On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 23:27:29 +0100, Kristian <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >nitram <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 11:46:42 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    >>wrote:
    >>>nitram <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>> Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    >>>> identical to a Dmark?
    >>>Germany in 1923?
    >>Munich around 1973 a Turkish(???) coin would work as a Mark in a
    >>cigarette machine.
    >-------------
    > And some Yugoslav dinars looked very similar to D-mark coins. I found
    >that out the hard way once at München Hauptbahnhof .

It could have been that. The story was that they had been especially
made like that by the home country of gastarbeiders.
--
Martin

"nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    > wrote:
    > Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    > identical to a Dmark?

I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US cent
and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.

dennis

Dennis G. Rears wrote:
    > "nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >
    >>On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    >>wrote:
    >>Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    >>identical to a Dmark?
    >
    >
    > I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US cent
    > and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.
    >
    > dennis
    >
    >


From somewhere I have a memory that it was a Thai coin.

In message <[email protected]>, Dennis G. Rears
<[email protected]> writes
    >"nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected].. .
    >> On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    >> wrote:
    >> Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    >> identical to a Dmark?
    >I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US cent
    >and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.

Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.

--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/

"Frank F. Matthews" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
    > Dennis G. Rears wrote:
    > > "nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > >>On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    > >>wrote:
    > >>
    > >>Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    > >>identical to a Dmark?
    > >
    > >
    > > I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US
cent
    > > and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.
    > >
    > > dennis
    > >
    > >
    > From somewhere I have a memory that it was a Thai coin.
That's a more recent story: the Thai 10 baht coin is somewhat similar to the
2 euro coin (and only worth about 20 euro cents), so in the early days of
the euro some vending machines would accept a 10 baht coin as a 2 euro coin.

Sjoerd

in article [email protected], Hatunen at
[email protected] wrote on 8/01/05 19:41:

    >> I was in a store in Santa Barbara and bought a couple of small items and
    >> paid with a five dollar bill. My change was $2 short and I pointed it out to
    >> the young clerk. Sorry he said giving me $2, I thought that you had given me
    >> a "Three"
    >
    > Sounds to me like an attempt at humor.


In the prison we visit here in France, one of the prisoner had a computer,
a nice printer and printed off a bunch of new 100 euro bills for departing
prisoners. Usually they don`t search that much exiting but did this time
and got the prison forged money! They took the prisoners computer away from
him and he got "added mileage" for his creative efforts.

Not that the prison is not capable itself of turning out counterfeits.
The shoe factory turns out shows with "made in Italy" tags.

Earl

Dennis G. Rears <[email protected]> wrote:

    > This is great. Why can't the USA do this? I do have one bitch with
    > Australia coins. What is up with your 1 and 2 dollar coins? I realize they
    > are a different colour, weights, and different metal. Does the $AUD 2 coin
    > really need to be that small size? I tipped of lot of $2 coins as if they
    > were nickels, and this is in a nontipping country.

The reason the coins are that size is they were designed when all the
other coins (+ 1c and 2c) existed. They had to make them distinguishable
from the others. If it was much bigger than $1 it might be like a 20c.
So they made it thicker, and thus smaller so it wouldn't use a tonne of
metal. I guess they missed out on their requirements "must be designed
so sighted americans can correctly guess the value without ever
bothering to look." The size really isn't a problem if you spend 2
minutes acquainting yourself to the currencty, which is always a good
idea.

BTW, when I first read this, I thought you meant you were trying to
people 5c, but did you give then a handful of $2? If so, how did you
get so many without realising their value? Surely if you gave someone
$10 for a coffee, and they gave you three or four of these back you
would have seen what they were worth.


--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 02:56:58 +0000, Arwel Parry
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    >I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.

Now you tell me :-)
--
Martin

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 00:34:01 GMT, "Frank F. Matthews"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Dennis G. Rears wrote:
    >> "nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected]...
    >>
    >>>On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    >>>wrote:
    >>>Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    >>>identical to a Dmark?
    >>
    >>
    >> I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US cent
    >> and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.
    >>
    >> dennis
    >>
    >>
    > From somewhere I have a memory that it was a Thai coin.

I think you are right.
--
Martin

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 08:08:23 +0100, Earl Evleth <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >Not that the prison is not capable itself of turning out counterfeits.
    >The shoe factory turns out shows with "made in Italy" tags.

and the souls(sic) last 4 weeks?
--
Martin

Arwel Parry wrote:
    >
    > In message <[email protected]>, Dennis G. Rears
    > <[email protected]> writes
    > >
    > >"nitram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > >news:[email protected].. .
    > >> On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:39:34 -0600, [email protected] (Miguel Cruz)
    > >> wrote:
    > >>
    > >> Remember when a country had a worthless coin that was physically
    > >> identical to a Dmark?
    > >
    > >I forget what country it was but the value of the coins was about 5 US cent
    > >and it would fit all the veding machines.... This was in the mid 70s.
    >
    > Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    > I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.
    >

There was also a Polish coin which was the size of a 5 DM piece. It
seems it was not all that easy to modify old vending machines to reject
those. So the machines of the Munich underground were changed so that
they would only give change for a 5 if the fare was at least 3,50. Made
the fraud a bit less profitable.

Swedish 5 SKR also fooled some machines into thinking they were 5 DM.

md

Arwel Parry <[email protected]> wrote:

[]
    > Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    > I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.

Not such a saving, but they also operated many vending machines in the
US which accepted quarters.

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn wrote:
    >
    > Arwel Parry <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > []
    > > Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    > > I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.
    >
    > Not such a saving, but they also operated many vending machines in the
    > US which accepted quarters.
    >

When was the last time the UKP was close to DM 20? And 1 US more than 4
DM?

I remember bringing loads of 5p coins back from trips to England when I
was still in school.

M

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:55:53 +0100, Mika
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn wrote:
    >>
    >> Arwel Parry <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >> []
    >> > Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    >> > I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.
    >>
    >> Not such a saving, but they also operated many vending machines in the
    >> US which accepted quarters.
    >>
    >When was the last time the UKP was close to DM 20? And 1 US more than 4
    >DM?

before WW1?

It was about DM12 to the pound about 40 years ago.


--
Martin

nitram wrote:
    >
    > On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:55:53 +0100, Mika
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn wrote:
    > >>
    > >> Arwel Parry <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >>
    > >> []
    > >> > Pre 1990s British and Irish 5p's would work most 1 DM vending machines.
    > >> > I suppose that might be logical, as before WW1 £1 was worth 20 marks.
    > >>
    > >> Not such a saving, but they also operated many vending machines in the
    > >> US which accepted quarters.
    > >>
    > >
    > >When was the last time the UKP was close to DM 20? And 1 US more than 4
    > >DM?
    >
    > before WW1?
    >
    > It was about DM12 to the pound about 40 years ago.

I know. I was actually just questioning the premise that using 5p as
quarters was supposedly a better deal than using them as 1 DM pieces.

M