# Aussie dopers, join me in lamenting the existence of the $2 coin (warning: lame) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261 "2006-01-10T02:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/21 "2006-01-10T11:12:30Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > I hate the 50c though. Stupid things - big, clunky, and not useful for much. Do you find that after going weeks without receiving one 50 cent piece you suddenly have 3 of them? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/22 "2006-01-10T11:15:28Z")
Oh I just realised where would we be without “entry - a gold coin”. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/23 "2006-01-10T13:21:29Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > 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. > > 😃 It’s you! I keep finding them. Ta, love it. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/24 "2006-01-10T13:58:38Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > It’s you! > > I keep finding them. Ta, love it. Karma mate…one day you’ll lose your whole wallet with fifty bucks in it, and _I’ll_ find it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/25 "2006-01-10T16:46:16Z")
$2 coins are great, perfect for tram fares. 5 and 10 cent coins are useless. And don’t even get me started on the US pennies… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/26 "2006-01-10T20:35:30Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > $2 coins are great, perfect for tram fares. 5 and 10 cent coins are useless. And don’t even get me started on the US pennies… Not even Americans like American pennies. We should have given them up decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/27 "2006-01-10T22:23:49Z")
I love my Canadian loonies and toonies. I remember my first trip to Britain in the 80’s. Totally unfamiliar with the currency I would just hand over a bill because I could read the number on it, then pocket the change. After a few days I was totally freaked out that all my money was gone and that London was way more expensive than I had thought. I feverishly started to count all the change that I had emptied from my pockets at the end of each day, hoping I had enough to provide bread and water for the remainder of my stay. Turned out I had almost 200 pounds. If they had $2 coins when I was a kid I would have made a fortune feeling around beneath the couch cushions. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/28 "2006-01-10T23:15:56Z")
As anyone knows who has seen my posts on this general subject, I am an eager advocate of getting rid of the dollar bill in favor of a coin, but I have just one criticism about the way it’s been done in Canada and Australia. (I haven’t been to Australia, but a friend brought back some coins and showed me.) If you look at Canadian coins: you have a penny, which is copper colored, nickel, dime, and quarter which are silver colored, then the loonie which is back to brass in appearance, another coppery metal. When it gets old and tarnished, it looks like it ought to be worth only about 15 cents. IIRC in Australia it’s somewhat similar, with the added wrinkle that, at the time my friend showed me the coins she’d brought back, there was still a huge, thick 50-cent piece that seemed to dwarf all the other denominations whether higher or lower. And in this country, one of the complaints against the Sackie dollar is that they tarnish to an ugly yellowish green. My point in mentioning all this is that to make such coins as attractive as possible mints need to come up with a way of making the the higher value ones _look_ valuable. A non-tarnishing, golden colored alloy would be optimal. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/29 "2006-01-10T23:16:32Z")
I must admit I like the $2 coin, for the reasons already given. Personally, I wish they’d make all the coins smaller and thicker like that. The 50c and 20c coins are ridiculously huge for a coin that is worth bugger all these days. However, I think the NZ $1 coin is the work of the devil. Previously, all Kiwi and Aussie coins were the same size, and you could get rid of them easily if you had the wrong country’s coin (often you wouldn’t even try to hide this to the cashier). But the Kiwi $1 is halfway in size between our $1 and $2 coins, and I invariably get it in change in place of our $2, yet don’t have the guts/ethics to try and pass it off, so I end up with a lot of them. If it was 5c I wouldn’t mind, but we’re talking a few bucks here. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/30 "2006-01-11T02:18:26Z")
