Annual tradition: Gifting a coin along with a tip

Weiss · December 24, 2021 11:57AM

My wife and I had our first date at a Mexican joint here in town 25 years ago. We still go, pretty much every Friday, and the kid has grown up there. In healthier times we meet up with 2 or 3 other families and make a night of it.

Many years ago I began the tradition of gifting a classic silver Mexican coin with the tip on the night we eat there closest to Christmas. And as it's always somewhat controversial, we always tip at least 20% IN ADDITION TO the coin. Non-collectors can be burdened with numismatics at a time when they most need cash.

In the past it's been Libertads, Onzas, or whatever is a substantial nicer AU/BU classic coin. I scaled back a little this year with the high silver prices, but I still managed to leave something nice. 1944 Peso in brilliant BU condition.

You?

goodmoney4badmoney · December 24, 2021 1:37PM

That is pretty cool!

WAYNEAS · December 24, 2021 1:40PM

A great idea.
Wayne

AUandAG · December 24, 2021 1:47PM

Nice, if I ever return to a restaurant often enough to get to know the staff, I may do this!

Not likely, my wife cooks better than any restaurant chef that I can afford.

Merry Christmas Eve!
bob

CopperWire · December 24, 2021 2:14PM

The historical purpose of tipping was to give something extra to slave laborers. Our "over the top" service culture in the USA is due to its origins in human bondage, where there was no choice but to give perfect service. Imperfect service was met with the whip.

The argument over whether to give 20% or 15% is rather microscopic in the larger context. The answer to "do I tip this person" is whether or not you want to. How much do I tip? Well, however much you want to, of course. To my knowledge there is no law that requires someone to tip so a heated debate over percentages is just minutia.

All that said I love the idea of giving a chunk of silver as a tip. Whether or not to add extra cash? Well, that is also up to you. It would be awesome if employers paid there employees enough that a customer doesn't need to cover the difference. I love eating at places where that happens, often advertised, "please don't tip, we are paid quite well." In Europe servers will look at you with disdain if you try to tip, they consider it offensive...because they are paid quite well by their bosses and don't need the pittance. If you can't afford to pay your servers enough to survive without the pittance, perhaps the business model is flawed?

Merry Christmas to all!

Weiss · December 24, 2021 2:51PM

@CopperWire said:

The answer to "do I tip this person" is whether or not you want to.

>

In America, there is no justification for not tipping servers unless service and food are exceptionally bad or if you are eating at a location that specifically requests you not tip servers. If you're not going to tip, don't eat at the restaurant.

I forgot to mention that the crew who works at the restaurant are not surprisingly Mexican. The owner is a gringo, and we've known him for almost as long as we've been eating there.

ShaunBC5 · December 24, 2021 3:04PM

I’m a decent tipper, but I’m not giving out silver. I wonder if it’s something the staff knows about and looks forward to during the holidays. I hope so.
Also, I hate our tipping system. I wish the cost for the food was enough to cover paying the employees And everyone knew the costs without having to do math.

LukeMarshall · December 24, 2021 3:43PM

I like your idea tipping Mexican silver at a Mexican eatery.

I tried to give the delivery guy a dollar in silver quarters in addition to the tip, but he said he didn’t want coins.

I told him “but they are silver” to which he replied “no thanks”

Oh well

Weiss · December 24, 2021 3:46PM

@LukeMarshall said:
I like your idea tipping Mexican silver at a Mexican eatery.

I tried to give the delivery guy a dollar in silver quarters in addition to the tip, but he said he didn’t want coins.

I told him “but they are silver” to which he replied “no thanks”

Oh well

Yep. These guys are 1500 miles away from "home" on Christmas. I tried to put myself in their shoes. As a non-collector, if I was working at a pub in England or Spain and a regular tipped me a Franklin or a Morgan, It'd be like having a little piece of home in my pocket.

ThreeCentSilverFL · December 24, 2021 4:10PM

I think that's a great and creative thing that you do! I especially appreciate that you account for the likelihood that the server could use the cash tip, and that the extra numismatic tip is just an added bonus It also adds a bit of personality to the whole thing. Merry Christmas!

ifthevamzarockin · December 24, 2021 4:15PM

As it gets close to X-Mas when I go out to eat I make sure every server in the place gets a $5.

Dave99B · December 24, 2021 5:40PM

Wow. Very cool. I’ll occasionally leave an AG Seated or Barber Quarter (in a flip) as part of a tip if the service was great. I tend to only do it at restaurants where they don’t know me, and when I pay in cash. I’m trying to seed the collectors of the future!

Dave

daltex · December 24, 2021 6:28PM

@Dave99B said:
Wow. Very cool. I’ll occasionally leave an AG Seated or Barber Quarter (in a flip) as part of a tip if the service was great. I tend to only do it at restaurants where they don’t know me, and when I pay in cash. I’m trying to seed the collectors of the future!

