headbang8: [quote author=longtimelurker link=board=99;num=1064187223;start=40#48 date=10/13/03 at 15:59:12]
Must disagree - one of the most annoying things with US money (apart all the notes looking exactly the same) is that the $1 bills take up SO much space in your wallet! Coins are just so much more convenient - I doubt there are many other first-world countries that still have notes in such small denominations.[/quote]
Even worse are countries that have coins in small denominations.
When Australia converted fro pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents in 1966, htey had 1, 2 and 5 cent pieces that more or less matched the old penny, tuppence and sixpence in size and weight.
In around thirty years inflation made them useless, so the smallest coin you can get now is a 5 cent piece.
It doesn't mean prices always end in a 5 or zero, rather that when you get to the cash register, the clerk rounds your change up or down. Bank acounts and credit card charges are calculated to the final cent, though.
Australians are very progressive with their money, you know.
One of the (many) vexing things about living in Japan is that not only do we have one yen coins (worth a approx 1 US penny) but everthing is calculated in such a denomination. It's like labelling something which costs $50 as 5000 cents.
I thnk it was John Waters who said that nowadays pennies are useless, except to insult waiters.
