These aren’t rare or unseen. All legal US money
These aren’t rare in the sense that everybody has one they keep as a collectible. If I went down to 7/11 and tried to buy something with it they’d give me a funny look.
no they wouldnt. its money. i work at a gas station we get these all the time
I have a friend who works at a bank, and when he was a teller there was a guy who would come in every friday and exchange 500 in dollar coins of varying types, the little brass colored ones here, the silver looking ones, and also 50 cent pieces.
They didn’t carry that much at any time because nobody really brings them in so they had to start special ordering them for this one guy. Every week.
No idea what he uses them for, but either he’s got a shitload of them, or he makes it hail at strip clubs.
No idea what he uses them for,
Let’s say you want to buy a computer. You could, like a boring person, go to Best Buy and purchase a computer for 800 bucks on a credit card. Or you could dress up like a pirate with 800 gold doubloons in a sack, and slam that shit on the counter during checkout.
At today’s gold prices, 800 US dollars is just one single small gold coin. A classic 1 oz Krugerrand coin is currently worth more than 2,000 US dollars.
He was referring to using the sack of dollar coins as if they were gold doubloons, not actual gold coins.
This seem completely reasonable
Likely owns a vending machine business. They’re easier to return than a handful of quarters if someone uses a 5 dollar bill to buy something for a buck and change.
I’d put money on it being one of those “Twice the Ice” vending machines, all of my dollar coins come from either that or the ticket thing at the train station.
My guess is that he runs something that needs to give automated change. Vending machines, car washes, arcades, etc… Basically, if someone puts a $20 into the car wash but only wants a $10 wash, it’s easy to just dispense ten $1 coins as change.
Coin handlers are mechanically very easy. Coins don’t vary in size and shape, so it’s easy to automatically detect which coins have been inserted, dispense change, and reject coins that don’t match. Paper money sorters are much more complicated, and more prone to failure.
50 cent coins contained silver for a few years longer than dimes and quarters. So you have a slightly better chance of finding a silver coin worth a few dollars in a roll of halves. It’s free gambling for numismatists.
Source: I ask for the occasional roll of halves.
My grandfather used to do this with nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar pieces. When he passed I got the “random coins” that were literally all years prior to the change in materials.
No idea how much it’s all worth but it’s in the back of a closet somewhere.
I guess this didn’t occur to me because the guy also got the regular brass ones, which don’t have any value above face value to my knowledge. They didn’t contain actual gold at any point.
I would have thought people would have collected/sold the silver ones out of circulation by now.
It would be cool to make a mural with them
fwiw I’ve personally had cashiers refuse to accept them since they didn’t think they were real. not sure how common that is tho, especially now
I don’t know,.clerks have called the cops over $2 paper bills.
The vending machine at my job gives change in dollar coins, and the Ohio turnpike does the same. They are fairly common, just people dont like to handle change is all.
I recall in NYC for a while, dollar coins were known as metrocard change from when they first started installing the Metrocard Vending Machines.
Thank you; I didn’t know that. You do have a rather big country and I still sort of wonder if it is universally recognized. Again, just going by never having seen them in movies. Maybe United Statesians aren’t just fictional characters in movies. We’ll never know.
yeah we still mostly use dollar bills but we do have dollar coins and have had dollar coins in circulation for a long while predating these versions even.
It’s so cool to me. I wonder if I am the only one not from US who finds this a bit mind blowing. What other secrets are you keeping?
We also have a two dollar bill that is rarely seen. So rare in fact that I’ve read stories of cashiers calling the cops on someone because they don’t even realize it’s legal tender.
In Portland Oregon (most strip clubs per capita in the country) it is traditional to use $2 bills instead of singles. It is extremely common to see two dollar bills in Oregon, I would bet a majority of two’s in circulation stay in the PNW.
Here in Cambodia we have a dual currency system: you can pay in dollars or riel and get your change in a mixture of currencies.
The $2 note is seen in businesses, especially money changing ones (from dollar to riel or vice versa), on display as a good luck sign.
United Statesians
You can just say American.
In some languages, it’s actually common to say US-American to clearly specify what is meant.
