Using Plastic in Britain Now Includes Spending Pounds...
 

pound notes that is as Britain is joining other countries in abandoning paper (cotton in this case I guess) in favor of longer lasting plastic for its banknotes and that plastic note also provides for better embedded security threads, etc.

So in Britain using plastic will soon take on a new meaning besides using credit cards!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/bu...ency.html?_r=0

Just got a new 100-dollar bill in the US yesterday, isn't that plastic?

Nope says the article U S ain't doing it - but that new Benjamin does indeed look like a different creature!

Just that it is not now...All of this is a few years away. As the t-shirt says Sit back and keep calm

I no longer have to handle low denomination pound notes that look like used tissue papers?

they need to streamline the coinage as well - 1 pence, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, £1 and £2 - far too many coins

I suspect but don't know anything authoritative that at some point the 1p and 2p coins will be history and all cash sales will be rounded to the nearest 5p. Canada recently did this and while it is not universal within euroland, as I understand at leat the Dutch have done this.

well in most of euroland I rarely see any 1 or 2 euro cent coints - prices are rounded off and since there is no sales tax always ending in 0 or 5 - no need for 1 or 2 euro cents - only place I've got them are some supermarkets.

the experience of "euroland" will have little application to the UK,

the experience of Canada is far more pertinent now that Mark Carney is in charge of the Bank of England - maple syrup on the notes... eh??

Yet again an indicator of something the USA is behind the times in.

I do have to say though that I hate the feel of Canada's new plastic notes. They just don't feel like 'money' somehow. They look good though.

Re the USA's 'new' $100 bill, the time on the clock on the reverse has changed. Did anybody notice? I kid you not.

Are you all tax dodgers or something? The only people who have $100 bills where I live are contractors being paid off the books. :-)

Seriously, I am in my late 60's and have had maybe 5 or 6 $100 bills pass through my hands in my entire lifetime.

Pence is the plural form of penny, so it's 1 penny, not 1 pence. ;-)

I've used plastic notes in Australia, and find them much better than filthy, worn-out paper notes.

Is there any other major economy that has paper notes worth as little as the US dollar? Isn't it about time the US did away with the $1 bill and forced the use of $1 coins? You could make room for it in the tills by doing away with the 1¢ coin.

Not exactly environmentally friendly.

"Not exactly environmentally friendly."

What isn't? Paper or plastic?

And do you have a whole life environmental analysis to substantiate that assertion - or is it just the usual uninformed bigotry that comes as standard from the environmental lobby?

Since the disappearance of the defunct silver dollar, there have been two attempts at introducing $1 coins in the US, both of which failed. And trying to get rid of the penny means changing virtually every price and sales tax table. Since no one expects anyone to round down, it would mean immediate price inflation. Long live the paper dollar and the Lincoln penny!

Seriously, I am in my late 60's and have had maybe 5 or 6 $100 bills pass through my hands in my entire lifetime.>

now they're called Benjamins - like if you hear young kids talking about how many Benjamins they're going to make after college.

US bases in England have done without the penny for years. All they do is round to the nearest nickel, and it evens out in the end. What could be more simple?

It all started when the 1¢ coin was exactly the same size as the old 6d, but worth much less. British vendors complained about finding US coins in their vending machines, so it was banned. After British coinage was decimalised in the early 70s the practice continued, and no one misses the US penny!

One US dollar in 1950 had about the same purchasing power as $10 today. That makes the $1 bill worth about 10¢ in 1950s money. When the £1 note was abolished in England, a few people grumbled, but soon got used to using the £1 coin. Americans are adaptable, and would accept the $1 coin if that were the only option.

Americans are adaptable, and would accept the $1 coin if that were the only option.>

but politically that will never be the only option - the number of $1 coins Congress orders the mint to produce each year is staggering as are the height of the piles of such coins in vaults.

And come to think of it I'd rather have 7 one dollar bills in my wallet as I do now then 7 dollar coins that would probably be sitting in my change bucket.

Actually Heimdall, there is a thread on flyer talk about this. You have to read some of the comments which would fly in the face of your conviction of just how adaptable Americans are. The reality is what has sabotaged the $1 coin in the USA is how ordinary looking it is and if you are visually impaired like I am, you can hardly see it is a different color than most of the other coins. What I like about the way Britain did it is the £1 coin cannot be mistaken for anything else. It is not all that big, true, but it is really thick and when I'm in Britain and on the very very few occasions I pay cash for something (and they are few and far between at least for me) when I reach into my pocket, I have no trouble figuring out which coin is the £1 coin (the 50p is easy too with its multi shaped feature). The £2 coin is not that thick but very very large.

Americans start complaining about having pockets ful of coins if ever we abolished the $1 bill. And then the whole argument starts about how the USA is the land of the free and government has no right to impose its will just because it would save the US treasury billions to scrap the $1 bill. Of course then again we're one of three countries (Liberia and Burma being the others) that have refused to adopt the metric system, we still use Farenheit for temperatures, we refuse to accept the fact that a single payer health system would be beneficial to most of the population, and of course then there are the insane gun laws. All in the name of "freedom". Some people are very very passionate about these things and basically claim it is none of the government's business.

