The end of cash!?

[Vfox]

As the holiday season sneaks up on us, I have to ask all of you, my fellow coin and currency collectors, what do you use to purchase gifts? Credit/Debit, Checks, or cold hard Cash?

 

This question popped into my head while I was at work the other day. I had about 45 customers on thanksgiving eve, and only 6, SIX of them paid with actual cash. In another instance, a commercial is playing on TV currently for some credit card, and everything is going smoothly and fast, until!!!!! SOME JERK USES CASH! I mean really, how rude of him to use something we had for millenia!

 

Is this age of simplification truly killing out cash, making it useless, and unneeded? What do you predict in the next 20 years, or the next 50? Will the modern coin simply become a collectors item, never truly meant to circulate? What of currency, those worthless papers we love so much, where will the future find them?

 

The future of our collecting society many end up in the past, like the collectors of so many other "outdated" antiques. What say you?

[ccg]

Look at what's changing today. People demand convenience. Why pieces of paper and metal when you can swipe a piece of plastic that you can attach to you bank account (and for most people, never reconcile)?

 

However, I think that as the baby boomers get closer to retirement age and have more time to spend, there may be a revival of use of cash.

[Burks]

I only use cash. Checks are too much of a PITA and I don't trust debit cards.

 

My dad is the only other person I know that even uses cash, and that's not very often. My parent's check numbers are well into the five digit number (they only junked the first 100).

 

I see cash being around for a few decades to come. Whether I will see the elimination of cash in my lifetime or not I don't know but it is certainly possible. The last place I worked/managed at was didn't take anything but cash. You'd be surprised at how many people were mad about that! Heck, our most expensive item was only $3 (if you didn't count the quarts of ice cream).

[Rotten Rodney]

So lets say some disaster causes the phone system to go down over a large section of the country like to power outage a couple of years ago and it's down forseveral days. . . . Now since most ATM's and Credit card machines use the phone line instead of a Satilite based WAN How are you gonna by Gas with your plastic? I really don't think our hobby is gonna be in trouble in our life time.

[tabbs]

Now since most ATM's and Credit card machines use the phone line instead of a Satilite based WAN How are you gonna by Gas with your plastic?

In case of a major power outage a cashier would probably say, sorry, I cannot accept cash either. Either because the payment cannot be recorded (unless they use a pen and paper ...), and/or because the change drawer cannot be opened.

 

Gas stations are a different story anyway. The ones in the US work fine with "domestic plastic", but many places will not accept any of my credit or debit cards. Leaving the card with the cashier before getting gas would be an option, but then I might as well do the same with cash.

 

Christian

[Art]

From what the folks at Radio Shack tell me, during the last big hurricane here, the Radio Shacks stayed open without power and sold lots and lots of batteries, lights, cellphone and such -- especially those little crank radios that charge your cellphone. They even sold out of cell phone batteries because most have a decent charge left after sitting on the shelf. Every sale was a manual writeup and cash was the only medium of exchange. At our store this went on for five days - early morning until late at night. Customers weren't allowed in the store - they told the sales folks what they wanted and it was brought to them on the street.

 

They even checked in deliveries totally by hand. SO cash still reigned supreme.

[roaddevil]

well from my point of view (as a 15 year old) all teens,kids, children need coins imagine without coins with wat can we buy food from the cafetaria with or when we hang out with frnds and we need some change for the cinema pop corn (here in bahrain the popcorn is 500fils and we mostly use the 500fils coin to buy it). and come on children cannot be trusted with credit cards or debit cards and now way in hell would a parent give their child a check book

[roaddevil]

oh and as for the gas station here u tell the guy (there r more then 6 sometimes 10 guys workin in the petrol station as we call it here) how much u need and which type (only 2 types here jayid and mumtaz) u give him ur keys to open the gas tank he fills it up then u pay him and wait for the change. no credit card or debit card or checks they have a hand bag full of change in it.

[Vfox]

Last time our power went out at my store we have to close the doors to not allow anyone else in, but the customers that already shopped and were ready to checkout.......well....we had to do it, no questions asked.

 

We has three people, one bagging, one using a calculator, and one checking the price on EVERY item. It took nearly 45 minutes for even small orders to be completed, most people just got mad and left.

