jamesteroh

Actually he would be paying his helper with some of them But you are right most would end up back at the bank regardless of how you paid him. And you are also right they are being circulated. In the case of the plumber or electrician I would rather pay in check, but some want cash. If I was in their situation I wouldn't be happy getting paid in coins, even though they are rolled. But seeing they don't want paid via check and that I don't ask them to fill out a w-9 so I can 1099 them at the end of the year.... Fortunately I don't have to pay contractors very often, but if one ever gave me a problem over the coins I would offer them two options. 1. Get paid via check which I w ould prefer anyway or 2. If they want paid in cash via paper currency they fill out a w-9 so I am keeping things legal and can issue a 1099. I am sure being paid in rolled coins would be a more attractive option to them

richtravels

.... 'In their most recent annual report to Congress, the Federal Reserve says the coins are piling up so quickly they will need to spend $650,000 to build a new vault in Dallas to hold them. Shipping the coins to the new secure facility will cost an additional $3 million.' .....


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-mi...ry?id=14052997

richtravels

....... 'Now Jackie Speier, a Democratic congresswoman from Northern California, is planning to introduce a bill to halt production of dollar coins.' .......


http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/...f-dollar-coins

Trapezeus

i'm sure there is some politics on why there is resistance to this happening, but if the paper $1 bill was taken out of circulation, the dollar coins would gain in popularity. and after 3-6 months no one would care. and the mint would get what they want and cc/banks wouldn't be screwed with this loophole.

since this hasn't been an option and the mint wants to do this convoluded program, there is no reason people can't take advantage of the arbitrage situation.

GOFLYZONE

So, you would only comply with the law if he refused to accept your coins?

Happy

There are special interest groups lobby to keep the $ bill forever...

But the GAO actually urge the government to ditch the paper bill in favor of the $ coins.

http://consumerist.com/2011/03/gao-t...ith-coins.html

Look at Canada, look at Europe, they all eliminated the costly $ bills and went to $ coins years ago by the mandate of the governments. Canada basically gave a 6 months time for people to adopt. Else, their old $ bill would turn into trash...

aragno

Just checked order email and it was 4 x 250 of NA coins. Shipment is 3 x 250 NA and 1 x 250 NA coins... I do sincerely wish the mint would send whatever is available soonest.

Maybe we should all drop a quick line or mention via telephone if calling about another issue that we prefer a 1st available option.

thehawk75

Actually, all Canada did was stop making the bills, and instead mint the coins. The bills (all withdrawn bills) are in fact still legal tender. However, few use them that way because the collector value is generally higher than the legal tender value.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdra...dian_banknotes

As a side note, it is generally bad policy for a government to remove convertibility of old notes. It's generally a sign of financial weakness if a government actually has to make the old note 'worthless'.

In Europe, many of the original currencies can still be converted, at the fixed rate set on Dec 31st, 1998, to the Euro. Off the top of my head the 'Mark' and the 'Schilling' can still be converted via the national central bank of their respective nations. I believe also the Irish Pound and Spanish Peseta can currently be converted -- but, it would not surprise me if that option ceased to be available soon.

At any rate, the US could simply stop making the $1 bill and the coins would catch on due to necessity, however, Crane Paper Company has major lobbying influence in Washington.

greendx

Earlier this year I paid my real estate attorney in coins. First I asked her if I can pay by credit card so I can earn miles. She said that she understands, also collects miles but doesn't take credit cards and that she only takes check or cash. So I jokingly asked if I can pay in coins. She taught I was joking and said sure When I stopped by with the coins she loved it.

Also I just realized this, never taught about it until now but back in college in 1999-2000 or so I used to work for a guy selling collectibles on ebay. So one of the things we were selling were state quarter rolls. Well we were trying to sell them. Then the Susquehanna dollar came out and my boss went to his bank and asked for $100K in dollar coins. He had an idea to sell them on ebay for like $1100 or so. In any case he wouldn't lose any money if he didn't sell, kept the money in the bank, etc. At first the bank resisted and said no way they would give him that much in coins. Eventually he convinced them to do it. He had a successful chain of retail stores at the time and was doing good business so he was a good customer for the bank. In any case we weren't able to sell even one $1000 coin box. At the time I never even got to see the coins because they were all at the bank. For some reason I always taught that $1K in coins would be a bigger box than what we now get from the mint.

GOFLYZONE

if he were a legitimate licensed plumber, he wouldn't pay his apprentice with coins.

mrpickles

Wired Magazine is writing an article on coins and travel hacking.

Andy2

I'm stunned at the poor reporting that occurs with respect to these articles by journalists. Yesterday, one of the articles said the IRS has indicated that coins do not constitute a cash advance. The IRS does not rule on cash advances or even concern itself with the concept of cash advances.

Now we are informed that it will cost $650,000 to construct a building and it will cost $3 million to drive some trucks across the country to that building. Stop and focus on that for a minute. Please tell me how the economy would even begin to function if it costs $3 million to transport the coins across the country. Those same coins have been already been transported from all over the country to the Fed. as a result of banks shipping them to the Fed. If that cost $3 million the banks would have stopped accepting the coins long ago. I presume that it is simply a misprint.

ILovetheReds

Finally Mrs Reds and I received our shipment. We kept $100 to spend. Mrs Reds decided to buy a money order to deposit at the ATM since it was past 5 at Walmart while grocery shopping and they were willing to exchange them for $50 bills for free for her. This is a great way to earn fast miles

ILovetheReds

Some legit contractors pay in cash. Just make sure they are licensed, bonded, and insured. If they can't speak fluent English and won't provide proof of insurance then worry:$

GOFLYZONE

They should scrap the whole program. People are fooling themselves if they think they are circulating the coins as intended. I've never received one as change for any transaction, and I don't know anyone else who has. Heck I'd probably mistake it for a quarter and I was getting short changed.