Right, so its just me and **kambuckta** , then? Thanks for the back-up, guys! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/31 "2006-01-11T03:51:20Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > However, I think the NZ $1 coin is the work of the devil. Previously, all Kiwi and Aussie coins were the same size, and you could get rid of them easily if you had the wrong country’s coin (often you wouldn’t even try to hide this to the cashier). But the Kiwi $1 is halfway in size between our $1 and $2 coins, and I invariably get it in change in place of our $2, yet don’t have the guts/ethics to try and pass it off, so I end up with a lot of them. If it was 5c I wouldn’t mind, but we’re talking a few bucks here. Well, if Aussie stopped producing tiddler $2 coins, and made the $2 larger than the $1 (as ours is) that might help solve your problem. Petition the blokes that decide on the sizes about that while having a go over your 50 cent pieces (which are actually quite a cool piece of foreign currency). ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/32 "2006-01-11T05:04:23Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > My point in mentioning all this is that to make such coins as attractive as possible mints need to come up with a way of making the the higher value ones _look_ valuable. A non-tarnishing, golden colored alloy would be optimal. I agree with you on the $1 coin but the [toonie](http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fathersforlife.org/images/2%24pbear_M.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.fathersforlife.org/fatherhood/toonie.htm&h=290&w=288&sz=49&tbnid=5i4eylaLbvsJ:&tbnh=110&tbnw=109&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcanadian%2Btoonie%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) has some pretty neat metallurgical stuff going on. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/33 "2006-01-11T05:11:23Z")
> [@deevee](#): > > I agree with you on the $1 coin but the [toonie](http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fathersforlife.org/images/2%24pbear_M.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.fathersforlife.org/fatherhood/toonie.htm&h=290&w=288&sz=49&tbnid=5i4eylaLbvsJ:&tbnh=110&tbnw=109&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcanadian%2Btoonie%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) has some pretty neat metallurgical stuff going on. eh…I just read the text that goes with the google image search link I provided above. The pics are good, I disclaim the text. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/34 "2006-01-11T06:40:30Z")
Well, I like thw $2 coin. Nice and chunky, solid and reliable. I also like the 50c coin because it looks so stylish and classy. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/35 "2006-01-13T00:31:34Z")
The 50c does \*look \* cool, with its angled edges and generally pretty cool designs, but it is a real bugger to carry around. Get 4 or 5 of them in your purse/wallet and you have no room left for ‘real’ money. And yes, **don’t ask** , they do tend to suddenly appear in batches, don’t they? I hadn’t thought about it before, but they definitely seem to turn up in runs. Perhaps if The X-Files had been made here, they’d have devoted an episode to that inexplicable phenomenon…what do you reckon? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/36 "2006-01-13T01:49:11Z")
It’s the 5c piece I can’t abide. And can’t spend. You never ever seem to get more than one at a time, and nothing costs 5c any more, you need to save up change to get 95c to spend it, and the person behind you in the queue hates you when you count that out. Should you somehow get rid of it, say by getting a second one or just giving it away as a tip, another one will arrive within a day. Guaranteed. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/37 "2006-01-13T02:30:07Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > The 50c does \*look \* cool, with its angled edges and generally pretty cool designs, but it is a real bugger to carry around. Get 4 or 5 of them in your purse/wallet and you have no room left for ‘real’ money. > > And yes, **don’t ask** , they do tend to suddenly appear in batches, don’t they? I hadn’t thought about it before, but they definitely seem to turn up in runs. I’ve noticed this too. I wonder whether it’s because people save them in their wallets/purses until they have enough to actually buy something. I find that I tend to hold on to them until I’ve got about 5 or 6 and then I offload them all at once when I make a purchase in the $2.50-$3.00 range. That’s often how I get them too - in change from a shop that will give me four at a time instead of a $2 piece. > [@Askance](#): > > It’s the 5c piece I can’t abide. And can’t spend. You never ever seem to get more than one at a time, and nothing costs 5c any more, you need to save up change to get 95c to spend it, and the person behind you in the queue hates you when you count that out. I agree. You can tell a coin’s becoming obsolete when people don’t bother to pick them up off the footpath. I often see 5 cent pieces on the ground around the CBD. I used to pick them up. I don’t bother any more. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261/38 "2006-01-13T04:06:07Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > 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. Tell me about it! A recent first time visit to Kiwiland proved how stupid the Oz coins are - it makes helluva lot more sense to have the $2 coin **bigger** than the $1! MrNinevah (himself a lapsed Kiwi) constantly forgot this difference and kept trying to get rid of his gold coins, giving sales assistants more than double of the amount needed by using his $2 coins, thinking they were $1 coins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussie-dopers-join-me-in-lamenting-the-existence-of-the-2-coin-warning-lame/339261.md?page=1)