My two cents

[ForresterModern]

You guys have it all wrong.

It is the 15% VAT (value added tax) that has to be rounded up in order to collect it. The first guys comments (a penny for your thoughts) are taxed and rounded up so the next guy has to "put in his two cents."

The government has to get its cut.

Wait a minute. That doesn't work if the guy with the first thought penny is in the UK or EU and the second guy is in the US because that transaction should be VAT free, right?

[ccga3359]

Wait a minute. That doesn't work if the guy with the first thought penny is in the UK or EU and the second guy is in the US because that transaction should be VAT free, right?

Fortunately the gov't invented duty for just such a quandry?

[Bugbear]

Then maybe it is a Canadian nickle. On the reverse is our national fish - the beaver. If this is the case then it is worth exactly $.0000987 US approximately. It's funny I was down in Buffalo the week before last. the first time in the States for me for 20 years. Coming back to Canada there is a toll on the bridge. It's fixed at $3.25 US currency or $3.75 Cdn. I was in what currency I was paying as I was handing her the money. Both I replied 3 American $1 dollar bills and a Canadian Quarter! She would accept it unless I had 25 cents in US coins (my tax dollars at work, Yippee). I had to route around in my Coffee funds to pay in Canadian (had no US coins) for the equivilence of 4 cents Canadian .



Slang for 1 cent here in Canada is a penny, what is it in the States?

Ya, it's a Canadian nickle. It was the date on the coin and who gave it to me that was important to me.

I have a bunch of other coins from other countries too. I know my mother brought back some coins from Ireland, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few British coins in that pile. That would have been in the late nineties.

I'm way, way out of the coin investing and collecting now, so there's nothing too interesting in my stack.

[piperdbh]

Does the expression "a penny for your thoughts" imply that someone's thoughts are worth only $0.01? I know several folks whom I would gladly pay the penny if they would keep their thoughts to themselves. My 9th graders, for instance...

[ccga3359]

The other is an old copper British coin with has George V on it, if I remember correctly. That one is from around the turn of last century, and has little to no value because someone polished it at one time. It isn't in very good shape and probably doesn't matter anyway.

So, those are my thoughts... I really don't need a penny for them.

The copper George V coin might be a penny, if so, from what I recall it's about an 1-1/4". That could make an interesting kilt pin (if one can do so without defacing it .

It's been a number of years since i've handled British money but through this thread I discovered that new designs have been minted as of 2008. I quite like the new design:



But what happened to 1/2p?

[Bugbear]

That sounds like about the size of it. It's much larger than an American penny, and probably solid copper. As I said, it had been pollished at some point, but is quite worn.

I do have several American 1943 steel pennies. I also have a whole bunch of the old solid copper pennies with the wheat on the back.

[Colonel MacNeal]

Now up to larger denominations. Is it permissable in polite society to say "quid"? (as in that bottle costs 5 quid)

Or is saying "quid" terribly lower class? Being a former resident of old Blighty, I can't remember ever hearing a Toff say "quid" except in the latin "quid pro quo."

[raibeart_dubh]

An often used expression here on XMarks. Now if one asks "a penny for your thoughts" and the responder gives "his two cents" what the $@*#!! happens to the other penny? Is Hank secretly making a profit on every opinion ofeered here on this forum?

I think the other penny goes to FedEx for customs charges

[Bugbear]

There is an Amarican large penny in the rare and collectable coin realm that is very, very rare, and valuable. I don't think most thoughts are worth that much.

[Pleater]

Now up to larger denominations. Is it permissable in polite society to say "quid"? (as in that bottle costs 5 quid)

Or is saying "quid" terribly lower class? Being a former resident of old Blighty, I can't remember ever hearing a Toff say "quid" except in the latin "quid pro quo."

These days you can say 'We'll be quids in.' in any company - though just at the moment many companies and individuals aren't, so it may not be a useful phrase.

Referring to actual prices at point of sale is not so universal - though at a market or boot sale 'Five quid! Never! I'll give you three.' is a pretty standard repost.

Anne the Pleater