Coins....are they the next transistor radios and phone books?
saintguru
Posts: 7,727 ✭✭✭
As time goes on and I think about coins and their relevance I have become more convinced that these metallic orbs of the history of this country will very likely be extinct within the next 20 years as far as minting.
What are coins used for other than vending machines? Really, NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days and when most people get change they dump it in a large jar and when that jar gets too heavy they cash it in for paper currency. Minting coins has been a losing proposition for decades. Pennies are like grains of rice, nickles, dimes and quarters are cumbersome and halves have NEVER been popular going back as far as Walkers. And dollar coins lost their use by the early 1900's and paper became backed by the Fed.
What's this mean for collecting? IMO, absolutely nothing bad...
Collecting pieces of history is and always will be a wonderful experience. But the usefulness of them is already useLESS. Matbe in another 100 years they will be much more valuable but none of us will know.
Just a strange, trivial OCD inspired thought...
I think I'll get back to my moth collection now. They're cool but so dusty!
saintguru says yoohoo
What are coins used for other than vending machines? Really, NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days and when most people get change they dump it in a large jar and when that jar gets too heavy they cash it in for paper currency. Minting coins has been a losing proposition for decades. Pennies are like grains of rice, nickles, dimes and quarters are cumbersome and halves have NEVER been popular going back as far as Walkers. And dollar coins lost their use by the early 1900's and paper became backed by the Fed.
What's this mean for collecting? IMO, absolutely nothing bad...
Collecting pieces of history is and always will be a wonderful experience. But the usefulness of them is already useLESS. Matbe in another 100 years they will be much more valuable but none of us will know. Just a strange, trivial OCD inspired thought...
I think I'll get back to my moth collection now. They're cool but so dusty!
saintguru says yoohoo
0
Comments
<< <i>NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days >>
One can still score an Ortolan sandwich and Miller Lite for 99c at the Bupkis Bar when purchasing a dance........
I remember being a kid and actually having to carry and spend physical money, before debit cards. So when I found an old coin that was different from the coins I was currently using, I was fascinated.
If I had never used a coin before, ever, I don't know that I would have had the same reaction.
My eBay Store | My Registry Profile
<< <i>
<< <i>NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days >>
One can still score an Ortolan sandwich and Miller Lite for 99c at the Bupkis Bar when purchasing a dance........ >>
Just when you think there's no borscht a giant beet lands in your yard.
<< <i>One can still score an Ortolan sandwich and Miller Lite for 99c at the Bupkis Bar when purchasing a dance........ >>
Yum.
And I don't see demand for bullion coins going away anytime soon. Commems may be a different story.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
<< <i>What are coins used for other than vending machines? >>
oh come on
they'll always be a blast glued on a public floor for entertainment
if they ever take our guns...these lil things will fly out of slingshots sweet
betterment of crappy food servers will prevail with a nasty zincoln being only thing left on counter upon leaving
fishing...need a good lure...poke a hole in a saint...surely some suckerfish will show up...might even catch a bluegill on one
happy new years there guru
I recall my father who was a salesman, leaving home each morning with a pocketful of dimes for phone calls. No mobile device, or computer or day keeper, just a shoe shine and nice suit and most importantly a warm, genuine smile.
<< <i>And I don't see demand for bullion coins going away anytime soon. >>
Nice of someone else to mention this. I myself started as just a bullion stacker/flipper. Which led me to a career in rare coins.
So maybe more bullion gifts and teaching about the value and history of metals might lead to more collectors of more than just bullion like it did me.
We, here in the west (Nevada), used halves and silver dollars well into the 1960's. They were not useless
to us and they were readily accepted and used everywhere.
I don't disagree with your thinking of the future of coins however.
bob
And nothing prevents the minting of higher value coins than $1. Canada has a $2 coin, the Eurozone has a 2 Euro coin and the UK has a 2 Pounds coin. The latter two are equivalent to about US $3. Had coins continued to be in use, inflation could have been driving $5 and $10 coins at some point in the future. I do agree however than most forms of cash, especially coins but also paper money to some degree will probably be gone and replaced with electronic payments.
<< <i>Getting back to lucidity, yes Jay, you are correct. Coinage as a means of commerce is essentially toast, even the casino's want nothing to do with them. Paper money will retain a presence but ever shrinking.
I recall my father who was a salesman, leaving home each morning with a pocketful of dimes for phone calls. No mobile device, or computer or day keeper, just a shoe shine and nice suit and most importantly a warm, genuine smile. >>
He sounds like someone in a Jam Handy filmstrip!
<< <i>
<< <i>Getting back to lucidity, yes Jay, you are correct. Coinage as a means of commerce is essentially toast, even the casino's want nothing to do with them. Paper money will retain a presence but ever shrinking.
