OT: Coin and Paper Currency [WAS:My request to ubuntu developer team]

[Eric Morey]

On Mon, 2011-11-21 at 02:28 +0000, Liam Proven wrote:
> On 20 November 2011 23:20, Eric Morey <eric at glodime.com> wrote:
> >
> > Easy, just do what Americans do; use the paper notes for your
> > transactions; don't bother counting the coins when you get change; throw
> > your coins in a jar until you visit the bank with free coin counting
> > machines. (You will occasionally get some Canadian coins and lose a bit
> > from inaccuracies in coin machines but you gain so much piece of mind.)
> 
> Tell me that again when the credit crunch comes and bites /your/ ass
> as it has done many of those of us here in Europe.
> 
> I always pay with the exact money, because I don't have enough of the
> stuff to just toss it in a jar on the shelf. Money is precious.
> Ignoring small denominations is foolish and wasteful.
> 

Relax. It is just a suggestion. It is also a reason dollar coins that
are minted aren't widely used except in special situations, like
casinos.

> >> It is ripe for a complete redesign. It's easy - in Britain we do this
> >> every decade or so. It's not traumatic or difficult at all.
> >
> > More Americans use cash than their UK counterparts due to deep seeded
> > distrust of authorities, banks, and technology in large portions of the
> > USA population.
> 
> [Citation needed]
> 

Really? You are the one suggesting the the USA make a non-trivial change
to their physical currency and related infrastructure. Notice that I
didn't respond with [Citation needed] to your claims of "in Britain we
do this every decade or so. It's not traumatic or difficult at all."
When was the last time the UK converted a denomination of paper notes to
coins or changed their nomenclature? Was the Euro conversion "not
difficult at all" in terms of direct costs of converting the physical
currency? 

> That sounds like a statement of someone unfamiliar with European
> financial practices, TBH. I don't know if you are or not, but you're
> manifestly unfamiliar with how /I/ and many of those I know best live
> and work. It does not reflect the reality of the Europe I've lived in
> for 3/4 of my life.
> 

Since you are curious, my experience working in the corporate credit
department of a large international lender has given me access to data
that indicated the USA's cash economy is a larger portion of of the
overall economy than the UK. Though the gap was closing when I last saw
relevant figures. (USA's cash economy is shrinking proportionately over
time).

> Living as much as possible in the cash economy means The Man can't
> trace you so easily, too. It's therefore desirable for those much
> concerned with privacy. I am not so inclined, but many are.

European privacy laws are possibly a source of confidence that causes
the persistence of the higher rate of adoption of electronic payment
methods in the UK compared to the USA.