Live data from Hacker News

Uncut Currency

usmint.gov

151–160 of 421 posts

Re: Uncut Currency

#151
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing I cannot fathom is why quarters are so huge, considering they’re nearly valueless. Then you need whole stacks of $1 bills to pay anything relevant. I find both constantly cluttering up my wallet.

The question is why are you using cash? Even my 82 year old dad is now using Apple Pay and both of my parents mostly use credit cards/debit cards. The only time I keep cash is for tipping, my wife and I travel a lot.

> The question is why are you using cash?

I use cash because it contributes to the local neighborhood economy more than not using cash.

I use cash because I do not want to risk a banking app being broken by a non-banking app.

I use cash because I do not trust banking apps to keep to themselves instead of infecting the whole device with spyware to "verify who you are".

I use cash because not using cash charges extra (often-hidden) fees while using cash often comes with extra discounts.

I use cash because the modern economy is a give-business-money-for-nothing-because-fuck-you economy and I don't want to contribute to that.

There are many reasons to use cash. Pick one or many but stop thinking that cash is worse than a tech solution.

Re: Uncut Currency

#152

Why is the US one of the few countries that can't keep a consistent design across their bills and still does not have a way for blind people to identify which note they have. They are all the same size and have no embossed markings.

[flagged]

Absolutely no political party in the US is railing against the disabled. The ADA was championed by Bush - a Republican candidate.

Especially seeing how many people in “rural America” are claiming disability benefits that could work. But don’t have the necessary skills to get the jobs available are a willingness to move to where the jobs are.

Yes I realize that moving somewhere without the extended family support system is an issue and it’s failing of the government and job training services

https://projecte3.com/rural-americans/

Edit: I see I just got accused of being “ablist” in a now dead comment.

I have cerebral palsy

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42611512

Re: Uncut Currency

#153
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In today's stupefied America, it wouldn't be safe because the police will be called and the police escalate things into unnecessary violence. In the 60's through 80's it would've been fine, but not now.

There wasn't any standardized data on police violence in the US in the 60s through 80s, but I doubt that it was any less significant.

Come on people, there was a civil rights movement in swing in the 60s in the US.

Richard Pryor in 1979 on policing:

https://youtu.be/ZWulvchFpYs

> RP: Police got chokehold on you out here though, they choke n--- to death! I mean you be dead when they through! Did you know that?

> [Audience indistinctly yelling back "Yeah!"]

> RP: The n--- going "Yeah we know!," white people going "no, I had no idea!"

Re: Uncut Currency

#154
(Professional coin & currency nerd here)

Fun fact about these — when the treasury first issued these, many people decided to cut them into odd off-center pieces and sell the resulting notes as miscut errors.

Once that started happening, the treasury (BEP to be specific) very quickly changed the serial numbers so they’re all very recognizable as having come from an uncut sheet. I didn’t check the latest for all denominations, but I know for $1 bills they all start with 99.

So if you see a “miscut dollar error” for sale on eBay or the like, always check the serial. If it starts with 99 then it’s just someone who had some fun with a pair of scissors and it’s not a real error.

For example, to wit:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/135364285098

Re: Uncut Currency

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insistence on cotton paper money is part of the problem. Canada’s banknotes are all the same size but because they’re polymer, have a brail punch in them. Edit: not braille but a system of raised dots nonetheless: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/audience-specific-reso...

The last iteration of German paper money was cotton-based and had raised markers, so it's not an either-or. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark#/media/File:5_Ma... (the : in the bottom left area, next to the 5)

These bills also had sizs that increased with their denomination.

Re: Uncut Currency

#156

Why is the US one of the few countries that can't keep a consistent design across their bills and still does not have a way for blind people to identify which note they have. They are all the same size and have no embossed markings.

Learn more about US politics, and how hard it is to change simple things. You can start by looking up how hard it is to discontinue the penny.

Re: Uncut Currency

#157
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coins are horribly inconvenient compared to bills.

Do you have any experience in countries with large denomination coins? Anything smaller than a quarter is super annoying, even the quarter is borderline. It says something when a countries largest coin is too small to be useful. A 500 Yen (~$4) coin OTOH, is super nice.

I'm in the UK which has £1 and £2 coins and the smallest note is £5

I'd much rather have £1/£2 notes instead

Re: Uncut Currency

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please cite some examples of how the U.S. treats disabilities as personal failings, compared to specific other countries.

Pre-existing conditions, which as far as I'm aware, is a US-only concept. I'm happy to be corrected for that, though.

This hasn’t been a problem since the ACA.

I was caught up in the pre ACA health care system trying to find insurance outside of working for a company.

I have very mild Cerebral Palsy and back then, I was in great shape - a part time fitness instructor, had just run two half marathons in an average time, I could pass any of the standard fitness tests for my age etc.

I had one surgery in my entire life - four surgery at 21 12 years prior. I could not get insurance at any price even though they could have given me any fitness test including running on a treadmill with flying colors.

I was making more than enough as a contractor to pay for it.

I looked on the open market last year when I briefly thought about going independent and I could have definitely made the numbers work.

Re: Uncut Currency

#159
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Printing money costs money too.

But these notes stop the printing process early—the purchaser is on the hook to cut them out. So these should cost less than the fully printed and cut bills if we're going by pure cost of creation. Do banks pay upwards of $1.50 on the dollar for new bills?

they only sell them as a novelty, and as a novelty they can charge a premium
Post reply on HN