 

We did accept credit cards though, I'm sure some of you remember back in the 80's and early 90's before the credit system was integrated, they put your card in between some contact paper, and slid this metal device over it to make a hard copy on the hard of your card info. Well, that's what we did. We also accepted cash, but couldn't open the tills, so we were limited on the amount of change we could offer.

 

I don't think many people in our lifetime will see the end of cash being used, but I do feel that my generations (I'm 23 mind you) children will see it's end, or at least its downfall. Think of it as being viewed as a primitive form of exchange similar to how people act when I hand them a half dollar, or a ike dollar lol.

 

It's eventually going to come to that, I think out of mindless habit that the government will still manufacture coins and currency for many years after it becomes "obsolete" in everyday commerce, much as the $2 bill is still being made.

[ccg]

We did accept credit cards though, I'm sure some of you remember back in the 80's and early 90's before the credit system was integrated, they put your card in between some contact paper, and slid this metal device over it to make a hard copy on the hard of your card info. Well, that's what we did. We also accepted cash, but couldn't open the tills, so we were limited on the amount of change we could offer.

 

Many places still have them as backups. Unfortunately, most of the newer generation cashiers are confused as to what is is, or how to use it.

 

Where's the training these days?!

[Rotten Rodney]

unless they use a pen and paper

been there done that by candle light with a battery operated calculator and a tax chart.

[Sir Sisu]

As the holiday season sneaks up on us, I have to ask all of you, my fellow coin and currency collectors, what do you use to purchase gifts? Credit/Debit, Checks, or cold hard Cash?

 

This question popped into my head while I was at work the other day. I had about 45 customers on thanksgiving eve, and only 6, SIX of them paid with actual cash. In another instance, a commercial is playing on TV currently for some credit card, and everything is going smoothly and fast, until!!!!! SOME JERK USES CASH! I mean really, how rude of him to use something we had for millenia!

 

Is this age of simplification truly killing out cash, making it useless, and unneeded? What do you predict in the next 20 years, or the next 50? Will the modern coin simply become a collectors item, never truly meant to circulate? What of currency, those worthless papers we love so much, where will the future find them?

 

The future of our collecting society many end up in the past, like the collectors of so many other "outdated" antiques. What say you?

 

 

The need of cash will most likely lessen as time goes on. (Personally I am more curious as to when the "paycheck" will finally have its funeral in the US. Here everyone's pay is deposited directly into their bank accounts and has been done so for 20+ years.)

 

 

Not sure of all the safety and back-up measures involved, but I could imagine a scenario where one major electronic catastrophe where people's savings disintegrates into inchoherant 0s and 1s would again make cash fashionable. (A future Bond subject? )

 

As for collecting, I think it will just fuel a new area to collect which I am sure many already do: credit cards, bank cards, etc.

[Scottishmoney]

Spending cash makes one more likely to not spend it. Which is why it is so easy to use a credit card, even with the 2-4% cut the credit card companies get, merchants make much more from selling to customers paying by credit card. We are using cash for our Christmas gifts this year, when it is gone, the gifts are done.

[bill]

been there done that by candle light with a battery operated calculator and a tax chart.

 

Sigh. I once had to wait while a young cashier had to get a calculator to figure the 6% (was some years ago) sales tax on a $1.00 item. I kept telling her it was six cents. She couldn't fathom how I could be so sure without a calculator!

[superbeast1098]

Cash is going to be around for a while. There are roadside vendors who deal only in cash. Also, when people go into a night club nowadays, there is a cover charge, which is paid in cash.

 

Smaller buisinesses usually dont get credit card machines because of the cost. Even though it doesnt cost much though.......

[Capt-AWACS]

Tabbs can probably attest to this also but here in Germany very few places take credit cards. Some take the EC or Maestro but credit is rare. I have to walk around with a pimp wad when I want to buy things along with the 3 kilos of change in my pocket... at least the Dutch and Fins have done away with 1 and 2 euro cent coins... I used to live on my bank card in North and South America. Not so much in Europe.

 

Cash will always be around. There is too much of a black market that is in need of cash to do business. Besides, No one wants to put a piece of plastic in a G-string, so-to-speak.

 

Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,

Capt-AWACS, I do this to annoy people

[Scottishmoney]

Cash will always be around. There is too much of a black market that is in need of cash to do business. Besides, No one wants to put a piece of plastic in a G-string, so-to-speak.

