Re: OT: coins and currency (was: [Theory] Types of numerals)

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:33:49 -0500, Nomad of Norad -- David C Hall
<nomad-conlang@...> wrote:

> In fact, I gather the Susan B Anthony dollar was originally supposed to
> be a polygonal-shaped thing, to make it obvious by feel in ones pocket,
> but the vending-machine makers complained that if the coin was not
> going to be truly round, they'd have to redesign their machines... so
> the currency people relented, and just added a polygon design onto one
> face a regular, round coin.
[snip]
> I kind of wish we'd already started moving away from round coins at some
> point *before* vending machines became common...  Think of all the cool
> shapes we coulda had for our coins!
We have septagonal coins in the UK (not one, but two -- to whit: the Crown
and the Double Florin), and vending machines plus all sorts of other
coin-operated devices that work just fine with them. I don't buy the
"vending machine" excuse for one minute. You can phase in support for the
coins between their announcement date and their release date, and even
after the release date.



Paul

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