Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Utilitarian Currency

Make that pocket of change into a multitool
  (+7)
(+7)
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Modifications:

Put discreet, unlabeled tick marks on the edges of bills; one every inch and tiny ones every eighth-inch on the face, one every centimeter on the back.

Make coins a standard weight; a dime weighs a gram, a nickel five grams, 10 pennies in an ounce, etc.

Make coins a standard size; a quarter is an inch in diameter (or an eighth inch high), a penny is a centimeter, etc.

Put small holes in the middle of coins. Put strings though them for easy plumb-bobs, or rods to make stacks of fifty pennies (like coin rolls). [Baked in Asia, and unintentionally in Canada. But it's a pity to delete 'cause it's so damned SENSIBLE! Do I hafta? *whine*]

Instead of 'ridged' edges, make coin edges into filing surfaces (how expensive is industrial-grade diamond?), or even *dull* blades.

Magnetic [removed].

Put screwdiver heads on the edges of coins. (Some screws are going the other direction--with "penny heads")

None of these suggestions need to be carried out exactly: if you really need an accurate three inches, use a ruler. If, on the other hand, you want to weigh out about two ounces of unobtainium, use your pocket change to estimate it. Any other suggestions for modifications? Has this been half-baked before?

nilstycho, Dec 27 2003

[link]






       nil mentioned screwdriving which is neat but you would need to rethink the shape of the coin.   

       play havoc with your pockets.   

       coin-operated machines would need to be re-worked but what the hell!   

       measuring notes is my favourite. well done - a whole heap of ideas in one!
po, Dec 27 2003
  

       This is lovely.   

       I once challenged folks to draw circles that were the diameter of the most commonly used coins without looking. As I recall, everyone underestimated the diameter of the coins by a good bit (but got their relative diameters pretty darn close.)   

       Far better to alter the currency than to learn their dimesions (which strike me as fairly arbitrary, tho I have not measured them)   

       delish.
DadManWalking, Dec 27 2003
  

       Oh. Guess what I just discovered. Public:coin. Forgive the n00b. So magnetic is already half-baked, weights is half-half-baked, and I guess it's just as well that I forgot to add my lego-snap-together coins cause that's half-baked too. Hm. Accordingly modified.
nilstycho, Dec 27 2003
  

       screwdrivers would be excellent, weld one [nils].
neilp, Dec 27 2003
  

       Change is good.   

       Bun for you, [nilsycho] ... next step - make it widely popular ... then THE WORLD! <devilish laugh>
Letsbuildafort, Dec 28 2003
  

       Good idea, except maybe weights. I'm in favour of lighter coins.
RobertKidney, Dec 28 2003
  

       you worried about two ounces?   

       fancy an arm wrestle, Robert?
po, Dec 28 2003
  

       A real pound would be nice, and a razor-sharp euro.
FarmerJohn, Dec 28 2003
  

       Well, ok, I didn't really look at the amounts. But look - either they are heavy and annoying, or they are too light for anything useful. I'd rather have almost weightless small change.
RobertKidney, Dec 28 2003
  

       Another nice one, nilstycho. (WTAGIPBAN)
krelnik, Dec 28 2003
  

       Don't know what to think of this one. I'm not sure I like the idea of money being useful as anything other than money. Seems problematic to me.
waugsqueke, Dec 28 2003
  

       <shakes head sadly>
po, Dec 28 2003
  

       Oh waugs!   

       Money has been used for other things all the time. nilstycho is just expanding the number and regularizing them.   

       Examples? Bills rolled up to be coke straws. pennies to anti- wobble a table. bills as book marks, love notes, tallies (on top of stacks.) Coins as ballast, circle gauges. thickness gauges, vandalism instruments, weapons (add roll of quarters to fist)   

       You can't stop the extra uses so nilstycho is making more of them. This idea expands the uses for currency in a constructive way with, relatively minimal intrusions on the making of money.
DadManWalking, Dec 28 2003
  

       I'd like to see Ninja Throwing Pennies, myself.
lostdog, Dec 28 2003
  

       // You can't stop the extra uses //   

       Yes, I agree. But it's quite another thing to purposely build in the additional functionality. I think there are very important reasons why currency shouldn't be anything other than currency.   

       If you deliberately give it a use beyond representing a monetary amount, you create the potential to change, however slightly, its value. It may seem a small point when talking about a dime, but when considering the overall effect on an entire economy, it's a bit risky I think.   

       If you don't think my thoughts and opinions are valid, po, that's fine, but please save me the head shaking.
waugsqueke, Dec 28 2003
  

       its a little like blowing the smoke from your gun really!   

       touché!
po, Dec 28 2003
  

       U.S. minted nickels (5¢) weigh exactly 5 grams. The penny (1¢) weighs exactly 2.5 grams. My gold band just about balances with 2 nickels. About 10 grams of 14K gold.   

       The weight of any U.S. paper currency is 1 gram, regardless of denomination. With combining paper currency and coinage, you can obtain a fairly accurate weight of most items. ($454 - in one-dollar paper currency - is equal to exactly one Avoirdupois pound)
Klaatu, Dec 29 2003
  

       [ub] I would assume that the weights are for unadulterated currency.   

       <mother's cry> "Get that money out of your mouth! You have NO idea where it has been. <mother's cry>
Klaatu, Dec 29 2003
  

       Larger coins could have wedges cut out of them to decrease weight and allow them to be used as shuriken.
whatastrangeperson, Apr 18 2004
  

       In Britain, during the reign of George III, some extremely large copper pennies and twopennies were minted. They were known as cartwheel pennies because of their size and weight and were also very unpopular for similar reasons. They were not, as is sometimes stated, worth their weight in copper but weighed exactly one ounce and two ounces respectively. They were designed to have dual use as currency and weights so that everyone would have their own set of weights to prevent the sale of underweight goods.
k9island, Apr 18 2004
  

       [+]   

       Prior art: The "Rip-O-Meter", named after [Ripster], is the technique of stacking coins of known mass on top of a keyboard key to measure the actuation force of the key switch. Coins are commonly used as scale references in photos of small objects.
notexactly, Mar 12 2019
  
      
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