Cash, including coins, is dead at the retail level.
CaptHenway
Posts: 32,230 ✭✭✭✭✭
Drove down to Colorado Springs on Friday afternoon for a social event Saturday morning. When we got into town my wife and I stopped at our favorite bakery from when we lived in C-Springs for lattes and snacks. I paid by credit card (as usual) but tipped the nice young lady an Ike dollar. She literally had no idea what it was, but mentioned that two weeks ago somebody had given her two "gold dollars!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out my funny money and said "Like these?" I had been there two weeks earlier when I went down for a coin club meeting and dropped two brass bucks in the tip jar.
No big deal, right? Dollar coins are scarce enough to get noticed. However, on the way back to Denver on Saturday afternoon, we stopped at a soup and sandwich restaurant my wife likes and got a late lunch. My wallet was in the car, so I gave the cashier three $10's from my back pocket cash stash. She looked at them and said something like "Wow! I can't remember the last time I saw these!" I asked "$10's?" and she said "No, real money!"
With fewer cash purchases there are fewer coins given back in the odd change. With fewer coins in circulation there are fewer coin collectors.
Comments
Cheerio Sac would be more recognizable.
In the future, people won't have any idea what credit cards are either. They are being replaced by phone-based transactions.
Try paying with a $2 bill. They look at you like you have an ear on your forehead.
Back when the State Quarter series started, I was afraid that we would have another coin shortage and that coin collectors would get blamed for it, as it was in the mid 1960s. Now you see quarters so infrequently that those concerns are over. The quarter used to be "the work horse coin." Now it's only little more alive than all of the other coins.
I have an acquaintance who is a Mennonite. He doesn't believe in credit cards and doesn't have a smart phone. He went on vacation, driving to South Dakota to NY. It took him hours every day to find a place to stay as he could not use cash at most motels or hotels.
Besides us collectors, the one group who are pretty good at recognizing odd coins are toll collectors. When I pay the $1 toll with two halves or a dollar coin, most of the time they don't even blink. Next!
I use change frequently in daily transactions....Yes, also credit cards.... I always tip in cash, never by CC...and when making small purchases, I pay in cash, and since I always carry change (I start the day with three quarters, three dimes, three nickels and four cents in my pocket), I try to pay the exact amount required. I do get some strange looks....
Cheers, RickO
Probably 90% where I work use plastic at the cafeteria, much faster than making change. I still use $2 bills and .50 coins - much to the bewilderment of the young cashiers.
Some cities may require merchants to accept cash as 6.5% of US households are "unbanked": https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/business/cashless-payments.html
Tipped at the local chili parlor with a two and they asked if it was counterfeit. I answered yes that I was getting really good at making them. Went to the car and returned with a 32 note sheet to “prove” my ability.
Had a nice discussion with the servers.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Last chance at bringing in new, young collectors was the state quarter pr> @jmlanzaf said:
Sometimes we can out Luddite ourselves.
If a transaction is less than $10, I almost always use cash. If it's more than $20, it's almost always a credit card. Exceptions are things like meds and other tax stuff, where it's easier to track if done by CC, since I have an electronic paper trail. (An electronic paper trail. Ironic, that...)
I have considered going completely electronic, since I get cash back from my CC's. I mean, it's become a game on how to manage my credit cards use to maximize my perks returns.
But then I'd never get back any change.
CaptHenway did you make it to Fargo’s pizza 🍕 I love that place grew up in the springs
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-first-money-lesson-to-teach-your-children-this-is-what-a-dollar-looks-like-11549657256
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923
The bank that has my local coin club's account has one of those cash counting machines. Since we are a group of collectors one or two of them are always paying for stuff at the meetings with $2 bills. The bank's cash machine can't recognize those so I have to make sure they are always on the top when I make a deposit.
Cash at motels or hotels is hard because many want ability to charge more in case the room is trashed.
