I want what you're hiding, hiding out of frame

[sovay]

Today's moment of public service: explaining American dollar coins to a pair of confused young Canadians in Davis Station. Their fare vending machine had cashed out their change in a mix of Susan B. Anthonys and Sacagaweas. I was able to reassure them that the coins were real legal tender, after which they were fascinated. "You have dollar coins?" I felt useful.

I love the closing image of this interview of Jan Morris whistling "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." I learned that song from my grandparents. I never heard a recorded version until 2005.

Co-signed by Autolycus and Hestia: "Black cat bring good luck."

Comments

[yhlee]

Ara was also surprised to learn that dollar coins were a thing. I remember with horror that the Pasadena post office I frequented would give them as change from the stamp vending machine.

Ara also advocates getting rid of pennies.

[sovay]

I remember with horror that the Pasadena post office I frequented would give them as change from the stamp vending machine.

I happen to like dollar coins, but I understand not everyone wants their pockets full of them.

(I also like half-dollar coins, ditto. I rather badly covet a three-dollar coin, which is never going to happen.)

[lilysea]

I was able to reassure them that the coins were real legal tender, after which they were fascinated. "You have dollar coins?" I felt useful.

We have $1 and $2 coins here in Australia, too...

[sovay]

We have $1 and $2 coins here in Australia, too...

I didn't know that! The U.S. has never had a two-dollar coin, although we have two-dollar bills (legal tender, although often treated as quirks or talismans) and we had a three-dollar coin for a while in the middle of the nineteenth century.

[lilysea]

We used to have $1 and $2 bills, but with inflation and

vending machines
train ticket machines
parking machines

coins were deemed more practical...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_two-dollar_note

[tree_and_leaf]

Yup. Same in the UK. (For some reason £1 notes hung on longer in Scotland, so you got to periodically have the "yes, that is legal tender" conversation in reverse, but they've gone now).

[sovay]

(For some reason £1 notes hung on longer in Scotland, so you got to periodically have the "yes, that is legal tender" conversation in reverse, but they've gone now).

The fact that the U.S. has dollar coins but has never phased out dollar bills feels somehow characteristic to me, but also comparatively weird. It probably goes with the perpetual debate over the obsolescence of the penny.

[tree_and_leaf]

I still don't understand why most Americans don't seem to like dollar coins. Dollar bills are a pain in the neck, they fill up your billfold, and on a related note, why are all your notes the exact same size? It's just asking for mistakes in change, and it must be an even bigger pain in the arse if you're blind or partially sighted.

Ahem. Sorry. It appears I have strong feelings about the mechanics of US currency.

[benbenberi]

The reason I personally dislike dollar coins (& I doubt I'm alone in this) is that they for some reason made them to be nearly indistinguishable from quarters unless you really look closely at them. Under most conditions of normal use it's very easy to accidentally pull out a dollar coin instead of a quarter without noticing, and the other person in the transaction may not notice either. I've occasionally been on both sides of that mistake. This was an obvious problem with the Susan B Anthony dollar and a main reason for its failure. I've never understood why they then proceeded to announce a major redesign to correct it, then issue the Sacagawea coin with nearly exactly the same fault. It's not like there's no other size, shape, or weight available for a circulating coin.

(Yes, I know all the bills are the same size, but we're used to that and the numbers are big. And the $10 bill is pink now.)

[sovay]

It's not like there's no other size, shape, or weight available for a circulating coin.

I warned the Canadians about this problem with the Susan B. Anthony. For what it's worth statistically, I've never had it with the Sacagawea dollar. I find it distinguishable by touch in a pocket and, in terms of the visual element, there are no gold-colored coins in current U.S. circulation that aren't dollars. I'm sorry your experience has been less clear-cut.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yeah, I have to say I find it much easier to distinguish between a dollar coin and a quarter - though I do agree they should have done something to differentiate it better - than between the various values of dollar bills.

Basically I don't understand why USD coins and notes are so confusing and poorly designed. Every other currency I've come across seems to do a much better job.

[sovay]

I still don't understand why most Americans don't seem to like dollar coins.

I cannot help, since I happen to think it would be useful if we still had $5, $10, and $20 (circulating, non-commemorative) coins.

[cmcmck]

You get this reaction with Scottish banknotes south of the border.

That said, the owners of our local Bulgarian bakery were completely unphased when offered one yesterday- more intrigued by the attractiveness of the note.

[sovay]

That said, the owners of our local Bulgarian bakery were completely unphased when offered one yesterday- more intrigued by the attractiveness of the note.

That's a nice reaction to have.

[tree_and_leaf]

It does depend where you are. I've virtually never had trouble in the North of England, even quite a long way north (in fact, I can only think of one exception, and I got the strong impression that the bloke in question just wanted to be difficult). It's usually fine in Oxford and London, too.

