DailyDirt: Cool Coins, Unpopular Coins...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Dec 4th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

While digital forms of payment are becoming increasingly popular, cash probably isn't going away anytime soon, and a lot of people still like to collect coins. For the amateur numismatists out there, here are just a few interesting coin stories.

New Zealand is minting a series of coins with Hobbit characters on them -- with the most expensive Hobbit coin made of about 28 grams of gold. The coins will be legal tender, but they'll probably be hoarded by Hobbit fans and coins collectors for being preciousss. [url]
The Royal Canadian Mint has a glow-in-the-dark quarter with a dinosaur on it. Canada killed its penny, but collectible glowing coins apparently have a bright future up north.... [url]
A 1909 Lincoln penny is on Mars, as part of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument on the Curiosity rover. This penny will serve as a calibration target, and it's probably the most valuable penny in the universe. [url]
The US GAO recommends replacing dollar bills with dollar coins -- even though dollar coins are a hugely unpopular with people who actually spend American money. The US Treasury had to stop minting a lot of dollar coins last year because it had such a ridiculous surplus of dollar coins that weren't making it into general circulation. If only people would use dollar coins, the government could save a bit of money when it makes money. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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: canada, coins, collectors, dinosaurs, dollar coin, glow-in-the-dark, hobbit, mars, new zealand, numismatists, penny

17 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

silverscarcat (profile), 4 Dec 2012 @ 5:22pm

I like coins...
I put them in bags until I have a lot, then I exchange them for paper money.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TimK (profile), 4 Dec 2012 @ 5:39pm

I hate coins. I hate paying in cash and getting a handful of coins that I have to carry in my pocket. The second I get home they go in a bucket until the bucket is full....then it goes to the bank.

I hate coins.

Don't give me more, bigger, heavier coins.

Find a way to make paper money cheaper to produce or longer lasting.

Coins suck.

More NFC please!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2012 @ 6:44am
  
  Re:
  except when just 3 coins will buy you a lunch and a coffee
  
  and your coin jar is worth a couple hundred dollars CASH, when you take it to a bank.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- A Dan (profile), 5 Dec 2012 @ 7:27am
  
  Re:
  The argument for dollar coins in the US is based on a faulty premise: That they'll be in circulation for enough time above dollar bills that they're worth the added expense to make.
  Listen to the Planet Money episode:
  
  http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/11/30/166253822/episode-364-should-we-kill-the-dolla r-bill
  
  Our dollar bills are already cheaper to produce than coins, and longer-lasting than the small notes that all the other countries used to have. Switching to dollar coins is a bad idea for us, even if it made sense for other countries.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2012 @ 4:30pm
  
  Re:
  If you hate coins so much and don't want to carry them in your pocket, maybe you should put them in a Salvation Army kettle.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
DUMBASS POLITICIANS, 4 Dec 2012 @ 6:07pm

canadian govt is just mental
nuff said they shuld put harpers head on the 1 dollar coin formerly known as the looney
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2012 @ 7:05pm

Dollar bills are like national health care.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2012 @ 8:09pm

Debate me! Blarglefargle!

/madeyoulook ;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Divide by Zero (profile), 4 Dec 2012 @ 8:48pm

We've had $1 & $2 coins for years and years. They really aren't that bad.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2012 @ 5:56am
  
  Re:
  Loonies and Toonies? Just guessing you're Canadian. Could be wrong. :)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2012 @ 6:43am
    
    Re: Re:
    wrong, Australia...
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Divide by Zero (profile), 5 Dec 2012 @ 2:28pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Nope, from NZ ;-)
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Lone Hedgehog (profile), 4 Dec 2012 @ 11:00pm

Admit it, you Americans are just afraid of change.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2012 @ 6:42am
  
  Re:
  +10
  
  sure are!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
McCrea (profile), 5 Dec 2012 @ 12:35am

What's a coin?
All this currency crap is a waste. Just use your M2 debit card. Really simplifies poker.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2012 @ 6:40am

The US GAO recommends replacing dollar bills with dollar coins -- even though dollar coins are a hugely unpopular with people who actually spend American money.

yea, obviously !!!!

you would not use dollar coins if you don't have any dollar coins, in countries that do have $1 coins they are super popular.

they were not considered bad when they were first introduced either, you were just told that on a certain date coins would be issued. and you could convert your notes for coins at a bank.

they are heaps better, and your coin box really does build up value.

Australia has what is considered the best money in the world, you simply cannot counterfeit our notes, or tear them up.

and we have $1 and $2 dollar coins and have had them for probably over 20 years.

You Americans seem very slow in catching up.

"Australia was the first country in the world to have a complete system of bank notes made from plastic (polymer). These notes provide much greater security against counterfeiting. They also last four times as long as conventional paper (fibrous) notes."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DNY (profile), 5 Dec 2012 @ 7:10am

Dollar coins, but fewer coins in your pocket anyway
Dollar coins are economical. Pennies (and arguably nickels and even dimes) are uneconomical and pointless -- we abolished the half-cent coin when its purchasing power was greater than that of a present-day dime.

(see C.G.P. Grey's charming video advocating the abolition of pennies at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U)

To do it right, besides stopping production of one dollar notes, ramping up production of dollar coins, and abolishing pennies and nickels and adding rounding lines to all cash transactions, we need to introduce a two dollar coin.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]