bill Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Maybe this is old news, but it was new to me. I will admit its been a few years since I was in Las Vegas, but only about a year since I was in Reno. I've always saved my quarters for the slots and enjoyed the drop of a dollar into the catch tray (even if they were tokens). I just returned from Vegas. No dollar tokens and very few machines had coin slots to take coins. On, they welcome paper bills and the machines absolutely refuse to pay them back out. Instead, they print a ticket that can be used in other machines or exchanged for paper money. When you cash out, the machine produces a sound effect of coins dropping into the catch basin while your ticket prints. I can understand the economics of eliminating coins (you can lose money much faster punching buttons), but still...... Are we seeing the end of coins as we know them in favor of electronic means of exchange? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 In Louisiana most casinos have been doing the same. At first I was not real thrilled about it either. But it does keep the waiting down on refilling machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stujoe Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I was up north US not too long ago and played a few slot machines, they all used coins or tokens but had the ability to accept bills in payment and little debit type cards for both putting money in and getting money out. Some of them did pay out in tickets too. I am not much of a slot machine player but I like to put coins in and get coins out. I suspect that they will go away, though, eventually in all places where they can be eliminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I think there was an article on this in one of the coin publications 2-3 years ago. It's pretty sad, since it's just not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I wonder if the public in general is even aware of this change taking place. I'd have to guess that most people don't really care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I'm surprised at ya'll. Just think of the poor coins being dinged, damaged, and generally abused. Free The Coins!!!!! Free The Coins!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 "The End of Coins" in most public payphones did not mean the end of coins in general either. So I am not quite that pessimistic. But sure, fewer and fewer coins will actually be needed, particularly in countries like the US. Here in DE we are still a little more cash oriented ... Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stujoe Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I tend to agree that coins will not go away quite yet. Heck, the US Mint keeps making huge numbers every year. I don't think they can all be going to collectors and sock drawers. A lot of stuff is going electronic here, though. And I think that will eventually have a huge effect on the number of coins needed. It won't be overnight but I think it is almost inevitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtryka Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 When I was a stock analyst, I covered a company called Transact Technologies, and they produced the printers for these types of slots. The transition has been going on for at least 6 years, and in fact most slots outside of Vegas had been transformed a long time ago. Vegas was/is the last place to adopt them as I guess there is more tradition there and a desire to maintain the old ways of doing things (where else would you see impersonators hired to do shows from entertainers that died more than 20 years ago?). The tickets are pretty interesting in that they are ususlly the size of a dollar bill so can go in the same slot as the paper money. Of course for coin collectors, there are no fun nickels or halves to rummage through, but even the tickets may be short lived as I can see a day when you use your room key or other card to merely record your winnings or losings electronically, saving the coins and the paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stujoe Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I took a trip through a modern casino in Minnesota last year and they indeed had debit type cards that people could use to pay out and receive back. They also had tickets. A lot of machines did still have actual coins but I don't think a single machine was coin only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpnyc Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I was in San Juan over the weekend and the casino was set up the same way, no coins. The slots simulated the sound of coins hitting the pay-out tray. Way cheezy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 "The End of Coins" in most public payphones did not mean the end of coins in general either. So I am not quite that pessimistic. But sure, fewer and fewer coins will actually be needed, particularly in countries like the US. Here in DE we are still a little more cash oriented ... Christian I found when I was in DE that I often had to buy cards etc to use the phone and for small things that normally in my country require coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I found when I was in DE that I often had to buy cards etc to use the phone and for small things that normally in my country require coins. Depends - there are about 120,000 public payphones in Germany, and roughly half of them accept coins. The others either work with cards only, or can just be used for 0800 numbers (no slot). As fas as I know, the number of "cards only" phones used to be higher a few years ago, but that has changed. Due to cell phones, public payphones are not used much any more - but those who do use them are often tourists/travelers who may well have euro cash but not a country/telco specific phone card. Same thing with electronic wallets, by the way: I can use mine (got a fresh one a couple of weeks ago) in Germany but not in any other euro country. The cash, however, "works" just fine no matter whether I am in Cologne or Amsterdam. Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sisu Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 For Finland I think it is the opposite. Coin operated slot machines are everywhere (supermarkets, gas stations, kiosks, restaurants, etc.) and they only accept coins and banknotes. If it was not for all those machines, I think the Mint here would be producing far less coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffibunny Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I took a trip through a modern casino in Minnesota last year and they indeed had debit type cards that people could use to pay out and receive back. They also had tickets. A lot of machines did still have actual coins but I don't think a single machine was coin only. No, I don't think there are any that are coin only anymore, but they all still take coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabbs Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 How come you guys have been to so many casinos? Gamblers, y'all? Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 How come you guys have been to so many casinos? Gamblers, y'all? Christian I just go for the drinks. BTW anyone like the casino strikes? And would they fit in on Omnicoin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 How come you guys have been to so many casinos? Gamblers, y'all? Christian I am too cheap to gamble, but my wife likes to play about $20, in nickels. Several years ago we got a very well worn Buffalo in a payout. Must have been a lucky nickel that didn't bring luck to it's previous owner, but only to me who kept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I grew up in Reno, Nevada, and I can remember when I was a kid having my parents comming home from a night out and they would have Morgans and Peace dollars from slots, and I can remember seeing them in the slot machine windows that they used to have. This was back in the 70's, and they were still fairly common then. I was too young to gamble then, but back then the better restaurants then were in the casinos, so I spent some time in them waiting for the restaurants to seat us. Of course, those Morgans and Peace dollars my parents had are gone now - likely spent by my older brother! They soon went to all Ikes and then to some Ikes and some Tokens, and then all Tokens just before I moved. Anyway, I was back home visiting a couple years ago and we went to Virginia City - an Old West town. Inside the Bucket Of Blood Saloon there were two of those old style machines with Peace Dollars in them. My sister and I decided to try and after five bucks, I got one! Cleaned and worn, but not too bad! I still keep that one mainly for the nostalgia of it. The casinos now seem to have all the bells and ding-ding-dings, and new computer noises, but there is nothing like the Clack-Clack-Clack of Ikes and Ching-Ching-Ching sound of those coins hitting the payout tray and taking the loot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 All was not entirely lost. I did manage to roll out an elongated cent at the M&M's candy store. My wife claimed that piece (probably because she had the 1981 shiny penny in her purse and I chose the leggy, sexy Ms. M&M die. Suppose I could submit it to the Nekkid Lady thread!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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