I was recently sorting out my change. And I found a British ten pence piece dated 1992! It has an old picture of Queen Elizabeth II on it. And it has a lion with a crown on on the reverse side.
Frankly when I first saw it, I thought it was a quarter. I guess 10 pence is about 25 cents in Britain. So that is why they are so similiar.
One question though: How would a British ten pence piece end up in American change? I live near Canada. So it is not uncommon to find Canadian coins in my change. But it is always a mistake, because Canadian change (much like British) is not allowed in American stores. (Oh, they may let Canadian penny slip by now and again. But nothing more than that–you know what I mean:).)
It is definitely a mystery. Anyone else have any ideas how it happened?
We get a lot of Asian coinage here, not only because we have a lot of Asian residents, but because travelling to and from South East Asia etc is extremely common by all and sundry. They weight the same, are approximately the same size, and if they’re exchanged for the price they appear to be then it makes no never mind.
It’s probably one of the new ones if it’s comparable to a quarter - they were first introduced in 1992 - I don’t think the old florin-sized one could pass unnoticed for even a moment in a handful of change.
The large 10p coins weren’t minted for circulation after 1981, so it’s almost certainly one of the smaller ones (which were minted in huge numbers in 1992).
I wouldn’t be so sure. My dad got an older Jamaican 20 cent coin (the same size as a florin) in change a few months ago and didn’t notice until he was about to re-spend it. (I have no idea what it had passed as. This is in the US.)
I get foreign coins occasionally in my change. I assume it’s because the small stores I go to don’t bother checking too closely, and I only realise because I sort all my loose change at the end of the day.
Coins I’ve found in my change here in the UK (and kept):
Bailiwick of Jersey 20p
Isle of Man 5p
Gibraltar 5p
Australia 5¢
South Africa 5¢
Cyprus 50¢
USA 1¢
Not in my change, but I’ve found a two euro cent and a one euro cent, separately on the roads near my house (UK). I’m guessing a drunk Irishman on the way home from the pub?
Here’s a (rather bad) picture of the random change I’ve picked up when counting the drawers where I work. Some of them I can understand. They look like American coins. Others, however, aren’t even close and I have no idea how my cashiers don’t notice it.
There’s two of them in there. The silver on is from Jamaica and is worth “10 Dollars”. It has a picture of The Excellent George William Gordan, National Hero on the back. The silver one is from Mexico.
Same here in Michigan. Passing the odd Canadian coin is not much of a problem, except that the silver coins don’t work in vending machines. But if you try to buy something for more than about 50 cents with all Canadian coins, you’ll probably be told to “Use Amurriken money!”
My guess is that either a tourist came over and put the coin into circulation, maybe by mistake, or maybe to see if they could pass it. But I know it’s possible to buy foreign coins here in the states. I know of a coin dealer here in Michigan that has a small plastic tray of foreign coins out on the counter, 5 or 6 for a dollar. When Ralf, Jr was at the age where the tooth fairy started to visit, I bought a few foreign coins there and put them under his pillow (along with an Amurriken dollar, of course). We told him that the tooth fairy must have just come from (insert coin origin here).
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - the OTHER American Canada!
We’re quite advanced here, you know. We can even take other nation’s money when it’s in our interest.
You can spend Euros at Stansted Airport, at least. (The shops that take Euros post an exchange rate.) It might be worth remembering that the next time you visit these shores.