And as far as paper currency is concerned, why are US bank notes all the same size and printed with the same drab color no matter the denomination?

You won't find any of these 21st century things coming to our shores in the near future, that's for sure. And that includes getting rid of the penny.

BTW, it's not surprising the Susan B. Anthony $1 coin failed — although a little larger, it looked too much like a quarter. The Sacagawea dollar was gold in colour, but the same size as the Susan B. Apparently there are about 1 billion Sacagawea coins in circulation, but people seem to hold onto them as curiosities. I have one at home somewhere myself.

the Presdients set was in part to make money for the Mint by creating a collectors edition- I and many others collect each one - me one for each mint - so all those dollars that cost a few cents to make will never be spent - same for the State quarters - calculated money-grabbing by the Mint?

What about the behemoth half-dollar coin? Why make a coin so heavy that even God cannot lift it and expect folks to carry it around?

Xyz123, you and I agree on one thing, anyway — the new $1 coins were too small and hard to distinguish from the quarter. We actually have fewer coins in circulation now than in the 1950s, when the half dollar was still in circulation, and that was a large coin.

If we did away with the 1¢ coin at the same time as introducing a larger $1 coin I think people would get used to it. The problem is our politicians being too gutless to make what they feel would be an unpopular decision.

cashless transactions rule the younger generation who could care didilly about whether there were pennies to throw away or not or dollar coins - bit coins perhaps but not the dinosaur to them at least regular coins.

I can see teens looking up from the smart phones and seeing someone with coins asking "what the heck are those used for?"

"The problem is our politicians being too gutless to make what they feel would be an unpopular decision."

Or, as we'd put it in English, the problem being that your politicians - unlike your hawkers of doolally projects - realise they live in a democracy, it matters 0.001% of bugger all what kind of coins you've got and that the job of a politician in a democracy is to listen to his constituents.

Just a "it's a rip off" is a guaranteed sign on forums like this a complainer is just a whingeing tosser with a grudge, "gutless politicians" is a universal marker for someone too lazy to learn how democracies work.

<i>Are you all tax dodgers or something? The only people who have $100 bills where I live are contractors being paid off the books.</i>

Yep. Pretty much the only cash transactions of any kind I engage in are paying my tax-dodging dry cleaner or the cabbies that don't want to pay the credit card vig.

<i>Yet again an indicator of something the USA is behind the times in.</i>

Do you find this something that touches your life? I don't. Accordingly, I see no reason to bother changing it.

<i>Of course then again we're one of three countries (Liberia and Burma being the others) that have refused to adopt the metric system, we still use Farenheit for temperatures</i>

And yet, we went to the friggin' moon. Take that you metric pansies.

Honestly, I support things like the $1 bill and abstaining from the metric system mostly because the joy I get listening to all the euro-pandering Americans make absurd claims about how outdated and backwards the world's leading economy is.

<i>Is there any other major economy that has paper notes worth as little as the US dollar? </i>

That depends upon where you live. Coming from overpriced Europe, a dollar may not seem like much, but in the land of the free, a dollar gets you a Buffalo Ranch McChicken, which is a lot of yumminess for a dollar.

What a load of hogwash. How can people who have never had to deal with such changes possibly have anything other than uninformed opinions about how something would work?

Canada has had different colours for different denominations of currency for many, many decades. That helps both the visually impaired and visitors to the country.

Canada has $1 and $2 coins. They differ in size and FEEL to other coins. You cannot mistake them for any other denomination. The dollar coin is called the 'Loonie' thanks to the picture of the Common Loon on one side and is gold coloured. When the $2 coin which is bi-metal came out in 1996 it was automatically referred to as the 'Toonie' even though it has a picture of a Polar Bear on it.

Canada dropped the 1 cent coin just this year. It took about a month for people to get used to it and perhaps 2-3 months for no more to appear in change. Merchants BY LAW have to round up or round down to the nearest nickel. They can't just round up (note specifically to Caliban). So if the total with tax is 96 or 97 it becomes 95 and if the total is 98 or 99 it becomes a dollar. Amazing how that works out exactly equal isn't it. Duhhhhh.

Some merchants make a point of always rounding DOWN to the nearest nickel. So 99 becomes 95!

People CAN get used to anything and NO real reason exists not to make such changes but SOME people will make an issue out of anything. THAT is the problem the USA has and I do not say that intending any USA bashing.

But travelgourmet, there is something to be said for standardizing these things. I will never forget being on a winter tour and coming into Lucerne and the tour guide saying we would be seeing the Lion Monument but would have to walk a couple of blocks from the bus park. One of the geniuses on the bus looked at the temperature display on the bus, saw it said 10 degrees and said you expect me to go out in 10 degree weather. Or how much time is wasted in our schools with such inane questions as how many feet are there in 3 miles. Indeed kids throughout the world are asked how many meters there are in 3 kilometers. Who do you think is more likely to get this right?

