The problem is that people do not want a pocket full of change, but it is not because of the denomination of the coins, it is because of all the pennies, nickels and dimes. A pocket full of change in the US comes to two or three dollars. In most wealthy countries you never see pennies and rarely see 5 or 10 cents (pence). With 1 and 2 dollar (euro) coins a pocket full of change can easily be 10 dollars or euros.
Prices in those countries are rounded numbers and include tax. A hamburger costs $3. In the US a hamburger costs $2.99 plus tax so it really costs $3.18 or $3.23 or $3.33 or some other number, depending on where you live. In Germany or New Zealand you pay for the hamburger with two or three coins and do not get any change, or you use a five and get one coin back. In the US, even if you use three dollar bills, you still need 5 coins for each of the prices above. You either have to dig around in your pocket and find the right five coins, or you get change. Typically a person would pay with 4 bills or three bills and a quarter or two because that is easier, but that means they get change back. (3 coins, 2 coins, and 4 coins in the examples above if you use quarters, or 6 coins, 5 coins and 6 coins if you use bills). After three or four transactions you have a heavy pocket full of change. Either way you are dealing with a lot of coins which aren't worth much, so no one wants to add more coins. Most people in the US obsess over pennies and nickels and do not want to be "cheated" out of a few cents. In most other countries prices are usually round, and even when they are not, the change you get back is usually rounded. People realize it all averages out. The $1 coin will not become popular until US citizens stop worrying about pennies and nickels, until businesses stop adding 99 cents at the end of every price, and until they start posting honest prices which include tax. The lack of round pricing is what creates too much pocket change and a $1 coin won't work until that changes. Al Lawrence From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:50974] Re: Why mint coins no one wants? Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:36:34 +0100 This looks like another example of where Americans have been fed incorrect information, the resulting incorrect perception is everything, and why America prefers some (apparent - not necessarily real) short term gain in exchange for (not always immediately apparent) long term pain. The inefficiencies of paper money are well documented - a coin can last 50 years, a paper note/bill less than two. But there's also the huge (but hidden) inefficiency in each person handling not only two forms of money in a typical transaction (paper and coin), but also greatly increased numbers of either. I remember seeing somewhere before on this subject that America rejects higher denomination of coinage because they perceive that they will end up with more change in their pockets/purses. Like with thinking converting to the metric system is too expensive, the OPPOSITE is true! That perception is plain wrong. America has the following coinage: 0.25, 0.10, 0.05, 0.01 - and that's it! Four denominations only (I am ignoring the 0.50 coin, as it does not seem to be in general usage). For paper money there is only the 1.00 bill and the 5.00 bill. (I am ignoring everything above 5.00.) Canada has the above, plus 1.00 and 2.00 coins - 6 denominations. Plus the 5.00 bill. UK has 2.00, 1.00, 0.50, 0.20, 0.10, 0.05, 0.02, 0.01 - 8 denominations. Plus the 5.00 note. Now take a purchase that comes to, say, 3.92, paid for in coinage only. US - 15 x 0.25, 1 x 0.10, 1 x 0.05, 2 x 0.01. That's an astonishing 19 coins - not practical (too slow for one thing). Paper money will get used, thereby giving you ever MORE change! Canada - 1 x 2.00, 1 x 1.00, 3 x 0.25, 1 x 0.10, 1 x 0.05, 2 x 0.01 - 9 coins. Getting much more feasible. UK - 1 x 2.00, 1 x 1.00, 1 x 0.50, 2 x 0.20, 1 x 0.02. That's just 6 coins. In practice, it means that for ANYTHING under 5.00, you are more likely to pay with ONLY coins, meaning you end up with FEWER coins jangling away in your pockets/purses - and only having to deal with one type of money (coins). That means less time at the cash register = more efficient throughput of customers. Even tendering, say, 4.00 for that purchase is no better for Americans. Unless they pay with 16 quarters, an American has to tender 4 x 1.00 bills. He/she will receive 1 x 0.05 and 3 x 0.01 in change (net increase of four coins). A Canadian or a Brit can tender just 2 x 2.00 coins. A Canadian will receive 1 x 0.05 and 3 x 0.01 in change (net increase of two coins); a Brit will receive 1 x 0.05, 1 x 0.02 and 1 x 0.01 in change - a net increase of just one coin. If in all three countries a 5.00 bill/note is tendered, an American will receive 8 coins in change, a Canadian 5 coins and a Brit 4 coins in change. So how can Americans get it so wrong? I have lived extensively and continually travel in all three countries, and I can say from personal experience that in the UK you have far fewer coins on you, as using coins only for small purchases is a very practical proposition. Same more or less for Canada, as it too has 2.00 and 1.00 coins. In the US I ALWAYS end up with a huge pocketful of quarters, dimes and nickels, which just accumulate until one day I decide to aggregate them together and pay for something large with them - much to the annoyance of the person at the cash register, who now has to sort through and add up 20 or 30 coins or more. Being different just for the sake of it does not always mean being better. Being better means looking at how the rest of the world does something better than you - and then improving on it. John F-L ----- Original Message ----- From: John M. Steele To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 2:56 AM Subject: [USMA:50973] Why mint coins no one wants? Per this article on dollar coins, the US has $1.2 billion minted reserve of the $1 coins already due to low demand, and by 2016 will have a minted reserve of $2 billion of them. At 8.1 g/coin (per the Mint), that is 16200 t of excess coins by 2016. http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110816/OPINION03/108160335/Why-mint-coins-no-one-wants-
