Re: Quoting styles (was Re: Antipassive?)

> [mailto:CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Keith Bertelsen
> > A friend, who collects currency, explained to me that the
purpose
> > for varisized currency is so that blind people can tell
> denominations
> > apart by touch.
>
> I always thought that it was the cash-register-manufacturers
> lobby, myself. After all, changing the sizes of currency
> would require all the cash registers to buy new bill-holding
trays.
>
> Personally, since I use a money clip, I much prefer my bills
> to all be the same size (so they align better). Different
> colors to make them easier to distinguish would be a great
> idea, but I'm usually close enough to tell the faces/numbers
> apart anyways.
>
> Coins, however, I like to be different sizes; then again, I'm
> far more likely to try to pick out coins without looking than
> I am bills. This is also why I (and a lot of people) don't
> particularly care for the new dollar coins: they're too close
> to quarters to reliably distinguish them by touch.
The "new" dollar coins have been around for a long time now (ISTR
1979, before that we had the big "Ike" dollars). The small
difference in size from the quarter was the main reason the public
has overwhelmingly rejected them.  Even the newer Sakajawea version
that replaced Susan B. Anthony still suffers from the same problem
despite a change in the color of the plating.  Personally, I just
don't like coins much because they are bulky and weight down my
pockets.  They tend to immediately get dumped into my ashtray in the
car, or into a jar on my dresser just so I'm not burdened with
carrying them.  About the only time I actually like coins, is when
using vending machines.  They all seem to be very finicky about
taking paper money that isn't crisp and new.