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Comment by hecturchi | Hacker News Reader

As a child I was walking down the street and kicked something by chance that sounded metallic. 150 year old coin, irrc. Just there on the asphalt next to the sidewalk.

Unfortunately bronze, with trimmed edges, common mint and worth very little. But if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin in the street just lime that, I pretty much believe it.

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When I was a teenager I was working at McDonalds and someone came in and paid for a meal using old US Silver Certificate bills. Some people just are careless and don't notice old or unusual things.

I used to see those once or twice a year, now it's been a decade since I've seen even a $2 in the wild.

You can get new $2 from your bank

And they're still a pain to spend, because too many people refuse to believe they're real money. Or else don't want to take them because there isn't a slot in their cash drawer. I inherited a couple of bundles from my dad last year (he made $2 bills his "thing", much like Woz, because he enjoyed arguing with cashiers), and exchanged them all at the bank for "real money".

I believe that you have run into difficulty with some person(s) not understanding that $2 bills are real money.

I don't believe that they've been anywhere nearly as much of "a pain to spend" for you as you're stating. You're just gabbing.

They're socially awkward to spend, because people don't want to take them. That was true each of the four or five times I used bills from my father's stash, though I was outright refused only once. Unlike my father, I don't enjoy needlessly provoking minor hostility, so I turned them into the bank. We're all just gabbing on the internet, my dude. You might find $2 bills a fun investment.

Many years ago a friend of mine used to tip bartenders and servers with dollar coins (a dollar tip on a drink was good at the time). They remembered him for that and he got better service even though it was probably a bit of a PITA for them to deal with the coins. $2 bills could probaby be used in a similar fashion.

Tips are a good use because they go into the pocket, not the cash register - and it makes you memorable.

> they go into the pocket

That is, assuming the worker has a pocket to receive the tips.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_two-dollar_bill#...

Or at the strip club

> I inherited a couple of bundles from my dad last year (he made $2 bills his "thing", much like Woz, because he enjoyed arguing with cashiers)

For the unaware, Steve Wozniak buys sheets of uncut $2 bills and spends them. He’ll walk into a location and tear off a $2 bill like a serrated coupon.

There’s probably a better link but this was at hand: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/steve-wozniak-2-dollar-bil...

Every time I picture him doing that, I laugh.

It’s hard not to love that guy.

It's so crazy particularly because it's not just some random dude but one of the co-founders of Apple[1] (for those unaware)!

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak

> serrated coupon

Perforated coupons. (It’s too late to edit the above.)

I know and do; it's a question if I get one in change or otherwise.

(IIRC some businesses used to give change in $2 to show their "influence" on the area.)

It’s probably been that since I used cash. Kids pocket money is the last frontier in our house. We even managed travel between 3/4 countries without any. Wise is great.

Wow. I like how those look almost like modern bills except for a cool seal and text saying it's redeemable for silver, subtle flex.

Only time I ever got rare money was a buffalo / Indian head nickel as change in a cafe very recently, not a valuable form though.

I've had that happen a couple times, too. The first time I was super excited, and looked up the collectable price, and it was like $8 for a (pristine) $5 bill. I think I kept it for a few days to show to people, and then spent it. I inherited a couple from my dad last year, and the collectors' price hadn't changed, so I did the same thing. Still cool, though. I hope whatever cashier received them from me got a similar thrill.

I worked as a part-time bank teller from age 1999-2007 (not continuously). Over that time the volume of silver certificates and other special currency coming in dropped DRAMATICALLY. From 1999-2003 I'd say I would see those bills come in about every other month; I don't think I saw a single one in the final two years I worked the job.

I "purchased" (i.e., exchanged my own money for) every bill and coin that came in. And before anyone makes any assumptions, I had permission from the bank manager.

I have a similar story, but I was playing on the beach. There was a mound right next to it and I would love to play there, and the mound had some funny stones. One of them was square with something painted on it, I was fascinated by romans so I annoyed my parents with "I found a mosaic!" and took it with me.

Turns out, years later, they excavated a roman villa there. Funnily enough, the same beach has roman villas, dinosaur prints, austro-hungarian tunnels and yugoslavian bunkers. Quite a lot of history in one pretty beach.

As the saying goes, "location location location". Must have been a pretty strategically important beach.

Especially for dinosaurs

Slovenian/Croatian coast?

I took my kids to one of those gaming centers (skee ball, claw machines, etc.) and stumbled across a 19th century 50-cent piece in the change machine. It apparently is worth about $150 last time I checked.

> if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin...

I found a bill from the Weimar hyperinflation era. Its face value was several billion (Milliarden). Its only value was as a curiosity.

Who doesn’t miss the days when a Milliarden was worth something?

It was probably hours not days, in that case!

The oldest coin in my collection is an 1838 large cent, which my dad says he found as a kid in a crack in the sidewalk. He was born more than 100 years after that date.

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