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Comment by 0des | Hacker News Reader

This isn't a Chuck E. Cheese, paper notes are just fine. Nobody asked "what about the guy who makes the yokes" when John Deere took his first spin.

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Other countries saved money by getting ride of low denomination coins and swapping the highest used paper currencies to coin because it typically lasts longer.

Although recent studies have shown that since we finally improved paper currency's sturdiness the $1 bill is lasting long enough now to be worth keeping around.[1]

[1]https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-300

The "worth" of money is more than just the durability of the physical material. The #1 most important factor is its use in facilitating trade. We've introduced multiple Dollar coins into general circulation in the US and they've always failed because people culturally don't like using them, and businesses don't like wasting money accepting them.

Paper notes are extremely expensive to maintain because they can't stay in circulation long before they're worn out and need to be replaced.

We really should be using $1, $2, $5 and $10 coins

Paper and linen are renewable materials that are made from easy low-impact resources to be extracted and processed, they can be remade and reissued many times for a fraction of the impact of a metal coin, not to mention the cost to transport any amount over pocket change.

And they're more convenient for the wallet

And I've never lost a paper bill, but I'm forever losing change.

There is very little in the world that is more recyclable than metal.

Canada's physical currency is pretty great:

No penny; typical nickles, dimes, and quarters; loonies and toonies ($1 and $2 coins); as well as very durable and fancily-secured polymer bills for $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.

The only complaint might be that all the bills are the same size instead of on a log-scale like eu or aus, but I prefer it that way.

I wouldn't see much value in coins >$2, bills are far simpler to carry and don't make noise or scratch screens.

I live in New Zealand which has NZ$1 and NZ$2 coins: they truely suck because the value is enough to care about but the coins don’t fit well into your pocket. I also hate similar value coins in €, £, AUD. $1 notes are awesome.

2 NZD ~= 1.40 USD.

Note that NZ’s smallest coin is 10 cents - it is good not having pennys nor nickels.

The GAO actually did a study on this in 2019! They determined that for the first time since they started tracking the issue this is not true. Paper bills are overall cheaper than coinage now. I can't link right now but it's GAO report # GAO-19-300

This is America. Tons of industries exist because they became outmoded but instead lobbied for protective legislation to ensure that what happened to all the horseshoe makers and stable owners won't ever happen to their industry, like car what dealers have done to make sure Ford has to sell their cars through these sleezeball third parties.

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