Plastic Money

Not yet according to the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/business/international/britain-to-join-ranks-of-nations-using-plastic-currency.html

Bruce,

Even though the European Union hasn't announced any plans to introduce polymer bills, I suspect they will eventually jump on the bandwagon. Besides the fact that they last longer than paper, the plastic bills are much more secure from counterfeiting which is important.

It seems rather coincidental that England has decided to adopt polymer bills so soon after Mark Carney became head of the Bank of England. Perhaps we'll also see the elimination of the 1p and 2p coins, given the fact that Canada has now eliminated the penny.

There seems to be a certain "standardization" of currencies taking place in various countries, and some have now eliminated 1p or 2p coins as well as adopting $1 and $2 coins rather than using bills. I wonder if we'll see any of these changes in the U.S. in the near future?

Cheers!

The USA has of course attempted twice to introduce a $1 coin into regular use, and failed twice. The reason for that failure is obvious - the $1 bill was not retired at the same time.

The USA has a dysfunctional coinage set because it has not reformed sizes and denominations in line with 50 years of inflation, unlike most other countries (eg the UK through the 1980s and early 90s), at least not going beyond some changes in composition. Odd because it was frequently altered in the 19th C. There is no logical reason now why the 5c coin is bigger than the 10c for example and costs more to make than it is worth.

The Bank of England has regularly studied the possibility of introducing polymer notes for at least 10 years; maybe Carney pushed it over the top, but he wouldn't have started things.

1p and 2p coins are made of steel with copper plating. The Royal Mint does not have to disclose their manufacturing cost, but expert outsiders seem to think it is less than face value. Older coins when made of bronze have an intrinsic value a little over face but not enough for them to be (illegally) melted.

Older 5p and 10p coins have briefly had an intrinsic value over face, when nickel was at its peak. They too are now made from plated steel (nickel).

Plastic money feels rather odd. Not to worry, almost all transactions seem to be electronic with the future 100% I suppose.

"The USA has a dysfunctional coinage set." Since when. We get along fine. It works. And can't see how that opinion relates to plastic money.

I have already explained its present shortcomings in my opinion, and why it doesn't work as well as it could do because of the failure to evolve it. You of course are free to disagree. This was in response to an earlier comment on this thread.