Paper Money = Discrimination to the Blind

[Norton]

The one big thing about toonies was freezing them and popping out the gold part on the inside.

OT, but what would be the purpose of that? Is it because the price of gold has shot up recently?

I would imagine that the value of the gold in the coin would be less than the value of the entire coin.

[Boozy]

OT, but what would be the purpose of that?

No purpose, really. The toonie was a new thing, so it was sort of neat for teenagers. They'd pop out the center and wear the ring around their necks on a chain. As with most fads teenagers engage in, it was pointless and dumb.

It isn't real gold in the center, anyway.

That cop was a bit of a douche. I don't think taking a handful of toonies out of circulation was going to cause rampant inflation or anything. Chill out, man.

[Dreamstalker]

Here (US), apparently any defacing (with the sole intent to devalue or defraud) of currency is a crime. Guess I'm going to jail for that quarter I put on a streetcar track 'cuz I was bored (it's all squished and shiny)...

[Boozy]

Here (US), apparently any defacing (with the sole intent to devalue or defraud) of currency is a crime.

Its a crime here too, I'm sure. But there's no reason to browbeat the kid like he'd committed murder or something. Apparently that cop hasn't heard the phrase, "Pick your battles."

[crazylegs]

Having both money with different sized notes and served those who are legally blind I can say with a fair amount of certainty that unless you have one note to compare against another you still can't distinguish between the two.

Raised print is far more effective.

[Dreamstalker]

Well, I'd never try to pass my flattened quarter, it's just another random shiny thing to play with. I would go for polymer bills, they don't get ruined if run through the wash/wallet gets wet/etc.

Scented bills might be interesting, although there would have to be a way that the smells can't mix together (multiple denominations stuffed in a pocket).

[the_std]

But there's no reason to browbeat the kid like he'd committed murder or something. Apparently that cop hasn't heard the phrase, "Pick your battles."

To be fair, the cop wasn't browbeating him. He was saying, "You've committed a crime, do you understand that? Defacing currency is a crime. You have to respect other people's property. The government owns the money, not you." but all in a really level, even tone, keeping eye-contact. The kid just burst out crying. It was kind of weird.

[Dreamstalker]

Then wouldn't the Where's George writing/doodles on bills be considered defacement? I was under the impression that in order to be considered an actual crime there had to be intent to defraud (such as actually trying to pass the centers of the coins, bleaching ones and reprinting them as fives or up, copper slugs, or altering lower-value coins to fool meters/vending machines). At least that's what I was told by my grandfather who used to work on the Secret Service's anti-counterfeit squad back in the day.

*would copper slugs and other coinage that is no longer in circulation be exempt from the 'no coin jewelry' thing? I know foreign coin jewelry isn't an issue*

[rahmota]

Well personally I LIKE carrying coins and using them instead of paper money. For several reasons.
1: It makes me feel like I have real money on me instead of the government IOU that paper money is. Face it the govt fails the paper money is just pretty pieces of cloth whiel the coins at least have some metal value. Not much mind you but still its a small piece of metal.
2: When going to renfair or old west festival I love getting a couple rolls of sacajawea dollars and silver dollars (and for special events like what my exstepson had happen) and quarters for that old timey attitude that paper money just doesnt have.
3: The weight doesnt bother me as a pouch of coins hangs quite alright on the belt.
4; A roll of quarter clenched in the fist can be a real benefit when one has to administer an attitude adjustment to someone...

AFAIK about american money jewelry and defacement is as follows: If you deface a coin or bill so that its value is destroyed or otherwise removed and try to pass it as currency then you are in trouble but to drill a holle in a coin and mount it on a chain or write wheresgeorge.com in the margin of a bill is okay as it is not defaceing the currency sufficiently to demean or reduce the value of the currency...