Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uncut Currency

usmint.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 421 posts

Re: Uncut Currency

#171

Post by coldpie »

scarface_74 wrote: post #169
inetknght wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 (…

> I use cash because it contributes to the local neighborhood economy more than not using cash. The merchant gets all except for a 2% fee when you don’t use cash. Cash handling also has cost - theft both from employees and outside actors - too. > I use cash because I do not want to risk a banking app being broken by a non-banking app. When has Apple Pay or Google pay ever been “broken”? Do you not use a bank at all o…

> There are very few places in the US that up charge for credit card transactions

I actually see it quite often here in the Twin Cities at small stores, bars, restaurants. A 1~3% discount for cash.

> The merchant gets all except for a 2% fee when you don’t use cash. Cash handling also has cost - theft both from employees and outside actors - too.

I've asked quite a few merchants that take both whether they have a preference for cash vs card. Most (~90%) say they don't care either way. The remainder all say they prefer cash. I've never had one reply they prefer a card to cash. Also, when making large (like four- or five-figure) transactions with people like home contractors, they all request payment via personal check, to avoid the card fees eating a huge chunk of the transaction.

I also dislike the idea of all transactions being trackable/identifiable. I think there's value in being able to perform anonymous transactions.

Re: Uncut Currency

#172

Post by wing-_-nuts »

eru wrote: post #69
firen777 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

reading the comments gave me a headache...

It's instagram. Slight tangent: the YouTube comments used to be famous for being a vile cesspit. Then Google changed something, and now they are full of positivity. Often too full.

>Often too full.

Eh. Yeah. I posted a comment on a urban design video questioning the cost they gave for car ownership and the fact that they did not value the extra time it takes to use transit. Bam. Comment removed. Apparently the channel is able to moderate comments that don't fit their mentality

Re: Uncut Currency

#173

Post by readthenotes1 »

nlh wrote: post #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 denomi…

Maybe that's a way to recoup paying $86 for $50?

Re: Uncut Currency

#174

Post by aftbit »

scarface_74 wrote: post #169
inetknght wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 (…

> I use cash because it contributes to the local neighborhood economy more than not using cash. The merchant gets all except for a 2% fee when you don’t use cash. Cash handling also has cost - theft both from employees and outside actors - too. > I use cash because I do not want to risk a banking app being broken by a non-banking app. When has Apple Pay or Google pay ever been “broken”? Do you not use a bank at all o…

I use cash because it doesn't require batteries, and because my cell phone won't let me use Google Pay, as it's running a custom OS (before that, was rooted) so I'm obviously untrustworthy.

I do use a credit card pretty often too, but I always have a little cash on me and I use it at least weekly.

Re: Uncut Currency

#175

Post by brookst »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #113
OutOfHere wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people rely on the bills. You are completely out of touch with the people with your attempt to sabotage the printed currency.

Rely on what that couldn't be better served by $1 coins?

Three problems:

1. Switching costs. There are a ton of vending machines and other automated stuff that takes dollar bills but not coins. You can say “oh they’d switch”, and maybe, but they don’t want to because it’s expense and complexity for little/no benefit.

2. Critical mass. Similar problem: nobody will invest in supporting dollar coins as long as their customers don’t use dollar coins. Customers won’t use them because they won’t accept them from banks and stores. And they won’t accept them because they know lots of infra doesn’t support them.

3. US psychology sees coins as “change”, not money. If you see someone buying lunch with change, the assumption is they’re homeless or something. It’s irrational, but so what? And it would change… if we ever got over the hump.

Don’t think of the problem like a technocrat, where any 5% improvement is obviously worth it. Think of it like a marketer, where you have to change customer behavior, and that needs a 10x value prop.

Or I guess we can think like autocrats: we know what’s good for ‘em and they’ll just have to accept it.

Re: Uncut Currency

#176

Post by BobAliceInATree »

gwbas1c wrote: post #156
sschueller wrote: post #32

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.

apropos: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/magazine/worthless-pennie...

Re: Uncut Currency

#177

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

sschueller wrote: post #32

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.

There's no need to go to the trouble of making these changes. Cash money has been illegal in the United States since before most here were even born. If they discover you have cash, it can be confiscated (and charged with a crime... not you, but the cash can be charged). If you deposit more than $10,000 at a bank, the banks are deputized to snitch on you. If you deposit exactly $10,000, they snitch on you. And, because some criminals might deposit less than $10,000 to try to avoid consequences, if you deposit less than $10,000. Not just banks, if you bought a new car (or new RV, or new tractor, etc) at a dealership with cash, they'd have to report that too. Social norms have been subtly manipulated to convince you that people who have cash or pay with cash are shady.

Re: Uncut Currency

#178

Post by decremental »

0_____0 wrote: post #153
Aunche wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!"

[dead]

Re: Uncut Currency

#180

Post by rufugee »

nlh wrote: post #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 denomi…

I'm shocked someone would pay $500 for an erroneously cut $1 bill.
Post reply on HN