Tourists leave hundreds of millions of dollars in Argentina

[Quilombo]

Nobody likes coins, anywhere on earth.
Despite what the libertarian anti-fiat currency guys say, paper money is easy, and it doesnt cause unsightly bulges in your fitted tapered trousers.

plus, pretty much all coins these days cost more to make than the face value.
So the government, be it Argentine, US, or other, makes as few coins as they can get away with, and most people throw them in a jar on their hall table, because they hate carrying them.
We just have to wait until 100 pesos is so small an amount that the smallest denomination is 100 peso bills.

I thought we were in a bad spot when Cristina left office and the largest bill in circulation was $100 ARS, but in comparison to today it seems like a better time. On December 9th, 2015 $100 pesos was worth $6.79. Today $1,000 pesos is worth $3.25; 10x the denomination and half the value, no wonder ATMs are a mess.

My husband hates 10 and 20 peso bills and I find them on the floor next to his night stand or crumpled up with receipts. I have some 5 and 10 peso coins (even $1s and $2s) but never use them because everyone just rounds up or down now. I'm going to add them to my collection of 25 and 50 centavo coins.

As for finding cash on the ground, I found the following back in January; was so surprised I sent my husband a picture.

 

[Ries]

As a lifelong metalworker, I am in favor of recycling copper, but there hasnt been any appreciable amount of copper in pennies since 1982.

 

[Redpossum]

Nobody likes coins, anywhere on earth.
Despite what the libertarian anti-fiat currency guys say, paper money is easy, and it doesnt cause unsightly bulges in your fitted tapered trousers.

plus, pretty much all coins these days cost more to make than the face value.
So the government, be it Argentine, US, or other, makes as few coins as they can get away with, and most people throw them in a jar on their hall table, because they hate carrying them.
We just have to wait until 100 pesos is so small an amount that the smallest denomination is 100 peso bills.

I heartily disagree, and I don't think you're qualified to speak for everyone. It may be my background in philatelia, but I like coins. And I wear baggy khaki pants.

Furthermore, you neglect to mention a very important point. While it's true that coins are more expensive to create, by a factor of 3, they also have a longer service life expectancy, by a factor of 4 to 5, depending on whose data you use, and the material of which they're made.

(quick break for research)

Having looked, I find wildly varying reports of production costs and estimates of life expectancy. Matters of policy and politics are incentives for the numbers to be fudged, to make the author's favored solution look better. Some say coins are cheaper, and at worst, some sources suggest parity over time. Nowhere did I find any data that bills are cheaper over time.

This article in CNN money from 2012 says that
"As of May, the Fed had amassed $1.4 billion in $1 coins in its vaults because demand for the coins remains weak."

and

As a lifelong metalworker, I am in favor of recycling copper, but there hasnt been any appreciable amount of copper in pennies since 1982.

 

[Jtee125]

I heartily disagree, and I don't think you're qualified to speak for everyone. It may be my background in philatelia, but I like coins. And I wear baggy khaki pants.

Furthermore, you neglect to mention a very important point. While it's true that coins are more expensive to create, by a factor of 3, they also have a longer service life expectancy, by a factor of 4 to 5, depending on whose data you use, and the material of which they're made.

(quick break for research)

Having looked, I find wildly varying reports of production costs and estimates of life expectancy. Matters of policy and politics are incentives for the numbers to be fudged, to make the author's favored solution look better. Some say coins are cheaper, and at worst, some sources suggest parity over time. Nowhere did I find any data that bills are cheaper over time.

This article in CNN money from 2012 says that
"As of May, the Fed had amassed $1.4 billion in $1 coins in its vaults because demand for the coins remains weak."

and

I wonder how the life expectancy would fare if Argentina brought in polymer notes - I know British paper notes ceased being legal tender in recent days and I much prefer the polymer notes

 

[Ries]

I am amused that you take it personally.
If its any solace, I have had change in my back left hand pocket for very close to 60 years now.
But that doesnt change the fact that many countries have been steadily decreasing the number of denominations of coins they mint, and that some countries are dropping coins altogether, and that the trend will continue no matter how many old men shake their fists at clouds.
The USA is now down to only minting 4 denominations- pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.
The days of the penny are going to end, one way or another, before long.
Experiments minting fifty cent pieces and dollar coins are both long since given up on.
There are occasional dollar coins minted for collectors, but they are not considered to be current currency denominations, although they are perfectly spendable.
Sweden is basically a post cash country, and China and Korea are already mostly to non-cash countries. The future of cash, in general, is going to be much smaller, coins are already extinct, they just dont know it yet.

