DailyDirt: Pocketful Of Useless Coins
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Some people hate carrying around coins and just save them up in jars or throw them into water fountains. There is a never-ending discussion over whether or not to stop printing the US penny, but some folks just don't like rounding to the nearest nickel. Some new coins have been extremely popular (eg. the US state quarters), and all sorts of organizations are starting to print new kinds of collectible coins. Here are just a few examples of some not-so-rare coins.- Military "challenge coins" are generally bestowed upon members of the armed forces for exemplary service and to boost morale. But other areas of the government have printed coins, too -- such as the secretaries of education, transportation and agriculture, as well as the Department of Agriculture's Office of Information Technology. If this coin tradition spreads, will there be inflation? [url]
- The US mint has previously produced half-cent, two-cent, three-cent and 20-cent coins -- so why not an 18-cent coin or a 32-cent coin? The argument is that these additional coins would minimize coin transactions, but how about a 99-cent coin? [url]
- The world's smallest coin could be a speck of diamond (about 750 nanometers across) with Elizabeth Windsor's profile etched on it. Nano-etching the lab-grown diamond demonstrates the capabilities of the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre at the University of Glasgow -- and similar processes could be used to produce patterns for novel semiconductors and nano-transistors. [url]
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: coins, collectibles, diamond, money, nanofabrication, trinkets
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
heh... at first..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II
Ahem.. yah, the Queen of England... DUH.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It's MINTING, not PRINTING
If you didn't know the right word you could have written "made" or "produced"...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Maybe when diamond manufacturing is cheaper, we'll all carry around diamond-based currency...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
99 cent coins
On the other hands, you may begin to see 0.99 or 1.99 soda on vending machines as they're designed best to work with exact charges. Now they would be able to take the 0.99 tactics...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: 99 cent coins
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It's MINTING, not PRINTING
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: 99 cent coins
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: It's MINTING, not PRINTING
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Death to Pennies
It costs much more to produce pennies than they are worth (similar for nickels). This is low-hanging fruit if you want to cut government spending and waste.
As mentioned, the US Mint used to produce half-cent coins. When they stopped producing them, the buying power of the half-cent was considerably more than today's penny. Commerce didn't grind to a halt.
Australia and New Zealand have stopped producing them, saving millions. Canada is about to do so as well. Their economies aren't suffering as a result.
If you want to keep them, fine, we can disagree. But please just admit you want to keep them for sentimental reasons and not because they are somehow necessary to the economy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
18 and 32 cents are a bad idea
Take a lesson from JK Rowling. Now, there is a coinage expert.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Besides, there's already a problem with cashiers giving incorrect change. This will just compound the problem.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nano-etching the lab-grown diamond
[ link to this | view in thread ]