I am surprised that no one seems to mentioned the concept of R-numbers. The
1-2-5 sequence is one of the more popular and common series and was chosen
by
the Euros for the their new currency. It has the property that it provides
a
sequence that allows for fairly efficient use of currency to make up any
given
charge.
Do a google and you will find several good discussions on the topic
R-numbers.
m moon
------ Original Message ------
Received: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:08:22 PM PDT
From: "Nat Hager III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:40815] Re: Unknown series
One use I find with the 25c coin is drawing an analogy between pennies and
millimeters.
If you view a base length unit as 100 mm, then an inch (~25 mm) is roughly
a
quarter of that unit much like a "quarter" (25c) is a quarter of a dollar.
Sometimes helpful in getting people to "think" in millimeters. 7 inches is
roughly 175 mm much like 7 quarters is $1.75
Nat
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of
Jon Saxton
Sent: Sunday, 2008 April 27 20:22
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:40806] Re: Unknown series
I have lived in the USA for about 17 years and I have had plenty of time
to get used to the 25c coin. However I still find the 20c coin of
Australia much more convenient. (I have other issues with the design of
Australian coins but that is another story.) It seems more natural to
make 45c by giving two 20c and a 5c rather than a 25c and two 10c.
I can't say anything about the coinage of the Netherlands but the reason
for the 25c coin in the USA (and most other countries in the Americas)
is historical.
By the beginning of the 18th century the Spanish dollar, a silver coin
of about 1 oz with a denomination of 8 reales, had become one of the
major world trading currencies. The English phrase "pieces of eight"
referred to this coin. In the mid 1820s there were even moves to make
the dollar the official currency of the Australian colonies but that was
quashed by the British government.
Although there were coins of 1, 2 and 4 reales, they were relatively
scarce so for want of small change it was common practice to cut the
Spanish dollar. The easiest cuts were binary, and they corresponded to
the smaller denominations. So one cut yielded a half dollar, two cuts
yielded a quarter and a third cut yielded what was known colloquially as
a bit. (Hence the term "2 bits" meaning a quarter dollar.)
When the United States established its own coinage in the late 18th
century it used the Spanish dollar as the basic unit. The innovation
was to divide the unit into tenths and hundredths but it was not so easy
to ignore the binary divisions. Hence the 25c coin was struck. As far
as I am aware there was never a 12.5c coin but the binary divisions
afflicted the stock market for 200 years. Even today there are vestiges
of the reales legacy: interest rates are almost invariably quoted in
eighths of a percent, and so are many state sales tax rates.
The 25c coin is the anomaly in the USA and Canada. US banknotes follow
the 1-2-5 pattern (although for some reason the $2 note is not in common
use, and Canadians have $1 and $2 coins).
I remember seeing $25 notes somewhere - perhaps Aruba. If I am correct
then that would probably be the Dutch influence.
Martin Vlietstra wrote:
I am a frequent visitor to the Netherlands. Prior to the adoption of the
Euro, I found that I had to take a little more care when handling the
Dutch
currency compared to the currency of other countries - their series was
5c,
10c, 25c, 1G, 2.5G with 5G, 10G, 25G and 50G notes.
In contrast, the Euro was well researched in terms of ergonomics - it has
1c, 2c, 5c, 10, 20c, 50c, 1 and 2 coins with 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and
500
notes. The 1c and 2c coins are very small and two countries (Netherlands
and
Finland) do not use them, otherwise the coins are well thought out - each
has
a different milling pattern. The notes are all different sizes, each 3mm
higher and 6mm longer than it predecessor. There is however a question as
to
whether 200 and 500 notes are needed.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf
Of Ziser, Jesse
Sent: 26 April 2008 06:12
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:40800] Re: Unknown series
--- Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 2008/04/26, at 9:43 AM, Ziser, Jesse wrote:
The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences calls it the
"Hyperinflation Sequence for Banknotes".
http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/A051109
That is surely a fancy name for a relatively simple series. I wonder
whether the choice of the (1, 2, 5, ) series has anything to do with
limiting how many coins or notes are given as change during a cash
transaction. I find the (1, 2, 5, ) series easy to handle for this
purpose than the (1, 5, 10, 25, 50, ) coins used in the USA, but this
may only be because I am more familiar with Australian coins.
I don't disagree with you. I can see how the U.S. system of
denominations
might not be the best.
I wonder whether the fact that the US was one of the first countries to
use
decimal currency means
we are likely to have a less refined system than others. Incidentally,
the
"50" in that sequence
is very rare. I've only seen a few half-dollar coins in my life. The
dollar coins were pretty
rare too, until they were recently reintroduced in "golden" form.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