As far as tight pants-
I take the colectivos a lot- its not uncommon for me to be on 6 or 8 a day. And I spend my time looking out the window. I have been a student of clothing, both making it, wearing it, and studying it as a cultural signifier, since about 1970. So I pay attention to what men wear in BA, and, aside from a tiny cult of older men who like to dress like they own an estancia, the vast majority of men who arent wearing futbol shorts are wearing slim fit pants. Slim fit khakis are quite common, and slim fit jeans and khakis are omnipresent in men in their 60s and even 70s- I know, cause thats my demographic.
So as far as portenos go, the change in your pockets ruining your profile is a pretty widespread concern.

 

[Redpossum]

I am amused that you take it personally.
If its any solace, I have had change in my back left hand pocket for very close to 60 years now.
But that doesnt change the fact that many countries have been steadily decreasing the number of denominations of coins they mint, and that some countries are dropping coins altogether, and that the trend will continue no matter how many old men shake their fists at clouds.
The USA is now down to only minting 4 denominations- pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.
The days of the penny are going to end, one way or another, before long.
Experiments minting fifty cent pieces and dollar coins are both long since given up on.
There are occasional dollar coins minted for collectors, but they are not considered to be current currency denominations, although they are perfectly spendable.
Sweden is basically a post cash country, and China and Korea are already mostly to non-cash countries. The future of cash, in general, is going to be much smaller, coins are already extinct, they just dont know it yet.

As far as tight pants-
I take the colectivos a lot- its not uncommon for me to be on 6 or 8 a day. And I spend my time looking out the window. I have been a student of clothing, both making it, wearing it, and studying it as a cultural signifier, since about 1970. So I pay attention to what men wear in BA, and, aside from a tiny cult of older men who like to dress like they own an estancia, the vast majority of men who arent wearing futbol shorts are wearing slim fit pants. Slim fit khakis are quite common, and slim fit jeans and khakis are omnipresent in men in their 60s and even 70s- I know, cause thats my demographic.
So as far as portenos go, the change in your pockets ruining your profile is a pretty widespread concern.

I'm not taking it personal.

What did you think of that copper hammer video? And what kind of metalwork did/do you do?

I have done a bit of silversmithing.

And yeah, I'm in my 60's also. And I don't give a donkeyfart what people think of how I dress

 

[Ries]

I'm not taking it personal.

What did you think of that copper hammer video? And what kind of metalwork did/do you do?

I have done a bit of silversmithing; my grandparents were faceters, back when people still did that by hand in the USA. My grandma wrote a book on working opal by hand that received some acclaim. I learned all that stuff in my youth, and even taught a first year gemology class for a while. But it was clear that such things were moving overseas, and no American would be able to compete, so I gave it up and pursued a career in IS instead. Which went well until Clinton hugely expanded the H-1b visa program, at which point that too was outsourced to foreigners.

And yeah, I'm in my 60's also. And I don't give a donkeyfart what people think of how I dress

the hammer video is very basic. check out the work of Stacy Lee Webber, who makes real art from coins. She is incredible. http://www.staceyleewebber.com/objects1
I like her hammer better.

The Craftsmen Series — Stacey Lee Webber

www.staceyleewebber.com

I actually know quite a few american jewelers who are quite successful. I used to do the wholesale craft show circuit and met some amazing jewelers there.
And if you are interested in production jewelry, and its history in the USA, you should check out Kevin Potter- he is buying the contents of many factories, and owns over 1 million historic jewelry stamping dies, which he sells copies of to jewelers all over the world.

Personally, I am a welder, machinist, blacksmith, and sheet metal fabricator. I have made a lot of stuff, mostly pretty large. Like everyone else, my website is out of date, but there is some of the work I have done. www.riesniemi.com

 

[Redpossum]

That's an amazing number of wheat pennies! I spent 35 years checking every one that passed through my hands, looking for that legendary 1943 copper, and finally gave up in the early 2000's, when the wheat pennies started to become very scarce. I suppose it's surprising they lasted that long, given the last ones were minted in 1958.

 

[gracielle]

27 October 2022 by Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg

Tourists pay with wads of cash as inflation nears 100%

Paying with cash is becoming increasingly cumbersome in Argentina as inflation gallops toward 100%.

batimes.com.ar

 

[Rich One]

The Tourism Ministry is aware of the Exchange-diference based Tourism from Brasil and Uruguay. Uruguay has imposed a 3 kilo limit on across-border supplies purchases .