Coins & Currency in everyday transactions
DBSTrader2
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I'm a Boomer. And though I am comfortable with Windows, MS Office, the Internet, and the like, I am not one of those "Early-Adopters" or up-to-speed with technology, especially all the latest in TV/streaming, social media, car display screens/options, and all the latest digital payment formats.
For when it comes to buying things on the go or on-line, I primarily use my credit cards, PayPal, etc. Although I always carry cash in my wallet, I usually just whip out the credit card when paying for gas, groceries, etc.
When I DO use cash, it's usually just for very small-ticket items like candy, lottery tix, times when I'm a bit leery of the security of the P-O-S card readers or the person at the register, or when I'm buying something at WAWA or 7-11 and looking to get change back that I can look thru to keep my collection up-to-date.
On the other hand, I see my kids and their generation embracing the latest payment technologies, and HARDLY EVER see them using cash to buy even a single candy bar at the convenience store, to pay for parking, or buy food at sporting events (granted, those prices are so high, one usually HAS to pay with a credit card!!), etc. They can't even help me search for recent coins because they, for all intents and purposes, NEVER USE CASH! To their generation and beyond, it's a dying medium.
While there remain segments of our population without access to banks or credit cards and must still rely on cash, and some cities have laws that establishments must continue accepting cash on their behalf, overall, we are moving closer & closer to becoming a "cashless society" .
As a lifetime small-fish coin collector, I feel like we will all lose something when that day comes - - yet I also see myself as being part of that migration process.
I'll occasionally seed some wheaties into spending change, or into some rolls I return to the bank, but otherwise I'm doing little to encourage the use of coins & currency on a daily basis or encourage younger generations to do so.
So, my question to fellow Forum members is this....... Where does each of you fall along the spectrum from total cash to total non-cash in your daily lives? And does being a coin collector have much of an influence on where you fall? I'd be interested in hearing your comments.
--Dave 
Comments
Same vintage here. I haven’t looked at my change for many years, so being a collector has had no bearing on my use of cash, which I often don’t even carry. Perhaps if I were more interested in moderns, other than keeping type current, I would use more cash. I do miss those days when something cool could often be found in change - odds are long today.
i use cash to buy things like gas, food and such , no charge backs, hassle with CC , or card declined which is fine with me the less issues i have to deal with the better
Sometimes the dragon wins
I've had the same 2 $1 bills in my wallet for years. I use my business 2% cashback CC for everything and of course pay it off monthly, usually on the day the email bill arrives.
I have a buddy that loves to spend cash, he looks in my wallet, feels sorry for me and slips a Benjamin in. I take it out and put it in the big pile of them in my desk drawer to pay the lawn and other job guys that like cash.
The downside is that I never get any change to look at, although I doubt that's as fruitful as it was in the early 60's when I spent a lot of time doing it.
Of course all my auction buys are direct bank ACH transfers, not paying to use a CC.
I'm a borderline Boomer/Gen Xer. I carry cash but hardly ever use it, not even in vending machines. I used cash this week for the first time in a month.
I'm all-in for a cashless society.
I was born in 1958. About the only time I use cash is at coin shows and casinos. The rest of the time a miles credit card.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
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Don
I rarely use cash.
Dave-
I use cash when I can. I like getting change back. I also throw random wheaties and dateless buffs back into circulation from time-to-time. I NEVER want a "cashless society"!! If you think the gov't monitors you now, let a "cashless society" happen!
I saw your title "Coins & Currency in everyday transactions" and I was thinking about all the business strike coins meant for circulation that we never (or rarely) see in circulation. Coins like the small dollars, Ikes or Kennedy halves. I don't think I've ever received one in circulation or in change.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I use a CC for all my business purchases for the 2% cash back, but use cash for almost every other personal purchase, except for the places that have gone to cashless only like sporting venues. As long as there homeless and migrants (both groups continue to grow at staggering levels) there will be cash, including the cent.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Under $20 I generally use cash. I quickly scan for silver, but that’s about it. The rest goes into a change jar.
I’ve been using cash a lot more the last few years for paying for gas and at convenience stores because had multiple experiences of credit card info getting skimmed at the local gas stations. I didn’t have to pay anything, but the last time it happened someone booked an Airbnb and someone else rented fully liquored limousine tours of las Angeles. My wife noticed the first charge for the limo tour and called them up and they said the same people booked another one the next day. When the group arrived the limo place asked to see their credit card and Id and they all ran and got away. The limo place reported it to the police and they investigated the Airbnb rental. They confronted the people in the Airbnb and made a plea bargain with them that if they told them who sold them the credit card (the fake card with my credit card number on it) that they would go easy on them. The police told my wife that they had been investigating because someone was working the area and making fake credit cards.