No offense intended. I have been to a lot of countries in the Americas and the US (despite being rather big) is not really a place I go to. So when I specify like that, it is from my own experience (and—you know—actual geography and stuff) and I am a little bit sorry to have apparently offended.
Edit: that sounded sarcastic because it was a bit, but really, I didn’t intend to offend. Sorry, let’s be friends.
Strong agree. For some reason theres a lot of weird US Americans want to claim the word America for their country only. Its silly, ignorant, and rude.
Honestly, I’m indifferent about it. I’m not a nationalist. Call yourselves whatever you want.
Its not about Nationalism. Its about geography.
When you say somethin like “America had had more than one mass shooting on average last year”, you annoy most Americans, who dont have these problems that are specific to the US.
Most people are able to infer—by context—that someone saying “America” means US if the topic is the US. They are—to some extent—colloquially interchange, given context. I just didn’t say it myself because it isn’t normal nor natural here. Again, sorry to everyone hung up on my phrasing because it’s a non-issue as far as I’m concerned. Call yourselves and think of yourselves as whatever you want. You have my blessing and approval.
Because it’s been used that way in English to refer to people living in a specific region (now the US) since the 17th century. Now non-native English speakers are trying to force a change and (rather hilariously) have started taking offense to it. Really must be a blessed life if that’s something worth bitching about.
The first Europeans landed in Canada. The first Spanish landed in Cuba. Neither was what is modern day US
And none of that has anything to do with the origin of the term “Americans” and its usage in the 17th century to refer to British colonists located in what is now the eastern US.
The ship has sailed. The word already refers to the US
In English, not in general. The continent is called America in lots of languages, but the country is most often referred to as the USA. Because that’s the title the country has chosen for itself.
Yes, we agree that:
- The continent is called America
- The country is called the USA
What I’m stating is that:
- The adjective for a USA citizen is “American”
- It is not USAsian or whatever got said above
It’s not about offence, it’s about how ridiculous it sounds.
My friend, I am open to suggestions. “American” with like 100-ish countries in it doesn’t really narrow it down for me. Peace and love and all that stuff.
Mate, there is literally only one country with America in it’s name.
Furthermore in a 2 continent Americas model, there is no other peoples American could refer to because the people from the continents are either North American or South American.
Shit if anything, United Statesians could refer to the United Mexican States. So you’re making it confusing when it wasn’t before.
How about ‘Muricans?
Edit: /s
My friend, I used words with no intention to offend nor dive into pedantry. I am sorry you find it worth going on about. “America”. There, take it. Please have a good rest of your day, friend.
America includes hundrets of nation States, most of which do not use the US Dollar.
Lol… I’ve only ever seen the Sacajawea coin in the US.
i have a jackson one and a polk one floating around my backpack
Cool. They’re still damn rare.
lol
The $0.50 coin is definitely not legal in the US
It’s not legal to murder someone with a half-dollar coin, but it’s certainly legal to buy something with it.
Cite your source.
Source is me living in Ecuador lol. Ecuador is allowed to make their own coins <$1. So some of the coins here are made by the US. The ones made in Ecuador say so, and they’re not legal tender in the US.
We have different 50¢ pieces.
All the coins pictured here are $1 coins but the US absolutely has legal tender $.50 coins.
So that’s where they all went. I haven’t seen those in circulation since I bought stamps from a vending machine.
Yep, there’s a pneumatic tube attached to that vending machine that goes all the way to Ecuador. Simple physics, really.
Best way to get dollar coins is vending machines and banks
That actually makes a lot of cents.
I don’t get it
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The person made a very very very bad pun. I replied with sarcasm so obvious that it didn’t need an /s tag.
That said, I admire your desire to be helpful.
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if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense
These are legal U.S. tender, minted in the U.S. Not common in the U.S. but still valid.
Pay attention to your other coins though. Ecuador does mint its own coins that match the American ones identically (1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavos) and also has some older 1 sucre coins that match these 1 dollar coins. Those would not be legal tender in the U.S., I’m pretty sure.
I have these supposed $6 left over. If they turn out to be fake, I will shed a tear and move on. But thank you.
I was just giving some info… I’m not saying they’re fake or anything. I actually found it quite interesting to have the Ecuadorian versions of the coins.
I am finding this all very interesting. Apparently people from the US are not surprised by this at all and my foreignness is on full display.
