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

291–300 of 421 posts

Re: Uncut Currency

#291

Post by packtreefly »

soap- wrote: post #125
bryanlarsen wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Coins are simply worse than bills. They're too thick for something you'd be keeping mainly in your wallet or pocket.

Dollar bills are usually in terrible condition. Folded corners, creases, dirt. Ten singles take up more space in my wallet than just about anything else I'd put in there.

I'd rather have ten coins. They'll easily fit in the bottom of my pocket, and when I pull out change there's likely to be a useful amount of money in it.

Re: Uncut Currency

#292

Post by amatecha »

achow wrote: post #16
neilv wrote: post #11

Steve Wozniak (the Apple cofounder) famously bought sheets of $2 bills, and had a printer perforate and gum them into pads. So he could literally tear off $2 bills, in front of people who might not even know it was real currency, to pay them. https://web.archive.org/web/20180311084811/http://archive.wo...

The video where he is showcasing it.. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDHTkowSkUM/

"Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak prints his own money" -- closed the window. Dunno what I expected, clicking an Instagram link. Turns out there's no way to report content for misinformation, as I've just discovered, so that's cool. Definitely reaffirms my aversion to the platform.

Re: Uncut Currency

#293

Post by TrainedMonkey »

furyofantares wrote: post #267
j7ake wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a market to buy 2 dollar bills for less than two? You say they’re worth less so maybe it’s an arbitrage opportunity

> You say they’re worth less They said they're (mostly) not worth more than $2. They aren't worth less than $2 either. They are worth $2.

$2 bills are somewhat rare and are considered lucky. We could use math to prove that on average $2 dollar bill is worth more than $2. 1 - There exist collectable $2 dollar bills which are worth significantly more than $2. 2 - there are no $2 dollar bills which are worth less than $2 due to being legal tender. From 1 and 2 - average value of all $2 bills is above $2.

Re: Uncut Currency

#294

Post by Symbiote »

trey-jones wrote: post #191
t-3 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What in the world would a $1 coin be better than a bill for? Making a blackjack to ease the handover of $1 bills?

Well, about 25 years ago the EU issued 1 and 2 Euro coins (no bills for those denominations) and as far as I know still do. So it's working for them. When I lived over there (2005ish) I didn't care much for carrying a coin purse in addition to my wallet, but I think that's just a cultural/personal preference. Likely same as you.

A wallet sold in Europe would typically include a small pocket for coins.

Re: Uncut Currency

#295

Post by kibibyte »

nlh wrote: post #260
muhammadusman wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

kinda off topic but since you're an expert here: what do people do with these uncut sheets? Is it mainly for collectors? also, my favorite form of getting currency is $2 bills in a 100 stack (so $200) from the bank. I used to use these for gift money on holidays :) but unfortunately my credit union doesn't order new stacks anymore, just jumbled up old $2 bills now.

A great question - it's something the BEP offers to collectors basically for the cool factor. People frame them, give them as gifts, etc. It's just kind of fun to see real money as it comes off the press (and, thankfully, it inspires lots of collectors!) $2 bills are SUPER fun. 99.9% are not worth more than $2, but they still bring a smile to peoples' faces when you leave them as tips, etc. I always keep a stack in m…

I’m visiting Vietnam for Tet, and one cultural quirk of theirs that I’ve learned is that $2 bills are considered lucky money. So much so that kids there will hold onto those $2 bills as keepsakes (though they could spend them). And thus I made my first ever trip to the bank to special order a bunch of $2s.

Something I wonder is if an uncut sheet of $2 bills would be considered extraordinarily lucky, because it’s a bunch of $2s in nearly mint condition. Or if it would be considered incredibly unlucky because those kids would have no easy way of cutting them perfectly.

Re: Uncut Currency

#296

Post by Scoundreller »

gmueckl wrote: post #155
fweimer wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I wish it was the reverse. I’d prefer to have the smallest denominations within easiest reach by being the biggest and the largest denoms tucked away and hard to get to.

But retailers would protest I’m sure: it’s not the psychology they want.

Re: Uncut Currency

#297

Post by rybosworld »

valarauko wrote: post #257
rybosworld wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a time when the mint would sell coins and bills at face value. The problem is, people started using that for manufactured spending to rack up credit card points. They added a premium to prevent this.

That seems reasonable, but why would the US Mint care about manufactured spend for credit card companies?

It's not free for the Mint. Also, credit card companies aggressively shut down manufactured spending when they notice it.

Re: Uncut Currency

#298

Post by scarface_74 »

coldpie wrote: post #290
scarface_74 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retailers don’t “lose money” by accepting credit cards because on average consumers spend more when they use credit cards than they do when using cash.

So, you agree that the points do come from the transaction fees after all?

Yes, I’m saying that the merchants aren’t “losing money” by paying transaction fees if they make more by accepting credit cards than not accepting credit cards.

Re: Uncut Currency

#299

Post by Symbiote »

mindslight wrote: post #237
Aeolun wrote: 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.

I'm guessing you've never experienced a New York train ticket machine giving change for a $20 bill in $1 coins.

Annoying (a $2 coin would help) but at least feeding those coins back into the machine for tomorrow's ticket is reliable, unlike with paper bills.

Re: Uncut Currency

#300

Post by throwaway8153 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #286
throwaway8153 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quote from Woz: "They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. I have been spending them. You can get arrested for them, you cannot get convicted because you're in the right." It is probably not something you should do unless you are prepared to pay for a good lawyer, and don't mind the risk of getting arrested

>They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit. The US dollar is not an open standard. Valid US currency is only produced by the mint. If you do something to a valid US dollar, it might still stay a valid US dollar, but that's not because they still "meet the specs".…

> That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit

The quote from Steve Wozniak refers to an official sheet of dollar bills, purchased from the official source. I'm sure that he considers the source as part of the "specs", and is not referring to only the physical aspects.

>“whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months,

This doesn't apply here

https://www.usmint.gov/help-center/faqs/paper-currency-and-e...

"Can I cut uncut currency sheets? What happens if the notes on my sheet were cut apart?

Because the individual notes on uncut currency sheets are legal tender, they may be cut apart and spent. Were you to do this, they would only be valued at their face value, even though you would have paid more than their cumulative value for the uncut currency sheet."

Post reply on HN