Devaluing Money
Wikipedia defines devaluation as “an official lowering of the value of a country’s currency within a fixed exchange rate system.”
If you pay attention to the US mint, you’ll notice some slight changes. These changes hint at devaluing our money. The US Dollar Coin Act of 1997 mandates the phasing out the dollar bill. To appease a huge portion of the population during the transition, the US mint is issuing a series of Presidential dollar coins.
Have you seen them? They look like quarters! With these quarter-like dollars will we spend our money more freely? Will a dollar be the equivalent of a few cents, tossed around…just change?
It seems as though casinos are phasing out the use of change altogether. Paper bills are the rage. I have the opportunity to spend one weekend each year with my dad in Reno, Nevada. This year I noticed a difference. Some of the slot machines did not accept change. Sure there were still penny, nickel and quarter slot machines, but they only accepted dollar bills! The slots were closed.
I also noticed the casinos made the modification work for them two steps further. First, they lowered employee costs by eliminating change runners and staffing fewer cashiers. And they reduced equipment costs by removing change-counting machines.
Long gone are the days of nickel & dime and penny candy stores. Are dollar stores next?
Britain did this quite a few years ago…the One Pound coin is about the size of Nickel and twice as thick and is colored Gold like our new Dollars….and mind you it’s worth $2 at the current exchange rate.
The British call it “The Round Pound” and some “The Seamstress’ Friend” for along with all there other coins it wears holes in pockets quick….(they use 1 cent, rarely now 2 and 3 cent but still you come across them, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, and the Pound)….making Eight different coins in circulation. A bit of a nightmare for shops.
As for the new US Dollar…for me its still a Dollar and I think Twice before spending one…but then I think Twice before I dump out 4 Quarters too.
And if you want to get some without going to the Bank go to the Post Office and use a Twenty in the Stamp Machine for an $8.20 book of stamps…you’ll get $11 in the new Dollar Coins as part of your change.
But doing away with Paper Dollars is still a ways away as most Vending Machines have just now finally gotten set up to take them and are not designed to give change for larger bills…and nothing “Slows up Progress” like a well entrenched Lobby throwing Money around…and any Lobby that has Hundreds of Millions invested in the current Vending Machines is going to throw LOTS of Money around….Can you say “Coca-Cola” or “Pepsi”?? }:~D
~ Roland.
Our vending machines at work give out new dollars, Susan B Anthonies, and Sacajewea (sp?) as change. A fist full of dichotomy!
I think the Dollar stores have been gone a long time. We used to shop there a lot, but I have not been to one for at least two years now. It seemed like there was really nothing for a buck anymore. It was either $2 or $3. The only things selling for $1 were stuff you can get anywhere else for $0.75…
Dima