Re: [USMA:33539] metric Germany, yes---but euro coins, darn it! on 2005-07-14 07.00, Paul Trusten at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
<snip> > The euro coin sets have a logical design sequence, but there are just too many > of them to be convenient--one-, two-, five-, 10-, 20-, 50-cent, and one- and > two-euro coins. Whenever I had to fish into my pocket for change, I had a > festival of searching among the many golden-colored coins for the right > combination. The one- and two-euro coins are bimetallic and easy to spot, but > not the lesser value coins. > > U.S. coins, however, circulate in only four popular denominations: one-, five, > 10-, and 25-cent pieces. They may be illogically sized (e.g., the 10-cent > piece is smaller than the five-cent piece and the one-cent piece), but they > are identifiable at a glance. Even the unpopular half-dollar and one-dollar > U.S. coins are unique in appearance, and would pose no additional visual > burden if they circulated. Dear Paul, What you say is in direct contradiction to my experiences when I was recently in the USA. It took me several (annoying) days before I could confidently offer small change for shopping. This was mostly because the coins that you mention are not labelled with their value (except for the 'Quarter Dollar') and so although they can be recognised readily by size that doesn't mean that you can readily apportion a value to them if you don't instantly recognise their value. I resorted in the end to placing quarters in one pocket and nickels and dimes in another pocket until I learned to know them better and I threw pennies to the bottom of my bag to prevent them annoying me altogether I finished up with a lot of pennies. When you visit Australia you will experience the same frustration that you had in Germany. However, it is not quite so great as we have less coins. Here there are 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and one and two dollar coins 6 coins in all. We got rid of one and two cent coins a few years ago and we never tried the experiment of having a dollar coin and a dollar note (as well as a two dollar coin and a two dollar note) in circulation at the same time to give people a choice as you did in the USA. Given a choice the people will almost always choose to not change unless there is a direct and definite commercial or practical advantage for individuals the 'give them a choice' strategy will simply be painfully slow. In the process of change it is always easier to go with the familiar rather than to study the relevant options and then to deliberately choose to act on what you judge to be the best. This is the point at which the founders of the metric system found themselves in the 1790s when they realised that the traditional measures (of France and the rest of the world) were in such a muddle that reform was absolutely necessary the metric system was the result of this insight. Interestingly, I was speaking with a formidable historian yesterday, and when she (in an unguarded moment) referred to a modern measurement in inches, I was delighted to be able to ask whether her other attitudes and mindsets were also pre-revolutionary in character as well as her measurements. I then followed up with that great quotation from Chou En-lai when he was asked what he thought of the effects of the French Revolution; he replied 'It is too early to tell!'* *This quotation is based on the story (possibly apocryphal) that, in 1972, when Henry Kissinger met with Chou En-lai in Beijing he asked the Chinese foreign minister if he thought the French Revolution of 1789 had benefited humanity. Chou En-lai answered 'We Chinese feel it is too soon to tell!' Cheers, Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'. * Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email.