I do almost everything in cash. Almost every time I am at a certain supermarket, the cashier starts doing other things at the point where most people are using a card and I have to get their attention to take my cash.
Have been there a few times back when I lived in the Springs, but not in years.
Lucky he didn't plan to rent a car. Was this his mode of transportation?
I am always pondering whether our coins will become more collectible after cash really nears extinction or if they will be largely forgotten like bottle caps, butterflies, and I dare say stamps.
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/publishedset.aspx?s=142753
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
Cash ain't what it used to be.
My dad grew up in the depression. He had a strong appreciation for hard work and the value of money. And he was frugal and always saved what he could. About 20 years ago he went into a new car dealership and tried to buy a new car for about $30,000 in cash from his savings. The dealers didn't handle it very well. They were demanding picture id and his social security number and he got mad and left. My mom wanted to make the deal work so she stayed and gave them what they wanted. They got the car but my dad always felt that he had been totally disrespected.
Around the same time they decided to buy a home with money from their savings. They showed up at the bank with nearly $200,000 in cash. I helped them take the money in a Tupperware type container. It drew some odd looks from the employees but went okay. The bank gave them a cashier's check to take to the closing because the title company couldn't deal with the cash. They got the home okay but their CPA who knew them well and had done their taxes for years heard about the transaction and would not do their taxes any more. I guess he thought they would all go to jail. They didn't.
My dad passed away a couple of years ago. He was born on Saint Patrick's day. Happy birthday, dad.
The bank I use for my business wanted to charge me to deposit cash?
What is this world coming to!!!
With fewer cash purchases there are fewer coins given back in the odd change. With fewer coins in circulation there are fewer coin collectors.
in an odd sort of way I think I could disagree with the latter presumption. don't people tend to collect things from the past?? don't people tend to collect things that they can't readily obtain in everyday life?? don't we as collectors tend to collect the types of coins that are no longer in general circulation??
think about it, the majority here have a disdain for anything "Modern" up to the point that we can't even agree on a cutoff date. I think that the eventual disappearance of coins from daily life will be a boon to collector numbers.
Nice stories, thank you all for sharing !!!
A good point, but I think better long term hobby growth would be better achieved by keeping coins relevant.
I think of certain Hollywood memorabilia and autographs. Some of those values are coming down because less people are familiar enough with the names. Charlie Chaplin? Groucho Marx? To me, we'd be better off keeping coins a part of everyday life as much as possible. Minting higher denominations would help, a $5-$10-$20 for example.
https://la.eater.com/2019/3/15/18267285/los-angeles-cashless-restaurants-blue-bottle-konbi
The city of Philadelphia recently became the first major American city to ban cashless businesses outright, while states like Massachusetts and New Jersey have enacted similar legislation in the past. New York City is considering a law similar to Philadelphia.
Movin' to Philly here, boss.
Never been to Colorado Springs... but maybe things are just a bit different there... a restaurant that doesn't see cash regularly? That's just odd.
I know the coin business isn't going to go cashless anytime soon. Cash will always be welcome... preferred... and often mandatory to do a deal at a coin show.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
Those are Amish. Mennonite use/own modern transportation.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Seems odd that a restaurant with small order items hasn't seen cash. With all the MJ being smoked in CO, you would think that people who just bought weed with cash are now getting munchies with the left-over cash.
I have no trouble using cash at the casino.
The coins are good for operating the pop machine.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Except it appears that most of our newbies like looking for road rash in pocket change.
99.99% of my transactions are electronic - seemed odd using cash at the Tukwilla/PNNA show this weekend, only because I had to.
The only cash I've seen at the grocery store this month is in the Coin Star machine - up 86c this weekend.
Head to northern Wisconsin and Michigan for the opposite effect businesses up there don’t take plastic and somehow don’t realize it’s costing them tons of business.
And yet we can’t getvtid of the cent. Didn’t seem to tank Canada’s economy...