Gas is cheaper too if you pay gas.
Mr_Spud
I'm from the Silent Generation and almost never use cash anymore. Inflation has made coins almost useless as a medium of exchange. Today's quarter has less purchasing power than a cent did in 1913. I suspect that the circulating coins we are familiar with will be phased out over the next few decades and replaced with either digital cash or coins of much higher denominations.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
How will the snow shoveler/lawn cutter boys from down the street be paid if cash does not exist? They are not company's as we know it. Maybe we will just flip them some silver dollars for their work.
My credit card put in about 200K worth of FF Miles last year.
But I love cash.
I always have cash, but find inventive ways to pay for big ticket items like School Tuition with a CC. All good.
Surf
Venmo.
I use cash for small purchases.
Otherwise, I use my debit card for gas, groceries and merchandise.
If I use a credit card for any reason, such as online purchases, I pay it off immediately.
I ALWAYS pay with cash when I go to restaurants and purchasing coins in person.
I generally keep a few dollars in my wallet and some change in my car.
Among other methods. It's really not that hard to do person to person payments. People find the oddest reasons to justify the need for cash.
I love the Big Brother argument also. What are you doing that you need to hide it from the government? I don't care if the government had all my financials.
Cash is king for me especially at shows. Don’t like that well go shove off.
I usually use cash at drive thrus plus have a change purse in the dash. Usually just tip them some tell them keep the change. I never much cared a crud for the chicken sx new world of work nor complex internet crap like today. Just think if horror of nuclear war the whole card and internet thing would go to crap. We would be back to posting the books manually. Actually there is an art to that. Cash would be only medium of exchange.
The Constitution called. They want the 4th Amendment back.
I'm post boomer and I use cash on a daily basis - cards are for gas only.
I guess I'm old school. Cash 99% of the time. I just can't get into the habit of credit or debit cards. I have both, just don't use them. When paying with cash, after a quick scan change goes into the change jar. Working on change jar # 3. Gonna take a full day to exam, count & roll. Don't figure I'll ever change.
Several of my clients have come to me with concerns about the digital dollar and the gov't tracking their finances; concerns stoked by alarmist "news" reports. I calmly explain to them that if the government really wanted to track a retiree's spending for any reason they could easily get a warrant and do it as all banks keep all records of transactions electronically and have for decades.
Chopmarked Trade Dollar Registry Set --- US Gold Showcase --- World Gold Showcase --- World Chopmark Showcase
I receive cash in my business and use cash in small transactions.
There is an ongoing shift to non-cash in the industry but it is not moving as fast as I would have predicted. Perhaps the increasing fees are a stronger barrier or the future potential of same.
IMO the contraction/consolidation and special interest/lobby power of Big Banks and Big Tech is concerning. Cash is a form of independence from potential future dependence on large institutional ecosystems.
Lol. The 4th is exactly why it's silly to worry about an all digital economy. They won't automatically get all transaction data without a warrant. If they have a warrant, they can get store video and receipts even if you pay in cash.
Crypto
Yes, agreed. As well as video.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
There are 1000 people who did exactly what he did with cash and securities. His crime isn't related to crypto itself. It was fraud that he committed while running a crypto exchange.
See Bernie Madoff
That might be true @jmlanzaf but you get my point. Hey, have you ever seen pictures of that kids mother? 🤣 😂 LoL!!
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 🤣
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
They just renewed FISA without a warrant requirement. And, he government pays many companies for their data to bypass the warrant requirement. I could go on....
Too volatile.
Hey ......are you a special interest/ lobbyist for crypto?
Yeah i see lots of trusting if not naive folks here. Anyone who doesn't know what social credit scores are better learn . Its coming to a theater near you which is why they want digital currency. I'll stop there so it doesn't get "political"
Because I mention it a couple times per year? I'm not the one that introduced independence from large institutional ecosystems. Oddly, the FED doesn't count as a large institutional ecosystem?
Lol. Bit late for that
I keep a quarter in my car so that I can get a shopping cart at Aldi.
