Archived Money

[redeye58]

Had a youngster cashier ask me if these coins were American - they were silver Mercury head dimes!

 

[TiedAndDropped]

That brings back memories - as a kid I collected coins, and actually found a Mercury dime, in pocket change, with the 1942 0ver 1941 error. I should have kept it but ran short of money one month and sold it to a dealer. Think I got $30 for it.

 

[BRguy]

This is off topic but when I worked at Food Avenue and when the popcorn combo was still $1.07 some young teenager gave me a 1935 dollar bill. I asked if he wanted to keep it and he said no. I ended up exchanging for that dollar at the end of my shift. I know it's not worth much but it is pretty neat having a dollar that old.

 

[redeye58]

That brings back memories - as a kid I collected coins, and actually found a Mercury dime, in pocket change, with the 1942 0ver 1941 error. I should have kept it but ran short of money one month and sold it to a dealer. Think I got $30 for it.

Augh! That would fetch about $3000 now!

 

[AllRedEverything]

As far as I know, in the United States you can pay in any denomination for any goods purchased. That being said, any business can develop their own policies to prohibit certain types of payment (i.e. $100 bills at gas stations where they only keep $20 worth of change in the register). I have heard stories of people trying to pay with several thousand pennies, and get cited for disorderly conduct. Some states may also have their own laws governing legal tender.

All that aside, the laws are different in Canada. Although we no longer use the penny, the most pennies you can use in a single transaction is $0.25. You can spend up to $5.00 with nickles, $10.00 with dimes, quarters, and fifty-cent coins, $25.00 with loonies ($1 coins), and $40.00 with toonies ($2 coins) or $5 bills. Alas, not a lot of people are familiar with the Currency Act and it's not strictly enforced.

 

[TiedAndDropped]

That brings back memories - as a kid I collected coins, and actually found a Mercury dime, in pocket change, with the 1942 0ver 1941 error. I should have kept it but ran short of money one month and sold it to a dealer. Think I got $30 for it.

Augh! That would fetch about $3000 now!

Augh! You had to tell me! Of course $30 was a lot more back then, but not a hundred times more. Maybe ten times more. Gas was about $0.28 a gallon and smokes were $0.25 pack. Minimum wage was $0.90 or $1.00/hour. I'm dating myself here.

 

[commiecorvus]

As far as I know, in the United States you can pay in any denomination for any goods purchased. That being said, any business can develop their own policies to prohibit certain types of payment (i.e. $100 bills at gas stations where they only keep $20 worth of change in the register). I have heard stories of people trying to pay with several thousand pennies, and get cited for disorderly conduct. Some states may also have their own laws governing legal tender.

All that aside, the laws are different in Canada. Although we no longer use the penny, the most pennies you can use in a single transaction is $0.25. You can spend up to $5.00 with nickles, $10.00 with dimes, quarters, and fifty-cent coins, $25.00 with loonies ($1 coins), and $40.00 with toonies ($2 coins) or $5 bills. Alas, not a lot of people are familiar with the Currency Act and it's not strictly enforced.

Thanks for that, I love obscure bits of info.
GTC for you.