 

Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,

Capt-AWACS, I do this to annoy people

 

 

They might take your credit card, but you won't get it back

[tabbs]

Tabbs can probably attest to this also but here in Germany very few places take credit cards. Some take the EC or Maestro but credit is rare.

Right, credit cards are not as common here as in the US. After all, pretty much everybody has an EC (Electronic Cash) card anyway, and EC payments are less expensive (for the stores) than credit card payments. Can't really think of many stores that would not accept EC though - except bakeries, newsstands and other places that primarily deal with small amounts per payment.

 

Of course it is normal here to carry cash (coins and notes) in a wallet, just like you carry a credit card, driver's license, etc. in a wallet. And apparently most people easily manage to not have kilos of coins in there.

 

Christian

[Vfox]

I for one will spend the cash until the stop accepting it. I love spending 50 cent coins and 2 dollar bills, completely legal tender, but man does it confuse people! I have a debit card, no credit cards, and I don't like to even use the debit card. I figure if I don't have the cash on me, I don't need it. Keeps me from buying a lot of junk I don't need.

 

It seems way too easy to spend $50.00 with a credit card, than prying a crisp 50 from your wallet! Good 'ol cash!

[Scottishmoney]

I wish I could find $2 bills, it has been months since I have gotten any from the bank, obviously they see me coming and hide them.

[Vfox]

I wish I could find $2 bills, it has been months since I have gotten any from the bank, obviously they see me coming and hide them.

 

 

Haha, yeah they did that with me and the new nickels, those punks! Actually I can get $2 bills fairly often, and 50 cent pieces are never in short supply.

[28Plain]

Hmmmmm, a world of commerce without cash.... well, it could happen. It might not even have much of an effect on collecting except for the range of the hobby which consists of acquiring new releases from various mints.

 

I suspect that there will always be a need for precious metal money. some areas of commerce cannot be converted to the use of electronic finance. There will always be people whose business cannot be done using an exchange medium which is totally accessible to the busybodies in government who presume to control all commerce and claim their undeserved share of it.

 

There, that should draw the ire of at least one devotee of statist slavery. ;-)

[Dan769]

And cash is good for those large purchases from a private individual, such as boats, vehicles and such. If I'm selling my car to some dude in Tampa, I don't want a check, gimme CASH!!

[just carl]

Cash as we know it will very soon be a thing of the past. Very soon some child will be askng parents what the words "cash", "money", "currency", etc means. The need for credit or debit cards will increase as cross country trading becomes greater and greater. Also, people traveling from country to country will soon appreciate the automatic conversions of different monitary systems which will also eventually be dismissed. Europe has started with the Euro stuff but it won't end there. The neccesity of one monitary system on Earth will soon enough be a requirement as international trading becomes so standard that everything will be based on one standard. Sort of like how we went from states having thier own coins to one US type currency. However, with electronic capabiities to assertain the value of merchandise from one country to another, currency of any kind will have to be eleminated. It will just not be practical to have our own system. Save your money now or visit in a museum soon.

Power failures will also be a thing of the past so that will not be of any concern in the near future. Even now most telephone companies do not use outside power for thier systems. Many organizations, government agencies and individual home owners have back up generators with an ATS system. For example not long ago we had a 36 hours power failure and about 25 % of the area still had power due to such generator systems. I was using mine to watch TV, lights on, refrigerator and freezer all working fine regardless of power failures.

I just wonder how gum ball machines will be rigged for a credit card.

[Vfox]

Power failures will also be a thing of the past so that will not be of any concern in the near future.

 

The power grid is being stressed more and more everyday for larger cities, hence brownouts. Sure you will still have your money information saved in the computers if the power goes out, but access to it will not be available. The only solution I can forsee, keeping with your generator comments, would be for every bank in the world to have it's own generator system....maybe someday that will happen, not for a long time though.

 

As for the one world currency, there are too many nations that cannot, and will not contribute to a system that is worldwide, it will just NEVER happen. North Korea and the US will become allies before that!

 

Just so many cultural and social problems, the only reason it works in Europe is because all the countries have similar government systems, and a high economic standing. Think about trying to get a nation like a former CCCP nation converted to the Euro system, their economies are just too poor to keep within the restrictions of having such monetary system.

 

I give the one world one currency theory maybe 200 years, then it might be able to happen. If it happens in my lifetime, then I'll be more than happy to eat crow.