On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:42:54 -0800, "Bruce Remick"
wrote:


"note.boy" wrote in message
...

"Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote in message
...

"note.boy" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
"Real" money, meaning that the value of the coin is in the
metal, is gone now. Was the USA the last country to coin
real money? If not, which country carried on coinage after
LBJ eliminated silver coinage?

BTW, I do not count legal tender coins like the US $50
gold coin, as it is not expected to be circulated as a
Kennedy half dollar was.

GFH


I would not be surprised if the USA was the last country to coin "real"
money as they have the most backward coin and papermoney on the planet.

So, you've rigorously examined the coin and papermoney of all nations on
the planet and come to this conclusion, eh?

Mr. Jaggers


Prove me wrong by naming a non third world country that has a more
backward coin and papermoney set up.

By whose standards (besides yours) is our monetary system "backward"?

Well, mine (US near DC) for one. A lot of other RCCers share this
assessment, witnessed by the countless "let's see how we can improve
the US's money set-up", "get rid of the penny/cent!" and "get rid of
the paper dollar" threads over the last decade at least.

Who else has ridiculously low face value coins and papermoney in
circulation similar to the one cent coin and the one dollar note?

The dollar bill has a ridiculously low face value?

When compared with the set-ups of most other countries in the world,
yes. Most countries' smallest valued note is 5.00, some probably
10.00. Also when one considers the buying power of a note, the $1 is
pretty small compared to how it used to be. Even in my lifetime, I've
seen what could be bought for a dollar in the late 1970s compared with
what _can't_ be bought for a dollar anymore. Or even two or three
dollars.

He also mentioned "coins" in there. The penny and nickel are
ridiculously low valued when compared with the prices of just about
anything in the USA. There's hardly anything of any size or content
that can be bought for a quarter -- how much less is the power of a
nickel or penny except in accumulation.

If it weren't for the rise in copper and nickel prices, those two
coins would continue on their rapid course towards irrelevance.

Regardless, if any other
countries use low value coins it's because they want to. Better not go
there if it bugs you.

I daresay the coins and notes themselves don't bug him. What seems to
be bugging him is what is bugging a lot of people: the nonsense and
primitivity of the present system!

The UK got rid of the 1/2p coin (roughly equal to the one cent coin) in
1984 and last issued the ten bob note (roughly equal to the one dollar
note) in 1967.

So what? They did so because they wanted to. I believe the UK still has
50p coins, two of which equate to a one pound coin. Why mint both? People
like to use them, I guess. Same here.

Not quite like here. That 50p coin _replaced_ an older, increasingly
lower valued note. That was the whole point!

The USA is 23 and 40 years behind the UK.

Wow! Did you get this from a US or a UK economist?

A simple calculator will do.

The attractiveness of current USA papermoney from a collecting point of
view is a million miles behind Scottish notes. We have very attractive
issues in a variety of designs/colours and sizes from three different
banks that change fairly regularly. Billy

Personally, I kind of like having all my bills the same size so none get
lost in between the others and I don't have to keep them arranged by size in
my wallet.

Personally I agree with this sentiment, though I tend to shove the
things into my pocket rather than neatly folding them in my wallet.

I'm curious, though: do you have a trifold wallet?

Never in 60 years have I confused one denomination with another.

Good for you that your eyes have not yet gone blind! Not that there
are many blind people when compared to the population as a whole, but
differing sizes do help them live a little more independently. And
what's more American than livining an independent lifestyle?

I think our bills look just fine, too, pretty much the way our money has
looked for well over half a century.

Yeah. They were uninspired in 1928, too! If we could see some truly
amazing designs, I wouldn't care if they were all green and the same
size!

Gives consumers confidence and
comfort.

This is true. The good old greenbacks have a good reputation worldwide
in part because of their distinctive sameness, both across
denominations and through time.

Frequent currency design changes can create confusion.

It can. But Americans had no trouble with all the design changes that
were witnessed in earlier decades.

Padraic

Any time I can buy $1.00 worth of goods with $1.00 worth of the coins in my
pocket, that's "real money" to me. I couldn't care less what the coins are
made of.

Bruce

Bruce


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