You might imagine that, based on the title of this post, it would be a political one. It isn't, mostly. If it was, I'm sure I'd alienate my scant readership with my political and economic opinions. This post is actually about change. Like that stuff in your pocket. Coinage.
In America, change deserves the prefix "chump" because it is generally useless unless you save up for months, maybe years. But eventually a day comes when the jar is so full of coins that it has its own gravitational pull. And it's time to head to the Change Machine at your grocery store or your local bank. If only making meaningful change in politics was so simple.
The grocery store machines usually charge a commission if you want cash back, but website vouchers for places like Amazon.com are usually free. Bank's typically take a commission unless you are a member, or the coins are properly rolled. No one rolls coins these days, because it defeats the point of why people save loose change: To hear the clink and clack sounds of inconvenient, noisy metal bits turning into found wealth. The sound of happiness.
In contrast, in many other countries, one being Australia, their coins are not so useless because they are of greater denominations. Australia has eliminated the 1 cent coin, and uses 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, $1, and $2 coins. When I first came to Australia, I found the extra coins annoying, because it's a lot harder to discard a $2 coin into a change jar -- they add up pretty quickly. However, after a few weeks, I started to appreciate this larger denomination coin system: The joy of using your loose change for something substantial is no longer an annual event. I experience this found-wealth happiness often more than once a week, and is as easy as reaching into my pocket and seeing what is there. Imagine, you can have two tiny coins in your pocket that total up to $4. $4 dollars can buy a lot -- well, not much in Perth -- but in a lot of other places it can. In Perth, it might buy you a bottled soda.
Let me show you a tiny example of how much more awesome coins are in Australia. The photo below is of my change jar. It's not that full because I usually put my coins to use before they find their way into the jar. Guess how much money is in it before you scroll down to the caption. Got a number?
There is another benefit of this type of monetary coin system. It's cheaper for the government to produce. Replacing the $1 bill with a coin, eliminating the penny, and adding a $2 coin would save taxpayer money because bills have a significantly shorter life span, while coins last for tens of years. I don't often think the current conservative party has many good ideas, but this fact is why House Republicans introduced a bill recently to make this change to change. ("Take some of your own medicine, President Obama", they said). Unfortunately, there are some indirect costs to implement, like retro fitting vending machines and the energy and environmental cost of shipping heavier coins around the country and the world. And there'd probably be some awkward transition phase into the new coin system which would tick people off too. With the way Occupy Wall Street is growing, right now might not be the best time to piss off the entire country in one go.
Unfortunately, America doesn't have a coin culture. And let's be honest, many Americans don't even like change (or hope, and some automatically discredit the ideas of a Presidents just because he is black). But if people could be convinced this type of policy is worthwhile, I think our new currency would make people happier every time they pull out a substantial amount of money from their pockets or piggy-banks. And the way the economy is going, I think everyone could use an extra dose of money and happy in their pockets.
In America, change deserves the prefix "chump" because it is generally useless unless you save up for months, maybe years. But eventually a day comes when the jar is so full of coins that it has its own gravitational pull. And it's time to head to the Change Machine at your grocery store or your local bank. If only making meaningful change in politics was so simple.
The grocery store machines usually charge a commission if you want cash back, but website vouchers for places like Amazon.com are usually free. Bank's typically take a commission unless you are a member, or the coins are properly rolled. No one rolls coins these days, because it defeats the point of why people save loose change: To hear the clink and clack sounds of inconvenient, noisy metal bits turning into found wealth. The sound of happiness.
In contrast, in many other countries, one being Australia, their coins are not so useless because they are of greater denominations. Australia has eliminated the 1 cent coin, and uses 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, $1, and $2 coins. When I first came to Australia, I found the extra coins annoying, because it's a lot harder to discard a $2 coin into a change jar -- they add up pretty quickly. However, after a few weeks, I started to appreciate this larger denomination coin system: The joy of using your loose change for something substantial is no longer an annual event. I experience this found-wealth happiness often more than once a week, and is as easy as reaching into my pocket and seeing what is there. Imagine, you can have two tiny coins in your pocket that total up to $4. $4 dollars can buy a lot -- well, not much in Perth -- but in a lot of other places it can. In Perth, it might buy you a bottled soda.
Let me show you a tiny example of how much more awesome coins are in Australia. The photo below is of my change jar. It's not that full because I usually put my coins to use before they find their way into the jar. Guess how much money is in it before you scroll down to the caption. Got a number?
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| There are $25.05 dollars in there. That make's me happy. |
Unfortunately, America doesn't have a coin culture. And let's be honest, many Americans don't even like change (or hope, and some automatically discredit the ideas of a Presidents just because he is black). But if people could be convinced this type of policy is worthwhile, I think our new currency would make people happier every time they pull out a substantial amount of money from their pockets or piggy-banks. And the way the economy is going, I think everyone could use an extra dose of money and happy in their pockets.
Word up. Make it happen. Canada does the $1 and $2 coins too. Beats spending millions of dollars reprinting dollar bills every single year. And they put hockey players and shit on their money, so that's a plus.
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