Naw all good. To be fair, how many of us in the US know Ecuador uses American dollars?? I had no idea so I’m glad you posted. This is a cool tidbit of info!
Ah, the $0.50 coin
I gotta say I’m not used to seeing any dollars
Movies, TV Shows, and Youtube videos use US dollars a lot.
Local bar is still cash only. I use change for pool tables quite often or if I ever take the bus. Maybe I am just getting older but cash seems like it is still around everywhere.
All of those things around here take cards now. I guess you just live in an area that hasn’t changed in a while.
I assumed the person was non-American
Let’s pretend it’s because you have gone all electric.
Yeah he uses 5V 3A discharges to pay. Longer discharge, bigger payment.
Longer discharge, bigger payment.
That’s what she said
And she was right!
Ecuadorians are very touchy about the condition of their paper bills. I tried to pay for a Panama hat with some cash that included a slightly torn but fully in tact $10, and the shop owner refused. As such, more durable dollar coins, which were minted by the US but never really caught on, are quite popular.
Interestingly they do mint their own coins, with Ecuadorian half dollar, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuadorian_centavo_coins
I like the Sacagawea and “Innovation” dollar coins. The problem with 'em, though, is people horde and collect them so they’re not as available as the regular paper bills even though they are currently still in production. They come across so rarely, I also tend to think “oooh I should hold onto this!” Whenever I get one back as change.
The only downside to using them I’ve run into is having to show the clerk it’s a dollar and not a quarter.
Humans love their shiny metal circles.
I’m pretty sure I remember reading a study that showed that handling coins actually makes the brain generate the good chemicals. So you’re not wrong.
The tooth fairy put one of these under my kid’s pillow tonight. The thought is that he’s going to enjoy it more because it’s rare. It will end up in his piggy bank, out of circulation for who knows how long.
Wait, can’t yall just… go to the bank? I walked into a local bank a year or so ago and asked if I could exchange for them, they asked how many and just exchanged them like anything else.
I’m sure if I wanted thousands that would be a problem, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t have at least a handful.
We should’ve discontinued the dollar bill so that these coins would get used in the US, too.
I disagree. I hate carrying any coins, while dollars of any denomination fit nicely in my wallet.
I have a hunch that if we were to swap to these instead of paper dollars for $1, prices would go up simply because retailers would you d everything up to the nearest $5 increment.
Canadian here, between electronic payments and coins being more durable than paper or polymer money, retailers don’t have any incentive to charge a less competitive price.
Awesome job on killing the penny up there! Wish we could do that in the US.
We need to kill the nickel too.
Isn’t the wallet thing kinda backwards though? Like, it’s not as if we all had wallets perfectly sized to carry this kind of paper money before the paper dollar was introduced.
I figure that if coins had been the predominant form of currency for at least the past century, we’d have a great way to carry coins other than a pouch, and paper money would be inconvenient.
I use a wallet phone case, there is no good way for a coin pouch for that.
Your pants pockets.
That’s less convenient than one place, sorry
That didn’t happen in Australia when we replaced our $1 note with a $1 coin.
But these days, it’s a non issue, because as a country, we basically don’t use cash at all
Plebs without sacks of coins 🙄
I lived in Ecuador for a bit and it’s pretty terrible when you pay for a $5 item with a twenty dollar bill and the cashier hands you back fifteen of these coins, which has happened to me on multiple occasions.
Just put those coins into your adorable coin purse.
Nothing like clicking on the large X to close an ad video on the web page, but it doesn’t close, even after pressing the X multiple times. :/
They are few alternatives to fandom but nothing that comes close to fandom’s popularity.
Unfortunately the web has become a place where you need to download ublock origin and learn to block specific elements.
Unfortunately the web has become a place where you need to download ublock origin
The irony is that I do have it installed/using it. It’s just the video player puts an X there but ignores when you click on the X.
It does get too complicated for my tastes. Sometimes you have to right click elements and block them manually. Sometimes you have to create a filter or you lose scrolling like on this site:
https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/qmiq1b/cant_scroll_after_blocking_signup_popups/
Try noscript (firefox only)
I think you mean “pretty fuckin sweet!” Coin currency master race!
