guanin: (Peter alumbrado)
guanin ([personal profile] guanin) wrote2009-05-23 01:11 pm
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Fun stuff

Today I paid for something. In the paying process, I took some loose change out of my bag and stared at it for five full seconds. I figured out instantly that the big coins were 25 cents, but those little thing ones which I've known my entire life are dimes, which is equivalent to 10 cents? Ha! Now way. I didn't know if they were 5 or 10 cents. The thing is, the British 5 pence coin is about the same size and since that's what I go with I didn't know anymore. *head desk* I just handed it to the teller with this dubious look on my face, like, "Is this correct?" Oh god.

Though it's fun to have four different kinds of currency in your bag. I got US dollars, euros, pounds, Mexican pesos... Fun.

[identity profile] drakochi.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
You lost me when you started to talk about "pences"... XD The only kind of money I know is CAN $, but I think US change is similar to the Canadien one. But I don't think that the Americans have Loonies and Toonies (1$ and 2$ coins).

Anyway, I am glad that I have to deal with only one currency.


[identity profile] guanin.livejournal.com 2009-05-25 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Pence is plural, actually. Penny is the singular form. Hence why the 1 cent coin is called a penny. 5 pence (p)=5 cents. The government has been trying for years with $1 coins and $2 bills, but it keeps failing. There is a $1 coin around now, but they are rarely seen and it's such a bother because merchants don't like them, though they have to accept them. US people just don't like loose change, so adding another coin is futile. Euros and pounds do have 1 and 2 in coin form. The smallest bill is 5.

I do find it very cool to have so many different forms of currency. I got a Chinese one in my change once. Speaking of, do you ever get US quarters in your change? Because we get Canadian quarters in ours all the time. They look practically the same.

[identity profile] drakochi.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 01:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes I find American quarters, but most of the times it is American pennies that I can not get rid of. We have enough of our Canadien ones, no need more. XD

[identity profile] guanin.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I sometimes want to try slipping some in my change anyway and hope the cashier won't notice, but I always chicken out.

[identity profile] drakochi.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Really? The cashiers don't accept Canadian change? That's weird. When I was working as a cashier in a super market I always got U.S change. And it bothered no one. And we could accept it. If I had a huge line up I was not about to count every penny and dime that I had.

Though if it was any other change then we did not accept it. No Ma'am, we do not accept roubli or euros.

What I wonder is how Americans can tell if their bills are fake or not! *ponders*

[identity profile] guanin.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
No, I don't think so. It has to be US currency. That's why everyone gets so annoyed when they get a Canadian quarter in their change. And of course, I never notice until I'm already in the parking lot and can't prove anything.

Uh, we assume? Very few, as in almost no one, checks for watermarks anyway.