I recall my father who was a salesman, leaving home each morning with a pocketful of dimes for phone calls. No mobile device, or computer or day keeper, just a shoe shine and nice suit and most importantly a warm, genuine smile. >>
He sounds like someone in a Jam Handy filmstrip! >>
Not sure that the Jam Handy guy had a cigar in his mouth!
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>
<< <i>NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days >>
One can still score an Ortolan sandwich and Miller Lite for 99c at the Bupkis Bar when purchasing a dance........ >>
Does that include sales tax? if not, then you are a tad over a buck ? How you going to pay for that?
that you cant even see the coins in.
<< <i>if they ever take our guns...these lil things will fly out of slingshots sweet
I forgot which story it was (out of the thousands I read as a kid), but it was one of those end-of-civilization stories. The generation of people after the fall were grinding coins for use as arrowheads...
<< <i>fishing...need a good lure...poke a hole in a saint...surely some suckerfish will show up...might even catch a bluegill on one >>
I'll bet this would work. I'll have to try it with a clad dime. (Nobody'll complain if I drill a clad. Well, maybe in 100 years...
U.S. Type Set
<< <i>As time goes on and I think about coins and their relevance I have become more convinced that these metallic orbs of the history of this country will very likely be extinct within the next 20 years as far as minting.
What are coins used for other than vending machines? Really, NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days and when most people get change they dump it in a large jar and when that jar gets too heavy they cash it in for paper currency. Minting coins has been a losing proposition for decades. Pennies are like grains of rice, nickles, dimes and quarters are cumbersome and halves have NEVER been popular going back as far as Walkers. And dollar coins lost their use by the early 1900's and paper became backed by the Fed.
What's this mean for collecting? IMO, absolutely nothing bad...
Just a strange, trivial OCD inspired thought...
I think I'll get back to my moth collection now. They're cool but so dusty!
saintguru says yoohoo >>
I have an idea, make the penny, nickel, dime, half dollar, and dollar NCLT; while the quarter is the only circulating coin and purchases made in cash would be rounded off to the nearest quarter. At least quarters are still needed for parking meters, laundromats, and other coin operated machines.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
In our attempt at becoming the largest and wealthiest Industrialized Nation, we've all become accustomed to credit and debit cards but there are many folks within our little tiny corner of the World that still go hungry and actually put commercial value on a 10 cent piece.
Until the "Internet" reaches all corners of the world, there will always be a need for physical monetary exchange and I seriously doubt that the 7, 8, and 10 figure earners of this country that have significant investments tied up in coins will move in any direction to jeopardize their investments.
Now some of the coins could go bye bye such as the cent and nickel but then we've known this for about 20 years yet...........nothing has been done. At least in our little corner of the World.
So..................who's going to get the ball rolling to eliminate "money" and instead move toward all computerized (and hackable) wealth?
A quick show of hands??
The name is LEE!
I don't think cash will be eliminated soon, as there will always be hackers, and electronic payments can never be 100% secure.
<< <i>Every time you swipe plastic, someone somewhere is keeping track. Keep the change. >>
It sounds silly but think about it. How many people 'saved' their old bank card or their old American Express from the 80s or 90s...Hell even much newer ones?
Also, don't debit/credit cards have wear on them just like coins? Are there not more common or rarer cards? Are there not special addition cards? Cards with special designations (like maybe from a famous person's?). Currency collectors love fancy serial numbers---cards have that just the same. There are errors in cards as well. Hell cards even have a equivalent of Patter/Trials with sample cards.
Maybe I am crazy.
They could use some.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
<< <i>Here in the Bay Area there are PLENTY of Asian-American businesses (predominantly in the food/restaurant business) that will NOT accept plastic. FWIW these places often have the best food out there. >>
Non-plastic transactions make for very easy tax evasion.
<< <i>
<< <i>NOTHING costs less than a dollar these days >>
One can still score an Ortolan sandwich and Miller Lite for 99c at the Bupkis Bar when purchasing a dance........ >>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post is worthless wothout photos
They are awkward to carry around and are a pain when they roll down under the seat in the car and get stuck between the center console and the seat frame, which gives me incentive to spend them asap.
Everything would have to be priced in whole dollar amounts without coins.
Folks say this when discussing eliminating a denomination or coins altogether... however, only the total would be rounded, individual items could still be priced in cents.. or in the case of gasoline, 9/10 of a cent.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Maybe, in 100 years, people will be collecting debit cards.
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
<< <i>Every time you swipe plastic, someone somewhere is keeping track. Keep the change. >>
Ultimately, the U.S. government is going to move to cashless, eliminating currency altogether. Tax receipts from everyone cheating on their taxes might bring the budget deficit back into a surplus...Nah, that would be too smart of them.
Enjoyed numismatic conversations with Eric P. Newman, Dave Akers, Jules Reiver, David Davis, Russ Logan, John McCloskey, Kirk Gorman, W. David Perkins...
Hoard the keys.