227.jpg](http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/img5/175-227.jpg) I originally saw something like that in Hong Kong. When the 10-baht coin first appeared in Thailand, it was worth maybe 25 US cents. Now it’s about 33 cents. But it was discovered that it was about the same size and weight as one of the euro coins, making it very handy for vending machines in Europe. 😃 They’ve probably fixed that problem by now. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/50 "2011-05-09T04:56:45Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > How about—Behind the busker, there is a sign that says, Please send all contributions to [dancer99@yahoo.com](mailto:dancer99@yahoo.com). A couple of clicks on your phone, instant transfer to her account. Hold the phone up towards her and nod. She nods back knowing that you’ve tipped her. Any busker can instantly tell you what is wrong with this plan. She does the act, she sees people hitting a few buttons on the screen and holding the phone up to her. She is happy…until she checks the balance and finds out that nothing got transferred and they were just goofing on her. Also, I doubt very much that this will fee-less transfer, so any electronic coinage they _do_ receive will certainly be less then they got before. Pay the busker-pay the bank. Pay the babysitter-pay the bank. Pay the kid who mows the lawn-pay the bank. And let’s not forget the biggie: Tip _anybody_-pay the bank. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/51 "2011-05-09T07:25:06Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Well, I agree that there have been way too many designs in recent years (Presidential dollars, state and territorial quarters,\* [“Westward Journey” five-cents](http://www.coin-collecting-guide-for-beginners.com/image-files/westward_journey_jefferson_nickels.jpg), [Lincoln-bicentennial cent reverses](http://www.coinnews.net/wp-content/images/2009/Four-2009-Bicentennial-Lincoln-Penny-Images.jpg)). Ironically, I find the Westward Movement nickels and the Lincoln Bicentennial designs the most attractive we’ve had on any coin for a long time. I particularly like the new buffalo nickel, as well as the one with the sailboat. If they could come up with a dollar like that it might fly. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/52 "2011-05-09T07:45:56Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Indeed a significant mental stumbling block – doing away with the single dollar note would look to many members of the public as a capitulation to the dollar’s reduction to “mere small change”. Another issue is that we tend to be so insular, and after what looks like forty years of the dollar’s alarming weakness relative to, first, the major European currencies, and then to the Euro, is perceived to be just an American problem. Goldbugs and similar Chicken-Little types run about saying the sky is falling, because the _dollar_ now is worth a twentieth of what it was in 1903–and never seem to acknowledge that this has happened just about everywhere else as well. In 1903 a pocketful of shillings was probably a week’s worth of pocket money for most UK citizens. But they don’t realize that, and our inflation is seen as a particularly American national shame. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091/53 "2011-05-09T08:23:05Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Ironically, I find the Westward Movement nickels and the Lincoln Bicentennial designs the most attractive we’ve had on any coin for a long time. I particularly like the new buffalo nickel, as well as the one with the sailboat. If they could come up with a dollar like that it might fly. I agree that the first three of the five-cent reverses are fine. Of course the buffalo design isn’t quite an original, but reference to a classic coin as well as an iconic American animal are all to the good here. The Lincoln reverses are hackneyed, especially the children’s-book Abe setting aside the axe to sit on a log and read a book. And I hate when images displace legends. The bottom edge of the reverse side is _the_ correct and traditional place for the denomination in American coinage; graphic compositions should work with that, not against it. Despite violating the straight-profile tradition (which is there for good compositional reason), the Sacajawea or “Native American” dollar is IMO a fine coin, certainly a better overall design than anything else mentioned here. I don’t think its circulating status has anything at all to do with its design. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-money-is-stoopid/581091.md?page=2)