• WolfLink@lemmy.ml
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    7 months ago

    These aren’t rare in the sense that everybody has one they keep as a collectible. If I went down to 7/11 and tried to buy something with it they’d give me a funny look.

    • PwnTra1n@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      no they wouldnt. its money. i work at a gas station we get these all the time

      • Transporter Room 3@startrek.website
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        7 months ago

        I have a friend who works at a bank, and when he was a teller there was a guy who would come in every friday and exchange 500 in dollar coins of varying types, the little brass colored ones here, the silver looking ones, and also 50 cent pieces.

        They didn’t carry that much at any time because nobody really brings them in so they had to start special ordering them for this one guy. Every week.

        No idea what he uses them for, but either he’s got a shitload of them, or he makes it hail at strip clubs.

        • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          No idea what he uses them for,

          Let’s say you want to buy a computer. You could, like a boring person, go to Best Buy and purchase a computer for 800 bucks on a credit card. Or you could dress up like a pirate with 800 gold doubloons in a sack, and slam that shit on the counter during checkout.

        • TheOneAndOnly@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Likely owns a vending machine business. They’re easier to return than a handful of quarters if someone uses a 5 dollar bill to buy something for a buck and change.

        • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          My guess is that he runs something that needs to give automated change. Vending machines, car washes, arcades, etc… Basically, if someone puts a $20 into the car wash but only wants a $10 wash, it’s easy to just dispense ten $1 coins as change.

          Coin handlers are mechanically very easy. Coins don’t vary in size and shape, so it’s easy to automatically detect which coins have been inserted, dispense change, and reject coins that don’t match. Paper money sorters are much more complicated, and more prone to failure.