Apr 16, 2009

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.

7 comments:

  1. You know,there really is a market for subway tokens,and souvenir coins like Ben's.
    I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't get at least a quarter for each of them.
    Hey..It's 10 cent profit,after all.

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  2. Sling - I checked ebay and Ben actually goes for about 2.00. I might be sitting on a gold mine here.

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  3. See!..It's all about apples and oranges.
    I'm guessin' some one used Ben as a quarter?..In which case it is worth nearly 10 times that!
    Imagine if the stock market gave returns like that.

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  4. That IS interesting! I have some euros from Ireland that I could add to the collection. :)

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  5. Sling - I've been looking for a way to supplement my 401(k) losses.

    Miss HP - I was very surprised not to find euros. Maybe next time.

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  6. Bloody hell...what planet have i landed on?????

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  7. MC - Apparently one on which lithium batteries are considered legal currency.

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