My ex-wife (A bartender) used to have a regular that did the origami thing. She said it was cute at first but quickly devolved into “annoying”.
Her words: "I’m tired and it’s the end of my shift. I just want to close out my register, count my tips, and go home. I really don’t feel like unfolding a bunch of origami pieces.
What I normally do is that if I’m paying by credit card, which I normally use, I make sure that I pay 20% or more. Then, just a token of my appreciation, I’ll add a $1 tip and place it on top of the credit card/cash folder that the server takes back after your done paying. It’s worked for me. 
A few years ago, one of my cousins was celebrating his divorce from the partner that had managed to ruin the last two decades of his life. He and I were at a table with two other mutual friends while three or four other people drifted in and out of the course of (many) hours. The actual cost of the drinks were split between my credit card and that of one of the other people at the table. The tips though came from my cousin who was celebrating. For every round the servers brought over, he would pass them a silver eagle coin. One ounce of pure silver in their hands. The first server who received one looked like my cousin just spit in her hand. She apparently told her co-workers about it and passed us off to another server. We continued to see the first server moving around, helping other tables but she didn’t seem to like our tip so “Brandi” (a fine girl) took over our table. I don’t know how many of those silver eagles she got from us but she seemed eager to earn them. I promise you, we never went more than 10 minutes without her asking if we wanted anything. The snacks alone were crazy. We always had at least two different bowls of something salty and crunchy to keep up our thirst. Towards the end of the night, she brought over two pitchers of beer, free of charge. “Hey, you earned these.” she said.
I have had many waitress tell me that odd tips like two dollar bills or dollar coins automatically go into a piggy bank for their grand-kids, niece, nephew, whatever. So they have mixed emotions – on one hand, the piggy bank grows effortlessly; on the other, they lose a tip.
I hope someone told her the current price of silver. (16.04/ounce right now).
Fair enough but it’s hard to spend if you need gas money to get home. Also true that flipping a big silver coin out as tip for every round could (and probably did) indicate a particularly loud, obnoxious, boisterous table. Maybe she just didn’t want to deal with a group that could charitably be described as ‘lively’.
Was it ever acceptable to tip with subway tokens back when they were used? I remember reading a novel where the main character leaves a tip with subway tokens at a diner.
I’ve never worked a tip job but if I did what would count would be, “Can I spend it?” If the answer is yes then it’s fine with me.
As strange as it may seem, there are parts of the country that will not accept $2 bills and other not so common currency.
I had issues using SBA dollar coins during a recent trip to the rural south. I almost always have at least one in my change purse. Super common around here. A relative told me that $2 bills are also a no-go in that area. Many people believe they are fake.
I agree they should generally be avoided. And, it’s not just, “Those damn kids and their phones!” As we move more and more to a cashless society, it’s not unreasonable for the average retail worker, especially a younger one, to be unfamiliar with some US currency. However, I can guarantee you they’ve had store meetings when the manager warns about counterfeit currency.
There hasn’t been a dollar coin push since around 2000 or so with the Sacagawea dollar coin. I can hope that one day the USA will join the rest of the world and have one and two dollar coin and withdraw the paper from circulation.
I wouldn’t do it at the Oak Room, but at a diner or lunch counter, sure. At coffee carts and and little shops, if the cashier couldn’t break a larger bill, I never had anyone turn down a couple of tokens as payment for a slice, a soda or coffee and a roll. You would get back change from the value of the token(s).
It’s been a really long time since tokens were in use. I still have a few different ones.
A good friend of mine owned a bar, and always tipped with $2 bills. It was his trademark, and he insisted that it insured that he always got excellent service because people remembered him, to which I replied “Yeah, as ‘here comes that joker with the $2 bills again.’”
At his funeral, his family displayed a sheet of uncut $2 bills he’d had on the wall of his office.
I see this is a old thread. Anyway, I’m the treasurer of a small group that passes the hat at the end to help cover rent and other expenses.
People typically donate ND$50 which is about $1.65. Some people won’t have that in change and will just dump their smaller coins.
I rather not have any donations rather than go through the hassle of counting pennies.