The other fun thing about Scottish bank note design is that three banks are allowed to issue notes. The colour scheme and size is consistent, but you get different designs. I'm particularly fond of the current Royal Bank of Scotland series, which has a notable Scottish woman on the front, a quotation from a Scottish poet, and an animal design on the back - the £10 has astronomer, mathematician, and advocate for women's rights Mary Somerville, and the back has some cute otters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland

[cmcmck]

Reading Jan's book 'conundrum' in the mid seventies allowed me to realise I was actually normal rather than exotic! :o)

[sovay]

Reading Jan's book 'conundrum' in the mid seventies allowed me to realise I was actually normal rather than exotic!

Good!

I think I discovered her with Last Letters from Hav (1985).

[moon_custafer]

We’ve had one- and two-dollar coins (loonies and toonies) in Canada for a few decades, and used to have to explain them to visitors from the US, so it’s possible the Canadians were just surprised their neighbours were finally following suit.

Part of that deflection has centred on her lifelong crush on the most unattainable of pin-ups: Admiral Jack Fisher, charismatic First Sea Lord of the British fleet in the Great War, a man who died six years before Morris was born.

(looks up Jack Fisher) I can see why someone might have a crush on him.

“I suppose the day will come when I cannot drive the Honda.”
I am not sure why this comment appeals; perhaps because “Honda,” at the end of the sentence, sounds so prosaic to me (we had one when I was a kid).

[sovay]

We’ve had one- and two-dollar coins (loonies and toonies) in Canada for a few decades

I've seen them in the wild! I may even still have some from 2010, like everything else in my life in a box somewhere.

and used to have to explain them to visitors from the US, so it’s possible the Canadians were just surprised their neighbours were finally following suit.

I suspect some Americans don't even know. They're in circulation—I've paid with them—but you don't see them with the frequency of bills. I've encountered them most as change from vending machines etc. I believe it is sadly no longer true that the slot machines in Vegas pay out in silver dollars.

I have occasionally encountered half-dollars in circulation and I always feel very tender toward those.

I can see why someone might have a crush on him.

I recommend Morris' biography of him, Fisher's Face (1995). It starts off by admitting frankly that she fell in love with him from a photograph in 1950 and then goes on to be unapologetically geeky about naval technology.

I am not sure why this comment appeals; perhaps because “Honda,” at the end of the sentence, sounds so prosaic to me (we had one when I was a kid).

I understand that. It sounds like the Grey Havens right up until that point.

[moon_custafer]

I believe it is sadly no longer true that the slot machines in Vegas pay out in silver dollars.

When my father was a child in the 1950s, his family did a road trip one summer that I believe took them through Vegas (?) You know, I think it must have been Atlantic City, because he mentioned finding the silver dollars mostly on the beaches. Anyway, it almost made up for his worries that people would mistake my grandfather for a gangster—which sounded absurd to me, but some years later I saw some slides from the trip, and Grandpa owned a pinstripe suit in those days which I suppose did make him look a bit sinister (actually he was a perfectly amiable clergyman in the United Church of Canada, which is roughly the same thing as the United Methodists).

[sovay]

You know, I think it must have been Atlantic City, because he mentioned finding the silver dollars mostly on the beaches.

That's a great road-trip memory to have.

[selkie]

If I could give you a three-dollar piece, I could fix at least one other thing! Alas.

[sovay]

If I could give you a three-dollar piece, I could fix at least one other thing! Alas.

It would hurt much less to be hit with than the proverbial brick of money, to be sure.

Re: Cats

[nodrog]

https://66.media.tumblr.com/fc7a9dfc09aabde6a137a4398fac0587/tumblr_pw4qzm3XHu1y1iy7lo1_540.jpg

Re: Cats

[sovay]

Re: Cats

That looks right.

Re: Cats

[nodrog]

A home without a cat—and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat—may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?

- Mark Twain, “Puddin’head Wilson”

[asakiyume]

Love the black cat TikTok--Waka shared that with me.

And the public service is well done. Dollar coins always remind me of the Simpsons episode in which one of the Simpsons, I forget who, patiently informs someone that you can exchange them for **real** money.

[sovay]

Love the black cat TikTok--Waka shared that with me.

spatch says that black cats are just very attuned to magic: they can alter probability for good or for ill. How else could ours make seven-foot leaps that are so good for them and so bad for us?

Love the black cat TikTok--Waka shared that with me.

I like dollar coins! I find them handy! I don't understand why we never had a two-dollar coin to go with our two-dollar bill.

Game-changer

[nodrog]

Y’ know, that’s an intriguing idea:  It’s human nature that you only hear about the failures (“Hey, y’all, watch this!”), and that’s why the black cat is said to bring bad luck.  In reality the dice fall either way.