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

[Liam Proven]

On 21 November 2011 04:45, Eric Morey <eric at glodime.com> wrote:
> 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.

Felt like a dig to me, I have to tell you. "Just give him a note,
don't sweat the fiddly small change."

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

[Citation needed] What evidence have you got to support this assertion?

>> >> 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.

Yep.

I have watched several countries change their entire currency, and
although there was lots of behind-the-scenes planning, it actually
happened literally overnight on 1 Jan 2002.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro#Introduction_of_the_euro

> 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?

Introduction of the pound coin, 1983.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_coin

The £20 note changed at the end of June:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10453756

£50 note, this month:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15539934

The £10 was last changed in 2000:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2000/090.htm

In other words, they don't do them all at the same time. But it can be
done and it was done at decimalisation, I believe.

It is simply not a big problem. Everyone else in the world copes; it's
just the US that is foolish and hidebound and unfairly discriminates
against people with visual disabilities.

> Was the Euro conversion "not
> difficult at all" in terms of direct costs of converting the physical
> currency?

Not AFAIK, but I don't live in the Eurozone. Ask Amedee.

>> 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).

All right, conceded.

>> 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.

Possibly. TBH I don't know many people actually that concerned about
this. I know lots of idiots who, for instance, sign up for this list
with false names in the belief that this enhances their entirely
illusory privacy, but not who do /real/ stuff like refusing to use
payment cards, electronic tickets etc.

-- 
Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
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