Hacker News Reader

Comment by egypturnash | Hacker News Reader

This makes me really wish the US had coins for small dollar values, finding a shiny coin under your pillow is so much more appealing than a wrinkly bill IMHO. Quarters aren't worth a damn thing any more and a cup of coffee is at least $5 now.

I am also sitting at a desk decorated with a bunch of Mardi Gras doubloons because it makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a pirate's treasure so I may be biased.

View on HN

We give our kids gold Sacagawea dollar coins under their pillows. Can’t get them from the US mint anymore, but it’s easy to get them from your local bank branch (who are happy to dispose of them).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea_dollar

The last two we gave our kid were James Polk and John Adams.

I get them back because I'm letting my 9 yr old bank money with me at 10%/mo. I'm hoping it teaches him to save and to be mindful of spending. If it grows too much I may have to back off on the interest a little. So far he has occasionally buys stuff, so it doesn't get too out of hand.

Wait for him to grow enough to lend money from friends at 3% and deposit it with you.

Then he gets a fun lesson about counterparty risk?

Haha, wait until he grows old enough to do the math on that and leaves it in for a few years.

There are president dollars now that are the same size and shape

When I was 16, I had all 4 wisdom teeth out and got a full roll of Sacagawea dollar coins from the Tooth Fairy!

Do they need to be spendable for their actual value? If you encourage them to hold on to them rather than spend them, American Silver Eagles (face value $1, market value $30-35 depending on year) are a _very_ shiny, quite large coin to find. They are also fun to collect in multiples because when you manipulate a stack/handful of them, they make the "video game money" sound.

US fairy tooth index is around 5.5 USD.

Argentina's largest bill (1000 ARS) is between 3.6 and 7.8 USD (depending on the exchange rate you want to use).

Are you up for imports?

Agreed with most of that, but "a cup of coffee" is 1-2 dollars from your average fast food place.

I’m more used to the prices that include rent on a table at a cafe, I guess!

Silver dollars are still minted and are legal tender, but of course it would make more sense to trade them in for their silver value.

We got a stash of $2 bills from the bank (took several trips, they’re getting harder to find). Our kids think they’re really neat.

If you don't mind waiting a couple of days, your bank (or credit union) should be able to do a currency order for you, and you can get $200 in $2s. Most likely uncirculated, sequential bills.

There used to be $2.50, $3, $5 and $10 circulating gold coins.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com