Hey, that might be worth something!

The sign on the coin box at work clearly states “US COINS ONLY”. But just look at the haul of non-US coinage and other various coin shaped objects people are using to purchase their beverages.

Canadian coins are understandable since Detroit is right across the river from Canada. US and Canadian coins were used interchangeably until very recently when exchange rates started fluctuating wildly. Not so surprising to find Japanese yen either, given our ratio of Japanese expats to local hires. But why is somebody carrying around English pence and Mexican pesos?

It’s the other items I find interesting. All these items can’t have been mistaken for legal coinage. Our employees are either trying to amuse us or are protesting the recently instituted coffee charge of 15 cents.

The Benjamin Franklin souvenir coin is so hefty and authentic looking that I thought we had lucked into getting a rare coin. That would fund our coffee for the next few decades. No such luck. I am assuming the battery is dead. The Toronto subway token may come in handy since I occasionally visit there. Most worrisome for me is that one of our employees needs to be careful of walking under ladders or across the path of a black cat because they don’t have their lucky angel coin to counteract the bad luck.