Am I the only one who always has $23 in change to lug around because of the $2 coin? Jebus, but its fucking annoying!
Can anyone remind me what were the reasons in favour of dumping the $2 note and replacing it with the coin? For that matter, what was wrong with the $1 note?
In most countries, it’s the cost of printing paper notes that wear out rather quickly. Coins don’t.
I’m sorry, but I love the $2 coin. I love thinking I’m flat broke, digging in the couch cushions for a few minutes, and finding enough spare change to buy a couple pizzas. Yesterday, I wanted a coffee and didn’t feel like getting out of the car to go to the ATM (which would entail getting the baby out of the carseat and back again…WHEN will you Aussies discover drive-through ATMS!!!). I opened the little ashtray in the car and found $30 dollars in coins…woohoo!!
That was the reason here too. The $1 and $2 notes used to wear out very quickly. The remaining notes were converted to polymer to lessen the problem.
**buns3000 ** - no, I don’t lament the demise of the $2 note (or the $1 note for that matter either). I’ve got $16 in two dollar coins in my wallet at the moment. I don’t think they take up very much space. Far less than the bulky 50 cent and 20 cent pieces.
I’m Canadian, but we’ve got buck and $2 coins, too, and I love them.
I don’t end up with excessive change that often - and when I do, it’s more likely to be quarters and dimes than loonies and toonies.
I miss the Australian two dollar coin. And the one dollar coin.
I just wish that the powers-that-be here in the US would extract their heads from their arses and get with the program. Ditch the one dollar bill altogether, i say.
And the penny, for that matter.
Yeah, pretty much. Only a few $2 coins amounts to enough to cover small purchases, so they get spent. Do you never buy anything for less than $25? Why the heck do you carry so much round?
I like our $2 coin. Then again, NZ’s one is bigger than that of Aussie. Yours does tend to get lost, buns3000.
Hie thee to a Crazy Joe’s or similar and purchase, for the sum of one dollar, a tin money box. The cylindrical kind with the representation of $20 on the outside. Put your unwanted $2 coins therein. I did this and didn’t miss the weight of the coins at all. Pretty soon, I had enough to buy myself a digital camera. Now I’m well on the way to owning my very own i-Pod.
I like it. As said by previous dopers, its nice to dig around and find some spare $2 coins around for something to munch on.
Also, vending machines take far more kindly to the $2 coin as opposed to notes. How many times can you say that a note goes in first time without problems?
I love the Canadian $1 and $2 coins! No more trying to iron out dollar bills on the edge of the soda machine…
Off to IMHO.
I must say if there’s one improvement I would make it would be to make the $2 coin bigger than the $1 coin. As **Ice Wolf ** notes, that’s how the New Zealanders have done it and I think it makes much more sense.
It sure makes for additional unwanted confusion when you travel between the countries.
Heh. This thread could be an interesting counterpoint to cite when people wonder why American $1 coins never seem to take off.
Well, a key difference is that US citizens have always been given a choice. Whenever a dollar coin, like the Sacagawea dollar or the Susan B. Anthony, was introduced, it was introduced alongside the dollar bill.
In countries like Australia and Canada, however, the arrival of the dollar coin (and then the two-dollar coin) replaced the banknotes, and people were left with no choice but to adopt the coins.
Of course, the old one- and two-dollar bills are still legal tender in those countries, but they are no longer produced, and it’s now very unusual to see them in circulation.
And it’s the easiest way to spot an Aussie, as they happily hand over exactly half the amount required in coins. It works both ways, as homesick emails from Melbourne-based friends attest.
I like the coins. It used to be that the handfull of coins found in the front pocket of a pair of jeans, last worn nightclubbing some time ago, would amount to $2.47. Now it’s quite likely to add up to $24.70, a much more useful amount.
Oh, I like the coins. Being a non-smoker I chuck my $2 coins in the ashtray of my car.
They mount up quickly, and they’re handy to have in the event that I want a nice tall cold drink at a drive-through on the way home. And every now and again I pare down the coin collection by putting $15-20 worth of petrol in the car, courtesy of my trusty ashtray. 
Nope, sorry - I really like the $2 and $1 coins.
I hate the 50c though. Stupid things - big, clunky, and not useful for much.
I hate them because they manage to slip out of the little $2 sized-hole in my wallet.
I could buy a new wallet, but I keep losing this money so I can’t afford one.