# I got a quarter in my change - in Australia! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397 "2008-11-19T01:45:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/21 "2010-12-15T02:53:15Z")
So, if you toss an American quarter in Australia, does it drop clockwise or counter clockwise? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/22 "2010-12-15T03:21:11Z")
Yes, it does. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/23 "2010-12-15T03:51:38Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I’ve got a coin here with some dude with a vacant stare shambling along on one side and the word “BRAINS!” on the other, it’s dated 2008. Are you dissing our Zombie Jefferson nickels? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/24 "2010-12-15T03:56:44Z")
When I was in the Sydney airport, flying back to the U.S., I went ahead and exchanged my money. The cashier counted out $10 in $2 bills and handed them to me. I hadn’t seen a $2 bill since I was a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/25 "2010-12-15T17:45:04Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > [George can handle it himself.](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-69414486881463942) (video) The entire nation of Australia better beware. Actually, take a look [at this video of George.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk0e1VL80o) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/26 "2010-12-15T17:53:12Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Actually, take a look [at this video of George.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk0e1VL80o) Those poor United Empire Loyalists! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/27 "2010-12-15T17:55:10Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > The best part is, with the current exchange rate (US67¢ to the AU$), I paid 10¢ for a coin worth 37¢. I must eat more hamburgers and dim sims, I’ll be rich, rich I say! Very sadly, 25 months later, that coin is now worth about 25 cents in Australian money: the AUD and USD are trading at close to par now. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/28 "2010-12-15T18:01:17Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > I’d always imagined a quarter would be bigger, more the size of our 20¢, but it’s closest to our 10¢ (maybe a mm larger in diameter), which is what I’m guessing it was posing as in my change. I think this is a consequence of the quarter, dime, and 50 cent piece being originally silver coins, so the sizes were proportional (2.5 dimes weigh one quarter; two quarters weigh as much as 50c, four quarters weigh as much as an old silver dollar). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/29 "2010-12-15T18:09:43Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I think this is a consequence of the quarter, dime, and 50 cent piece being originally silver coins, so the sizes were proportional (2.5 dimes weigh one quarter; two quarters weigh as much as 50c, four quarters weigh as much as an old silver dollar). The Australian 10 cents and 20 cents coins are descended from silver coins too: the British shilling and florin coins, which were the same size as the current Australian coins. (In the U.K. they reduced the sizes of their descendants, the 5p and 10p coins.) ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/30 "2010-12-15T18:11:07Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > I’d always imagined a quarter would be bigger, more the size of our 20¢ Our quarter could kick the shit out of your 20¢. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/31 "2010-12-15T19:12:41Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Yanno, Australia doesn’t have a Navy. It’s land locked. I hear the skiing is wunderbar. > [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Oh yeah? What about [_him_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Ludwig_von_Trapp) then? Isn’t that Austria? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/32 "2010-12-15T19:22:11Z")
It will be fun to compare when you get coins from Guilder and Florin. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/33 "2010-12-15T19:22:16Z")
> [@Ann\_Onimous](#): > > Isn’t that Austria? 😕 shhh – **Green Bean** declared war on Australia in post #4, and probably spent the last 2 years looking for it between Germany and Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/34 "2010-12-15T19:36:30Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Oh yeah? What about [_him_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Ludwig_von_Trapp) then? > [@Sunspace](#): > > Well, _that_ explains a few things. It explains a few of my favorite things. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/35 "2010-12-15T19:49:04Z")
My husband once got a swiss franc as change from a soda machine. It should have been a nickel, so that was a big upgrade. The great thing was we were going to Switzerland so we could actually use it. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/36 "2010-12-15T20:24:56Z")
I’ve received Canadian change in the US as well as US change in Canada. The coins below $1 are basically the same sizes and colors, and people basically don’t seem to care a whole lot about a single coin in change from the other country. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/37 "2010-12-15T20:43:41Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > shhh – **Green Bean** declared war on Australia in post #4, and probably spent the last 2 years looking for it between Germany and Italy. Gotcha. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/38 "2010-12-15T20:46:56Z")
My dad used to go to Asia for business trips, which is probably why I’ve found the odd coin from Taiwan or the Philippines lying around. Also some Israeli agorot and shekalim, but we’ve been there several times. My dad’s prized foreign money is from Zimbabwe. When we were safari-ing in Africa, he got into a discussion about the laughable inflation with a nice hotel clerk, and the clerk gave him a souvenir five million dollar bill. Worth, oh, slightly less than the paper it’s printed on. Never seen any Australian currency, though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/39 "2010-12-15T22:06:28Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I’ve received Canadian change in the US as well as US change in Canada. The coins below $1 are basically the same sizes and colors, and people basically don’t seem to care a whole lot about a single coin in change from the other country. Getting American coins in your change is quite common up here. But no place will exchange coins for their correct and current value–only bills can be exchanged. So, in Canada anyway, nobody really cares–a quarter is a quarter, US or Canadian; and as a result, American coins tend to circulate at par value with Canadian coins. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397/40 "2010-12-15T22:51:41Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Getting American coins in your change is quite common up here. But no place will exchange coins for their correct and current value–only bills can be exchanged. So, in Canada anyway, nobody really cares–a quarter is a quarter, US or Canadian; and as a result, American coins tend to circulate at par value with Canadian coins. …and they did so even before the currencies were at par (ish). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-a-quarter-in-my-change-in-australia/473397.md?page=3)