The convenience of the CC is too enticing along with the reward miles, points, cash back, etc. Been using CC for the last 20 years primarily for nearly 100% for all my payments or purchases. I've lost count of the number of free hotel nights and round trip plane tickets I've received over the last 20 years.
I rarely carry cash anymore other than to tip when on business travel. I have been known to CRH and use the half dollars as payment around town. It's funny to see their expressions when they get a Kennedy half.
What will happen to the value of our collections if physical money ended? Increase in value or drop to zero?
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
I use cash for small transactions specifically to get change back to check, as I have for almost 60 years now.
Found a 1957 wheat cent in AU with about 10% original red a few days ago. It's only worth 3 cents, wholesale, but I still wondered where it had been for most of the last 60+ years and got a bit of a thrill- more than 3 cents worth.
Boomer here, I use cash almost daily under $10 to $20 purchases. Most larger items end up on my CC which is paid off every month.
You guys hugging "digital currency" do understand the difference between crypto, using CC's digitally and more importantly... a CBDC which is what I never want to see. If you don't understand the difference and label everyone concerned as "tin hat wearers", you may need to look a little closer.
Mark
Yes, we do understand. And I never suggested that I preferred Crypto. Look at the comment that it was in response to
I’m a boomer born in 1951. I use cash exclusively on most all transactions unless it’s on line, then I use PayPal. I get loads of change in my pocket that generally pulls my pants down off of my skinny ass. When that happens I’ll pull it all out and skim though them rapidly then put them all in a large plastic jug. One day, maybe, I’ll go through them all. I hope they never do away with cash. That would be a sad day.
I never said you preferred anything. Judging from the totality of your comments above, I don't believe you do understand or you wouldn't scoff at those with genuine concerns about digital currency in it's pure form.
Mark
I carry cash in wallet, but never use it (occasionally for the homeless). The apple watch is great to pay for everything - don't need to take the credit card out of the wallet. Extremely convenient!
I find paranoia misplaced about the government being able to find out that you bought milk. Yes, I did. In part because, see above, they can also find out that you bought milk with cash if they really want to.
It's true that no one has convinced me to fear the government POTENTIALLY tracking all my monetary transactions. [4th Amendment is still in place. ] in not sure that speaks to a lack of understanding. Perhaps this that are paranoid lack understanding of how much lack of privacy there is for 90% of their cash transactions, if anyone cared to look.
Or, it could simply be a disagreement with no lack of understanding. Odd that if I disagree, I must be ignorant.
I didn't make one purchase or one sale last year that I care if the government tracks. I'm also convinced that someone is already tracking 95% of my purchases and 85% of my potential purchases.
Explain to me, in small words, what evil they could do with this information?
Even in a purely digital age, you still have crypto and PMs, if you must, to bypass Central Record Keeping.
"Explain to me, in small words, what evil they could do with this information?" Apparently you DONT understand Social Credit scores. I rest my case.
Why is it that important that someone/something has to track where/when/time I purchased my egg mcmuffin? Must be because I may have to return it because the egg was not cooked well enough.🐣
Lol. And maybe I do but since I'm going to have one anyway, how is this going to make my social credit score worse? It's even possible that a complete picture improves my score.
You can rest your case all you want. But you still didn't give me a reason to be more paranoid if I'm not. You don't disappear from the system by using cash. You think using cash prevents you having a SCS? You might want to reopen your case.
It's not important other than to McDonald's who is probably already tracking it. And if you Googled "nearest McD's", they are already tracking you even if you pay cash. I'm pretty sure the government is not going to bother tracking my fast food purchases any more than they are now.
You guys are funny. Of course they dont give a crap about McDonalds purchases. Just keep laughing it off. Its all good. Now back to coins
I am a youngin and use cash at least 90% of the time. More fun, very straightforward, and prevents overspending.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
BHNC #AN-10
JRCS #1606
I dont care about the tracking it's the fees that will snowball.
Big Banks and Big Tech will have the leverage and we will not be able to stop or slow it down.> @jmlanzaf said:
Trying to keep it loose. Mainly I am concerned about the potential fee structures. I'm getting fee'd to death on mobile/cc payments.
I would love to to use a stable regulated digital currency widely accepted retail/wholesale with no fees down the road. Does not appear likely anytime soon.
With regard to cash becoming obsolete? Not likely in the foreseeable future. I hear there is a trend developing with regard to cash discounts.
I agree