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TIL Ecuador doesn't have its own currency and uses US dollars, but maybe not the same US dollars you are used to seeing.
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024
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no they wouldnt. its money. i work at a gas station we get these all the time
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.
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.
At today's gold prices, 800 US dollars is just one single small gold coin. A classic 1 oz Krugerrand coin is currently worth more than 2,000 US dollars.
He was referring to using the sack of dollar coins as if they were gold doubloons, not actual gold coins.
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.
50 cent coins contained silver for a few years longer than dimes and quarters. So you have a slightly better chance of finding a silver coin worth a few dollars in a roll of halves. It's free gambling for numismatists.
Source: I ask for the occasional roll of halves.
My grandfather used to do this with nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar pieces. When he passed I got the "random coins" that were literally all years prior to the change in materials.
No idea how much it's all worth but it's in the back of a closet somewhere.
I guess this didn't occur to me because the guy also got the regular brass ones, which don't have any value above face value to my knowledge. They didn't contain actual gold at any point.
I would have thought people would have collected/sold the silver ones out of circulation by now.
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.
I'd put money on it being one of those "Twice the Ice" vending machines, all of my dollar coins come from either that or the ticket thing at the train station.