Stan: The half-dollar coin is used in massive quantities every day. Unfortunately, just about all of them are in casinos.
Bill ________________________________ Bill Potts Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of STANLEY DOORE Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 23:24 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40819] Re: Unknown series The US already uses currency in the 1,2 5 10 etc. paper dollar denominations. A $2 coin would be more useful than the $2 bill. The $1 coin now is used , and the half-dollar coin is rarely used so it could be eliminated. Stan Doore ----- Original Message ----- From: "m. f. moon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:10 PM Subject: [USMA:40818] Re: Unknown series >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 >> >> >> >> > > > > > >