No it's not Europeans that have gone forward with these earth shaking conversions. Canada has managed to do it and the country is as large as the USA (although obviously a smaller population).

In Australia we dumped the 1 and 2 cent coins years ago. If paying cash for an item the price is rounded up or down. It evens itself out and I don't think anyone is in the poorhouse as a result. If paying on a card, the exact amount is charged.

5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins are silver. 1 and 2 dollar coins are gold. Too easy.

I think Canucks were loony to accept the $2 buck coin so gullably!

<i>Is there any other major economy that has paper notes worth as little as the US dollar? </i>

India issues 5, 10, 20 and 50 rupee banknotes (worth about $0.08, $0.16, $0.32, and $0.80, respectively).

China issues 1 and 5 yuan banknotes (worth about $0.17 and $0.83, respectively).

Brazil issues 2 real banknotes (worth about $0.85).

These are three of the world's largest economies, so the US hardly leads the pack in low-value paper currency.

<I>But travelgourmet, there is something to be said for standardizing these things.</I>

Are you suggesting that non-metric weights and measures are not standardized?

<I>Or how much time is wasted in our schools with such inane questions as how many feet are there in 3 miles.</I>

Honestly, I don't think much time at all is wasted on it.

<I>Indeed kids throughout the world are asked how many meters there are in 3 kilometers.</I>

Why? Seems like kind of a pointless question, no?

<I>Who do you think is more likely to get this right?</I>

Who cares? This obsession with trivia is, frankly, the kind of "education" that we really don't need.

<I>Canada has managed to do it</I>

Good for them?

<I>and the country is as large as the USA (although obviously a smaller population).</I>

What does area have to do with social changes?

<I>People CAN get used to anything and NO real reason exists not to make such changes</I>

Don't know about you, but I would think that the real question to ask is whether there is a reason TO make the switch, not whether there is no reason not to. I mean, we could all start speaking Esperanto, but there isn't any reason to bother.

Same with getting rid of dollars. Most of the estimates for "savings" both underestimate the life of a bill (roughly 70 months for a dollar) and underestimate the costs of coining (roughly 6x more than a bill). They also routinely ignore any private costs to process. In short, it isn't clear there is much savings.

I knew things would start to go to hell when they started impressing the faces of despots on cakes of salt.

"People CAN get used to anything and NO real reason exists not to make such changes".

As a man said to the shoe salesman who assured him he would get used to his new shoes, "Yes, I could get used to a nail though my foot, too, but why should I?"

I personally hate all those heavy coins weighing down my pockets when I visit the UK or the Continent, but it isn't going to stop me from going there. I assume that most visitors to the US manage somehow to deal with our small bills.

As a Canadian, I love the loonie, toonie, the death of the penny and the new plastisized banknotes (of different colours.) As a frequent visitor to Australia, I admire the Ozzies for taking the lead in these monetary matters, as well as their banknotes of different sizes. But why do they still have those 50 cent pieces that weigh a ton? (or is that a metric tonne?)

...How much time is wasted in our schools with such inane questions as how many feet are there in 3 miles....

Sissy stuff. I can remember chains and furlongs. What about , if a hundredweight of coal costs one pound, sixteen and three pence three farthings, how much would it cost to fill my cellar that holds six tons..?

Cranachin, I've been to India, and the small denomination paper notes are so filthy one doesn't even like to touch them. Perhaps "major economy" was the wrong phrase to use — I was referring to countries where people have relatively high annual incomes, e.g. western and northern Europe, Canada, and Australia.

<i>India issues 5, 10, 20 and 50 rupee banknotes (worth about $0.08, $0.16, $0.32, and $0.80, respectively).

China issues 1 and 5 yuan banknotes (worth about $0.17 and $0.83, respectively).

Brazil issues 2 real banknotes (worth about $0.85).

These are three of the world's largest economies, so the US hardly leads the pack in low-value paper currency.</i>

You do realize that, when most of the folks on this board talk of the "rest of the world" that they really mean Europe, right? If they are feeling especially worldly, they might include Australia and/or Canada. But China, Brazil, or India? Never.

<i>Perhaps "major economy" was the wrong phrase to use — I was referring to countries where people have relatively high annual incomes, e.g. western and northern Europe, Canada, and Australia.</i>

And Heimdall obliges in short order!

>> personally hate all those heavy coins weighing down my pockets when I visit the UK<<

Crumbs, you should have visited in the pre-decimal era. Then you'd know about heavy....

You do realise it's all a fiendish plot to get you to spend them or give them away as soon as possible?

(Seriously, though, the Royal Mint and Bank of England put quite a lot of effort into making sure coins and notes are easily distinguishable for the visually-impaired - which also helps the rest of us. Don't the US equivalents, and if not, why not? Is there a problem in withdrawing old currency?)

Hi all,

If all major currencies were revalued at 1 new for 10 old, the penny would be useful again.

That would, I guess, upset a lot of people with offshore bank accounts.

((I))