Dave

"What is this? I know it's not money. Maybe a religious piece? Anyway, I'll just throw it away."

ricko · December 25, 2021 5:51AM

That is a great tradition - both the restaurant visit and the coin. Tipping is a controversial topic... and because of tips, establishments (mostly) use it as justification to pay low wages. That is a sad situation. I always tip in cash, and I give it directly to the server. I do not care for establishments that 'tip share' - where the tips are pooled and shared among all employees..... Good servers practice their profession and add character to make the dining a more pleasant experience - they deserve consideration. Cheers, RickO

air4mdc · December 25, 2021 9:47PM

You have a generous heart.

MarkKelley · December 26, 2021 6:58AM

I second what ricko said. Tip pooling pays the slackers the same as the ones who go over and above.

mark_dak · December 26, 2021 7:11AM

@LukeMarshall said:
I like your idea tipping Mexican silver at a Mexican eatery.

I tried to give the delivery guy a dollar in silver quarters in addition to the tip, but he said he didn’t want coins.

I told him “but they are silver” to which he replied “no thanks”

Oh well

What;s the saying? "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink"

Mark

moursund · December 26, 2021 9:18AM

@LukeMarshall said:
I like your idea tipping Mexican silver at a Mexican eatery.

I tried to give the delivery guy a dollar in silver quarters in addition to the tip, but he said he didn’t want coins.

I told him “but they are silver” to which he replied “no thanks”

Oh well

Some guys are afraid of change. That's what his girlfriend told him anyway... 😀

DisneyFan · December 26, 2021 9:28AM

@ricko said:

I always tip in cash, and I give it directly to the server.

I like what you do. Do you put - 0 - on the credit card card tip line? It can look "suspicious" when it's a significant bill.

vplite99 · December 26, 2021 3:02PM

@LukeMarshall said:
I like your idea tipping Mexican silver at a Mexican eatery.

I tried to give the delivery guy a dollar in silver quarters in addition to the tip, but he said he didn’t want coins.

I told him “but they are silver” to which he replied “no thanks”

Oh well

It probably would not be worth their trouble to get the true cash value out of the silver.

Barberian · December 26, 2021 3:47PM

The only problem I see is the server may not understand the value of the coin and/or how to get a fair cash equivalent for it. I'd hate to see them take something like an onza to a pawn shop and only get a dollar for it.

ricko · December 26, 2021 3:54PM

@DisneyFan.... I usually pay the bill in cash.... I have, on occasion, used a credit card.. but yes, I put zero on the tip line, and give the server the cash tip. Cheers, RickO

Weiss · December 26, 2021 5:37PM

@Barberian said:
The only problem I see is the server may not understand the value of the coin and/or how to get a fair cash equivalent for it. I'd hate to see them take something like an onza to a pawn shop and only get a dollar for it.

The wonderful thing about classic Mexican coinage is that it usually says the weight and purity of the silver contained right on the coin.
Imagine if US silver dollars said "24 GRAMS PURE SILVER" on them?

BryceM · December 26, 2021 5:55PM

The tip culture in the US has become toxic. A couple of weeks ago we were waiting to be seated at a chain sit-down restaurant. A gal came in to fill out a job application and the manager told her the job was $2.35/hr plus tips. I’m a free-market, libertarian kind of guy but that’s insulting. Beyond insulting. The European system is preferable by far.

However, that aside, leaving a cool coin on top of a regular tip is fun. I have a big bag of circulated Ikes for this purpose.

Barberian · December 26, 2021 6:22PM

My father was in the dairy promotion business ("Got milk?") for about 25 years. When he first started out in the late 50's he used to give out a silver dollar to any waitress who mentioned milk when reciting the drink menu. If they didn't mention milk, they received a normal tip plus a wooden nickel telling them what they could have had for a tip if they'd mentioned milk.

I ended up with a handful of his leftover silver dollars from that promotion when I was a kid. I still have them.

moursund · December 26, 2021 10:05PM

@BryceM said:
The tip culture in the US has become toxic. A couple of weeks ago we were waiting to be seated at a chain sit-down restaurant. A gal came in to fill out a job application and the manager told her the job was $2.35/hr plus tips. I’m a free-market, libertarian kind of guy but that’s insulting. Beyond insulting. The European system is preferable by far.

However, that aside, leaving a cool coin on top of a regular tip is fun. I have a big bag of circulated Ikes for this purpose.

Those circulated Ikes are great for dropping in a tip jar that holds a bunch of $1 bills. The ike smashes them down and is obtrusive.. 😜

Annual tradition: Gifting a coin along with a tip

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