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LTC Psychological Operations Officer
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When I was stationed in Germany in the early 80s, they had coin 1DM and 5 DM coins. At first, it seemed odd, but after a little while I started liking them. I never went as far as most German men who carried some sort of coin wallet. But overall I liked the larger coins. I also like the US dollar coin, but each time they issue one, everybody gets a couple to hold on to, the stores don't stock them for change, and so it's claimed that Americans don't like them. But I think it's more of a store issue, and if you never get them in change, they will never make it in general use. No one will make a trip to the bank just to get a dollar coin.

As to the paper notes, I read a similar article that just suggested getting rid of the 100 bill. That could make some sense. It's the most counterfeited bill in the world, and is used mostly by illegal transactions. For most people, it's sometimes hard to use them. A lot of stores/fast food places/gas stations won't take them anyway.
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PO1 Tony Holland
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Edited >1 y ago
While it would make transfers to drug lords painfully obvious, the more important issue is the ability for banks to impose negative interest rates also known as a "bail-in" on your account for their benefit (never yours, you can bank on that --- pun intended)
It's not like they aren't making enough profit with the usurious interest rates they charge already, if you can even get a loan, that is.
More interesting was the racial aspect raised by one commenter in regards to avoiding "tubmans" - putting black women of note on the $20 bill.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
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There are valid reasons for "trimming" our types of currency. Looking at bills above $10 is a reasonable start, however, I would counter that $1, $2, $10, $50, $100 are the currencies that need to be removed. The $1 bill can be replaced with the $1 coin. The $20 is probably the most commonly used bill outside the $1. With a $1 (Coin), $5, and $20, you can make any iteration of change we need.

That said, I disagree with the author's theme:

"First, it is important to allow ordinary citizens to continue using cash for convenience and to make reasonable-size anonymous purchases, while undermining the business models of those engaged in large, repeated anonymous transactions on a wholesale level."

The Government really doesn't need to know what individuals are buying, and frankly "reasonable" is so Subjective that it just asks for problems. He acknowledges it won't stop "black market" but looks at it as a hampering effect, which will likely affect all citizens, not just criminals. We shouldn't make law like that.
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