Originally Posted by
exbayern
So if the total is $3.10, and you pay with a $5, you throw away $0,90? That is definitely an American mentality. 2 Euro and 2 pound coins can add up very quickly.
We don't have coins worth that much here; the half-dollar and dollar coins are not really in common circulation. On $3.10, I probably would not pitch back $0.90 as a tip (unlikely I'd tip at all), but at a counter service place on say, $9.10 I might well pitch back the full $0.90
OTOH, $3.68 is likely to get the remaining 32c pitched into a charity box or tip jar if they have one.
A 2 Euro coin is almost identical in size to a Canadian toonie and a 2 pound coin (anywhere from 25 to 28 mm). They're all similar in look and size, so how can one say that the UK 'does it best'?!
The 1-euro coin is close in size, and bimetalic. In a pocket invisibly, they feel the same. As compared to the Aussie $2 coin, though, they certainly don't feel like small change. (Japanese coins aren't super for that either, although the 500-yen coin, like the 5-CHF coin, is appropriately hefty.)
1 euro coin: 23.25x2.33mm, 7.5g
2 euro coin: 25.75x2.2mm, 8.4g
1 Pound coin: 22.5x3.15mm, 9.5g
2 Pound coin: 28.4x2.5mm, 12g
Much greater degree of differentiation between coins on the British system. Which is not to say the Euros are badly done; they're one of the better systems out there, and 1/2 euro coins are not readily confused with any of the smaller denominations (to my memory; I've spend a lot less time on the continent than in Australia, the UK, or various points in Asia)
Back to tipping, I'm certainly not about to freely give away my coins as a tip. I do like the McDonalds charity option as it is voluntary, but the whole mentality of coins being too difficult just astounds me. You're tipping people as a convenience to yourselves, for having provided no real service.
When I lived in the city, I might well have given the loose coins to a beggar instead. *shrug*