This has been studied. The US uses a higher quality paper that lasts an average of 7 years. So it is actually cheaper than minting coins. In other countries that switched to coins, singles only lasted a year or two.
There is nothing stopping people from using coins now. People just don’t like them.
They’re also heavy in your pocket and don’t fit in a standard cashier’s drawer. There aren’t enough slots.
The real good idea would be getting rid of pennies and nickels. Those are only useful for giving stores a few extra cents in profit. They set prices at $4.99 instead of $5 so you buy more. Without pennies, they’d have to set the price at $4.90 and lose 9 cents.
Yeah, the US once has a half penny. Adjusted for inflation, it is worth more than a nickel is today when it was eliminated.
But I don’t think that will give us a 9 cent discount.
Similar with Montenegro, they dont have official currency but they use euro as de facto currency
I don’t live in the US. I have only ever seen the dollar bills in movies. Maybe these coins are actually normal to y’all but I found it fascinating.
They are normal at Renaissance faires for people who like to carry a sack of “gold”.
I am learning things. Thank you.
They’re common in vending machines, libraries, ticket machines for bus/train, etc. as change because they’re easier to distribute than single dollar bills by a machine
I’m starting to feel like an ass for not knowing this.
You’re fine - I grew up in a rural state, and I thought they were super rare until I lived in a city where the public transit system gave them as change.
Nah, I’m an ass. But this is so interesting. Thank you for sharing.
No way;
I work with handling money on the daily. I’d rate them as uncommon but not rare. We will see a handful of them at least every other day.
Nope, I haven’t seen one since the early 2000s, when they rolled out Sacajawea dollars and then stopped a few years later because boomers were afraid they’d confuse them with quarters.
They didn’t stop these still around.
They were also hoping vending machine companies would use them but few did.
Some still do!
Susan B. Anthony dollar has entered the chat
There’s a few countries that use US currency as the premium currency. Its very bizarre to be halfway around the world and see US dollars, but its a strong and reliable currency in countries where the local currency is too volitile to use.
Yeah, like Cambodia. The ATMs near my hotel spat out dollars, but deep in the city it was local currency. Everyone accepted dollars but they did charge a bit higher if you were a dollar spender if you calculated the local currency conversion on that. From my country it was easier to get dollars too before I flew out, vs Riels which were harder to find and had a pretty bad exchange rate.
WHH is maybe the funniest President’s face to put on a coin
What do you mean? He was the best president in history.
I have a lot of those “gold” dollar coins. For a long time after they came out, I’d ask the cashiers at stores and banks to trade me paper dollars for whatever gold coins they had available. Many times I had to dig into my stash to get by, so it’s not like I’m sitting on a massive horde of them or anything, but I have about a hundred of them.
Well lookie who we have here… Mr Moneybags.
Yeah, me and my 100 $1 coins that I collected over ten years, sitting so pretty.
A bit like the Channel Islands - they use British Pounds but if you try to use them on the mainland they’ll not be accepted. Other way round is fine.
Would these be accepted in the US? Like maybe a gas station attendant would think these are fake but also maybe a bank would take them? Never going to have a chance to test that out; just curious-ish.
I’ve accepted these back when I used to tend bar, I always appreciated the dollar coins. I also had a dude who’d only pay in $2 bills.
They’re perfectly normal money that you can use without any issue.
Whelp, feeling like an ass for not knowing this. But I learned a thing today.
Don’t feel like an ass about it, it’s rare you’ll get one of these excepting out of an expensive soda machine or snack machine anymore, even if a cashier has these in the register they’d be grabbing the singles out of normalcy.
Plus given how little cash is used anymore they’re just uncommon. Like the $2 bill, they’re legal tender in circulation but you don’t see them everyday and some folks will go their whole life without seeing them.
I am really appreciating how kind people are here. This really isn’t Reddit. I haven’t just been told I am wrong; I have been given anecdotal stories. So I was wrong, and I learned, and this is fun.
Yes, banks take them.
The $1 coins yes. The $0.50 coins no.
They will be, but businesses will often have to check their book of accepted notes. We had to do it with Scottish and Irish ones which were unfamiliar to us in Northamptonshire.
Do we have a Lemmy community for Ecuador yet?
At least it’s not all green
