And the $50 is not really common either (though not quite as uncommon as the $2).
Most of us seem to use the $1 and $20 most commonly with the odd $5, $10, and $100 mixed in.
This is borne out by the numbers from the Fed. There are about as many $50 bills in circulation as $10. And a ton of $100 bills. One presumes the $50 and $100 bills in circulation are mainly as cash reserves, i.e. people holding onto them as stores of value with no intention of everyday use. There are more $1 bills in circulation than $2, $5, $10, and $50 bills combined.
Seems that ATMs generally (with lots of specific exceptions) have standardized on dispensing only twenties. Even when they give out tens you can’t ask for the total in tens. So asking for $210 gives you ten $20 and 1 $10. My wallet usually looks something like that.
My understanding is that this is to prevent mistakes when loading the machine. If the deliveryperson accidentally puts a stack of twenties in the $10 box, and a stack of tens in the $20 box, some faces will be smiling, but other heads will be rolling.
Other countries solve this problem (and a big aspect of counterfeiting) by making the notes at different sizes.
Just to mention a curiosity. Canada has, as mentioned, a 25 cent coin, but in French it is called “trente sous” (30 cents). Someone once told that there was a 30 something coin once, but I cannot verify that.
One difference is names of coins. The US has 1 cent, five cent, dime, quarter dollar and half dollar coins. Canada has 1, five, ten, twenty five, and fifty cent coins. Dime is, I believe, short for dixième or tenth.
My credit union would give you 2 $100s and 2 $5s. They also give out many $50s, which works for me, as what I usually spend cash on is between $40 and $50.
I don’t think there’s ever been a US$2.00 coin, but there was one worth $2.50:
We’ve discussed this frequently in previous money threads. ATMs mostly give out $20s, retail businesses get a lot of $1 and $5 from their banks to make change. Those are the two main ways currency gets into circulation. Note the absence of $10 in those transactions.
Transnistria has a 25-kopeck coin. There’s also a square, plastic 3-ruble coin, but I don’t think it’s in general circulation. (At least, I didn’t get any in change when I was there; I bought a full set of the odd-shaped plastic coins in a post office.) There’s also a 25-ruble banknote.
That’s tautological, though: $10s don’t circulate because people get $1s and $5s to make change. Well, why don’t they get $1s, $5s, and $10s to make change? Or $10s, $2s, and quarters? They don’t seek $10s for… reasons.
For that matter, I’ve never understood what was wrong with the $2. $2 coins are common in Canada. though $10s have the same issues as in the USA.
At some point, cultural preferences are illogical.
The USDJPY exchange rate is a little skewed lately (currently 143 yen per dollar), but over the past decade it’s averaged around 100 yen per dollar, and this week the Bank of Japan has finally taken steps to to strengthen the yen, which would move USDJPY back toward that level.
In other words, a 1000-yen note is roughly the equivalent of a $10 bill, not a $1 bill. Whereas the US has the dollar store, Japan has 100-yen shops.
Assuming a USDJPY exchange rate of ~100, the 1, 5, 10, and 50-yen coins are roughly equivalent to a penny, nickel, dime, and half-dollar coin - though you’re right, there’s no Japanese counterpart to the US quarter.
I think you missed @Little_Nemo 's point. They weren’t talking about the monetary values of dollars versus yen, but the relative values of different bills and coins within those two currencies. So the 1000 yen note may be worth around US$10, but it’s equivalent to the one-dollar bill, in regards to the subject of the thread, because they’re both the lowest-value banknote in their respective currencies.
What do you base this claim on? In my, somewhat narrow, experience 25 is a pretty normal member of the smallest coins.
Before starting to ditch the smallest coins in 1972 Norway had
Coins 1 øre, 2 øre, 5 øre, 10 øre, 25 øre, 50 øre, 1 krone, 5 kroner
Notes 10 kroner, 50 kroner, 100 kroner, 500 kroner, 1000 kroner.
The 1 and 2 øre were dropped in 1972.
5 and 25 were dropped in 1982
In 1983 we gained a 10 kroner coin and lost the note (we had 10 kroner gold coins in the 19th century and commemorative silver 10 kroner coins in the early 20th, but this was the first commonly used 10 krone)
In 1991 they stopped minting 10 øre and they were demonetized in 1993.
We gained a common 20 kroner coin in 1994, along with a 200 kroner note.
The last øre coin, the 50 øre was demonetized in 2012.
Sweden ditched coins on almost the same schedule and the Danes have a similar story, but they chose to drop the 5 and 10 øre in 1989, keeping the 25 and 50, and the 50 is still valid.
When i was in the USSR in 1987, i experienced their 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 kopek coins. You only needed one coin to pay the 2 kopeck bus fare or 3 kopek tram fare. (AT the official rate, one ruble was worth about $2).
Searching online, I see that a few bank chains offer $100 bills, but many people have never seen them.
While understanding that people may wish to have fewer bills in their wallet or wherever, I’ve seen too many signs saying that no $100 bills (and sometimes $50) will be taken to want them. And they seem to always need verification, wasting my time. $20 have no such problems and there are no mixups, like this famous one from Texas.
That’s an informal name in Canada. The official name of that coin is ten cent piece. The US coin is officially a Dime. It says so right on the reverse.
The US monetary system has an official name for each power of 10 denomination: Cent, Dime, Dollar, Eagle. There’s also Mill (1/10 cent), but there’s never been a coin minted in that. It’s used to set tax rates for property taxes. Some people have wanted a higher denomination, the Union, but there’s never been any of those issued. Anyway, Canada only borrowed the cent and dollar denominations, not the others.
Deviating from the topic, but this reminds me too much of the greatest footnote of all time, by Gaiman/Pratchett, in Good Omens, to not share:
“NOTE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: One shilling = Five Pee. It helps to understand the antique finances of the Witchfinder Army if you know the original British monetary system:
Two farthings = One Ha’penny. Two ha’pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and one Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.
The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated.”