Handing the cashier @Frys Electronics and if anybody shopped their a minority cashier handed a $20 bill the style before the current securiry feature one takes a good look and hands it back without saying a word. I say its goods show it to supervisor and he says take it and transaction proceds. No sorry from either.
Handing the cashier @Frys Electronics and if anybody shopped their a minority cashier handed a $20 bill the style before the current securiry feature one takes a good look and hands it back without saying a word. I say its goods show it to supervisor and he says take it and transaction proceds. No sorry from either.
Handing the cashier @Frys Electronics and if anybody shopped their a minority cashier handed a $20 bill the style before the current securiry feature one takes a good look and hands it back without saying a word. I say its goods show it to supervisor and he says take it and transaction proceds. No sorry from either.
Handing the cashier @Frys Electronics and if anybody shopped their a minority cashier handed a $20 bill the style before the current securiry feature one takes a good look and hands it back without saying a word. I say its goods show it to supervisor and he says take it and transaction proceds. No sorry from either.
Sorry computer acting up and cannot edit?
Less coins being used in the trade due to the younger GEN using the Apple Pay etc.
I don't have a coin purse ever .... always carry paper money so my Mom collect all the change.
Some of our relatives are from the Pacific Island ....... Tahiti and further South before Australia.
Their banks impose 5% "surcharge" for crumbled US bill in their exchange; Mom literally IRONed all those $100 bills for them before they head home for a vacation.
PTVETTER: J.D. Clampett rcommended the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, as that nice man, Mr. Drysdale permitted him to keep all his millions there charging nothing for the service!
some businesses give a cash discount and as stated above, cash is king at coin shows.
Just ask the people of Puerto Rico how well credit cards and electronic banking worked for them after hurricane Maria. The only people that were not as inconvenienced as much were the fools with cash stashed.
In the future international conflicts the first things that will happen will not be explosions or bangs, but more like electrical grids being taken down by Russian, Chinese and DOD hackers. Then all electronic payments will go away and cash will be king.
My coworker gets his check, pulls out his smartphone, takes a picture of his check, bingo...it's deposited. He spends it electronically as well, on-line, credit cards, flashes his watch at the chip reader. Cash? He doesn't even see a dime, it's all just numbers in the system. Might as well replace the word DOLLARS with CREDITS. Employer: "You've been a valued employee, here's a raise, half a credit more per hour!" Employee:"I deposited my check last week and was inquiring about my balance." Teller: "You have 300 credits left sir."
I only buy coins with cash (unless of course an online purchase - which is very infrequent for me now). Otherwise I find cash to be a pain. If you lose your wallet you're out of your cash, but you're covered by credit card theft/loss insurance. That in itself is a nice benefit. Coupled with the points I get, extra purchase and warranty insurance, etc., etc. there is little point for cash for me.
Coin Collecting: Cash or no cash: Distraction
"Normal" coins: 1, 5, 10, 25. Oddball 50 $1.
The cent (and maybe the 5 cent) may be toast.
Why would kids have any interest in such mundane, common, low value stuff?
When I was a youngin, coins had value, could buy neat stuff like rubber band planes, Coke's, paid for a week of the newspapers (which I delivered), etc.
Now coins seldom are used except for someone clogging up the line at the grocery store, or being dropped into those round and round giant plastic things at Walmart to see how many times your coin will circle before it falls, or dumped into a Coinstar to get rid of.
Most kids would have no interest in collecting things that have no interest or value.
Many that experienced the Depression first hand didn't trust banks thereafter. Two of my uncles kept money at home because of those memories.
Multitude of Mennonite in my area of the Finger Lakes in NY. Most of them use bicycles. Even in winter.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
I have always viewed the new world of work and cashless society push as an elite establishment thing to further enslave / cheat us thereby enriching themselves further. I don’t trust them, their minions, and their dodgeball double talk one darn bit.
Yes, the Amish avoid rubber tires for some reason unknown to me. Its steel or wood wheels. Mennonites don't have a problem with automobiles, wired in electric, indoor toilets, etc.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown