COINS ARE EVIL and they must be stopped

[prickvixen]

I was thinking about change tonight, coinage, and I decided that it's just become a device for tricking people into spending more money than they mean to. Because decades ago, coins were actually viable denominations, rather than a nuisance. You could actually buy things with a nickel or a dime, like a meal or a book or something. Now coinage has just become a mechanism for forcing people to do fractions in their head, which most people don't do very well, and for chiseling fractional amounts of money off of consumers. At least that's my impression of it.

Comments

[smack-jackal.livejournal.com]

In Japan, coins are good. Of course, EVERYTHING comes out to even numbers more--more-or-less--and consumption tax (sales tax) is figured into the advertized prices for things. A 230 Yen _thing_ costs you 230 Yen at the counter. Coins only for denominations below 1000 Yen, too. (~$10)

Of course, we couldn't do anything rational like that. Fuck, we can't even get a dollar coin to stick.

[obonicus.livejournal.com]

I think it's more a question that there's no easy solution -- or that there really is a problem. Fractions exist even when you're dealing even in coins; down here, a long while ago it wasn't uncommon to go around with over 1 million in local currency in your wallet. And it wasn't uncommon to receive change in 1000 or 5000 bills. Also, people aren't that bad at figuring math if they hve to. Back when our money lost value from one week to the next, people managed to figure out how much to pay for things. Maybe it has to do with people giving little value to their money, instead?

DIMES MUST DIE!!!!!!

[matthigh.livejournal.com]

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