Re: Types of numerals

Ph.D. wrote:
> Tristan McLeay wrote:
>
>>Nik Taylor wrote:
>>
>>>of coins (and keep in mind that $.25 is the largest
>>>common coin in the US).  Not to mention ridiculously
>>>large numbers of low-denomination bills like 1's and 5's.
>>>I try to avoid having more than 4 pennies ($.01), 1 nickle
>>>($.05), 2 dimes ($.10) or 3 quarters ($.25), likewise,
>>
>>Does anyone know why American coins have names? It's
>>always struck me as very odd.
>
>
> Why odd?  They're easier to say in conversation. What would
> you call them?  (Note that penny and nickel are not official
> terms.)
Because I'm not used to them, mostly, I'm sure. I would just refer to
them in much the same way you talk of notes: "a twenty cent coin", "a
dollar coin", "a twenty dollar note", "a hundred dollar note". I don't
really see how often I'm going to be talking about the coins though, if
I lose fifty cents does it matter if I say "I thought I had a crown" or
"I thought I had two florins and a bob" (using as the coin names the
equivalent pre-decimal terms).

> That's essentially the reason the government gives for not
> having colored bills. If people barely glanced at them, it would
> be easier to pass counterfiets. In reality, it's easy to see the
> large numbers in the corners of each note. I can count through
> a stack of US bills very quickly.
Or, they could make it difficult to counterfeit them by (e.g.) making
them plastic. Anyone can run paper through a printer and make something
passable-offable for real money at a glance, it's a lot harder to make
polymer notes with the transparent windows.

--
Tristan.

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