Give Thanks To Who? New US Coins Hide "In God We Trust"

Raiders News Network ^ | Nov 22nd, 2006 | Jet in Columbus

[Kirkwood]

"Parking meters are long gone in many cities."

"Really? Tell that to Chicago."

I didn't say all cities have the kiosks. I said many cities. Yeesh!

[Churchillspirit]

Our notes in England are different widths for different values.

I have often wondered how blind people in the US distinguish one bill from another.

[sittnick]

Our notes in England are different widths for different values.

I have often wondered how blind people in the US distinguish one bill from another.

I suspect that they cannot. Unfortunately, blind people are going to be largely at the mercy of merchants decency when ringing up totals anywhere. That would include credit/debit card purchases.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Carter is pretty skinny and has access to superb medical care. I wouldn't be at all shocked to see him hit 100, getting him to 2025.

[Atlas Sneezed]

>>They don't round to the nearest dime. Gee you want to get rid of nickles, too? I think you are going to have to found your own country.

I have yet to hear any rational reason to denominate commercial transactions to anything smaller than a tenth of a dollar. And without the nickel, you can then drop the quarter, and the whole digit.

>>The difference between the 1/2 penny and the penny and nickle is that these are useful measurements to have in any decimal system.

Like what? What do you buy that needs top be denominated in nickels?

>>You might think that people are happy to move over the decimal point. They are not. I love to stump my Canadian friends by asking them what a decimeter is.

The metric system has nothing to do with eliminating puny coins. You should look at the British conversion to decimalization.

>>Anyway, this ultimately comes down to a matter of opinion, and for now, the over-whelming opinion is for dollar bills, nickles and even pennies.

When people leave pennies behind in a dish as not worth the bother, they are NOT expressing support for retaining those absurd little tokens.

>>By all means, try to change minds. But please, do not support a measure that would "force acceptance" in this democratic Republic.

The simple solution is to permit merchants to denominate all transactions in tenth dollars. (Heck, if it is over $100, round to the nearest dollar!) Let the cash registers round, and the problem is solved. If you want to spend 10 pennies at a time, have at it. I'm proposing more freedom, in fact, not coercion.

[Atlas Sneezed]

You have too much free time.

---

You seem to have little to say.

[dead]

political pressure will force them to continue minting the Sacajawea coins

Huh?

Indian activist chicks with fax machines.

[Aeronaut]

The religious right wing of the Republican Party is sure to be outraged...

Hmmmm...

[zeugma]

 For the first time the coin will say “$1” instead of “One Dollar.”

I looked into this some time ago, and to the best of my knowledge, the "$" has no legal meaning as far as Fedgov is concerned. A "dollar" is actually a unit of weight. (416 grains of silver) This is a historical oddity that comes from the fact that the Constitution specifies that gold and silver be used as a unit of currency. I'd be interested in knowing if they made relevant changes to legislation in recent years to make "$" = "dollar".

[zeugma]

Better still, if I am using a dollar coin (now three types in my pocket, unlike your 4 types) I can sometimes avoid pulling out my wallet. If I add a $5 coin, I rarely need to pull out the wallet, making me faster still.

I'd fully support a system exactly like what you described. I've long supported the elimination of the penny. The nickel is getting to be as useless.  $1 and $5 coins would be useful, unlike the situation today, where half the coins in your pocket can't actually purchase anything on their lonesome.

[sittnick]

The simple solution is to permit merchants to denominate all transactions in tenth dollars. (Heck, if it is over $100, round to the nearest dollar!) Let the cash registers round, and the problem is solved. If you want to spend 10 pennies at a time, have at it. I'm proposing more freedom, in fact, not coercion.

I know of nothing in the law that would prohibit merchants from setting such terms with a simple sign at the front door. Of course, you have been advocating eliminating pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and one and five dollar bills (to be replaced with coins). There's no grounswell for that. And I take less time paying my $237 dentist bill in cash than the lady in front of me who insists on cutting a check.

[Paleo Conservative]

Carter is pretty skinny and has access to superb medical care. I wouldn't be at all shocked to see him hit 100, getting him to 2025.

He was born on October 1, 1924.

[killjoy]

I looked into this some time ago, and to the best of my knowledge, the "$" has no legal meaning as far as Fedgov is concerned.

Very interesting. My gut feeling is the reason for spelling out the value has to do with artistic concerns. Some US coins from the 1700s & 1800s did have numerical numbers on them. Without doing some research, I think the last time this happened was in the mid-1800s.