Money

[tBBP]

You all should be glad our coins don't come in cardboard.

That used to be one of AAFES' biggest hustle jobs overseas when I was over there the first time...the cardboard coins they'd give us back as change. (I'm seriously not playing...I'm sure several other board members can vouch for this. This was circa 2003-2004.) They actually had 5 cents, 10 cents (well, the cent symbol-I have no clue how to type it on my PC), and 25 cents, printed right on the pogs (that's what they called them). They counted as actual currency over there, and it was done partly out of necessity, as at that time it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to ship paper or coin currency to all the various base camps dotted throughout the theater of operations over there...but y'all know how people are, and as you might expect, many folks just as soon discarded those little cardboard pogs.

Sidebar but still interesting story...several of us got hip to the game over there, and started saving those things up. At one point I actually managed to amass nearly $90 worth of pogs, organized and neatly rubber-banded into 5-, 10-, and 25-cent stacks. One day I decided to go buy a bunch of stuff at the PX, for no reason other than to just do it. I filled my buggy up with a bunch of stuff I probably didn't even really need, wheeled my little buggy on up to the register, and the cashier scanned all my stuff. I don't remember the exact total, but it was like 80-something dollars and some odd change amount. What I do? Pulled all those stacks of pogs I saved up out of my sweater pocket, and neatly placed them right down on that counter in front of the cashier. (I should also mention that I had a pretty long behind me when I did this.) Now naturally, this dumbfounded the cashier, as it would've done anyone at that time--I mean, who really expected anyone to save up those pogs, let alone use that many to purchase something?--and for about a good minute, she stood there trying to explain to me that they couldn't take my pogs. My counter-argument? "AAFES got both the DoD's and the Federal Reserve's blessing to commission these things as actual currency, the store gave us those things as change; now I'm just giving them back." It took her getting a manager over to the register, but I made them take all those cardboard pogs as payment. They really had no choice. After that, I took my 80-something dollars of merchandise and proudly and happily strolled out of that store...and left a trail of laughter on my way out. That is still one of my favorite memories from being over there. (Coincidentally, I never saw one pog my entire time over there during my most recent overseas tour. Wonder why...)

[Morgan33]

- How Canada's coins will change once Prince William becomes the new King

That's a very interesting question. I've always been wondering about the fate of the $20 bill. With the new polymer issue coming out in 2013, what would happen if the Queen would pass away in the next couple of years. Would they keep the design, replace it with the new monarch (Charles, William or whoever else), or bring in a new figure? Personally, I would prefer a new figure and not necessarily a former Prime Minister, but possibly a First Nation icon or an ordinary Canadian who did something great for the nation.

As far as the coins are concerned, I believe we should keep minting the profile of the current monarch. One thing I know is that the direction in which the profile is facing alternates everytime there is a change. So for instance the Queen's profile is looking to the right now, so the next monarch will be facing to the left.

The only acceptable change in my books would be to remove all elements of the monarchy from our currency... permanently.

[WJMorris3]

See, I think we ought to change the colors of our money.

First things first, ditch the penny and round all cash transactions to the nearest five cents.

Nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, gold dollar can stay as is. I'd take probably John Hancock and put him on a $2 coin.

From there, a pink $5, a blue $10, a green $20, a purple $50, a tan $100, and an orange $500 (with William McKinley on it).

[sc49erfan15]

From there, a pink $5, a blue $10, a green $20, a purple $50, a tan $100, and an orange $500 (with William McKinley on it).

Almost