I just saw this video on YouTube about the new MintChip released by the Royal Canadian Mint. It is promoting a cashless society in Canada and will eliminate the use of coins. Thus, what will happen to all these coins we're all collecting and the value of these coins then? Will the interest in coin collecting decrease with the introduction of a cashless society? Will the value of our coins go up or down? What do you all think? I'm curious to hear everyone's opinion.
Here's the link for the video (the part about the MintChip is around 3 minutes into the video, but you can watch the whole video if you like to see the dangers of having a cashless society):
LOL "no will be able to work under the table and not pay tax." "government will be able to turn off your money if you protest " some people worry to much. I see nothing wrong with one world order where everyone is equal. money, technology and information are so powerful they will unite the whole world eventually and I think the sooner the better. I know people in Asia, Africa and Mexico 2nd and 3rd world country's who live in concrete brick homes with dirt floors with no proper infrastructure for power, water, gas or sewer but they ALL have cell phones and internet, the only thing holding them back right now is a lack of proper currency and a corrupt government, I think if they had access to the mint chip system or something like that it would be a huge step in the right direction for human rights and equality. And as far as paying tax..... I hate it as much as anyone but I do love the country that we built and run with them. end of rant by the way I love conspiracy nuts
falcon - You bring up a good point about access to currency and corruption.
I once worked in a retail business and I can testify that owners preferred electronic payments BY FAR because less hassle, counting, errors, manipulating and the risk - but one reason they liked a little cash well... was easier for them to skim the cash register. Not that they took much maybe 1 or 2% not to raise suspicion. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of merchants skim some cash. It's easier than inventory. I guess this is their way of "getting even" with the government's high income tax rates. I think the governments very well know about this, but keep their eyes wide shut. After all, merchants are the ones collecting tax money for them...
Sure we have moved more towards electronic transactions but I for one use 99% cash. There is no substitute for cash it is still the most secure and convenient form of payment. I don't even own an "Oyster card" used to travel instead preferring the old method of buying a ticket (I don't want big brother knowing exactly where I have been and when and I am not even a criminal!)
I don't think a cashless society would be tolerated by anyone in this day and age, black markets disappearing and the inability to individually trade amongst ourselves/lend each other money/give Tips and other functions of money disappearing is a loss of freedom. If you own a business account banks charge for handling cash and prefer all business to be done electronically saving on wages because it can be done without interacting with a human, but I think we all agree it is not progress and most people still prefer to interact with a human being.
I don't think that the Christians in America would suffer a cashless society either because it is one step towards "the mark of the beast" (Not my personal belief but many would revolt with that belief)
"I see nothing wrong with one world order where everyone is equal."
I don't think anyone would object to that but realistically it is never going to happen (not at least in the lifetime of our great x 10 grandchildren.) There is plenty of corruption in the world and it is probably naive to believe we can all be equal. We live in a consumerist world where things are designed to break and cost to replace, thus our society is not efficient in terms of energy and production and until we become efficient there will always be those who have and those who have not. Even if they changed to a resource based system where all people had equality of finance we still wouldn't be equal... some would be clever and some stupid, some attractive and some unattractive, some well and some unwell... there is always a reason for one man to be jealous of another,
David, I'm 180 degree in the opposite direction; I use less than 1% cash. Your vision is certainly opposed to mine but I respect that. One thing we can't argue is the world-wide trend towards electronic forms of payment. Whether good or bad, the need for bills/coins will likely go down.
And to answer the OP, I can only presume that if less people use coins, then the interest will diminish over time. Old-timers like me and baby boomers won't be around forever. If my own kids interest in coins are a measure of what is to come, we collectors are in for a rough ride.
I already use so little cash that I have to ask around just to keep my circulation collection up to date; in fact, I think I already fell behind. I am glad the Mint makes their special circulation coins available at cost with free shipping. As long as people like collecting gold and silver, coin collecting will always exist. Circulation coins may lose some interest, but bullion based collections will still thrive.
When I was in retail we discouraged the use of cards for small transactions (switch at that time was making a fee on each transaction and visa a small percentage)
I always found it amazing that people would try and buy something like a mcdonalds with a credit card, I would be embarrassed to do that and would find it an inconvenience having to enter pin and wait for it to go through.
Larger purchases definately there are advantages (credit cards insure you on your purchase/if you are a woman it might be unsettling to walk round with large amounts of notes) but for smaller purchases I think cash is king.
Culturally though maybe it is different over there. Many countries have accepted the introduction of ID cards but here in Britain there has been flat refusal by the public to accept such a thing.
@canadian_coins: I see your point. I hope that maybe the recent interest in silver and gold will get some of the younger generations to look at coins as one of the ways to invest in silver/gold. I'm actually from one of the younger generations and my interest in coins didn't come from my parents (one of them is a coin collector). My interest came from when I was looking at different ways to have a collection of silver and gold.
I'm hoping that the value and interest in coins will remain around the same. We have $1 and $2 bills that were removed awhile ago and there is still interest in collecting them. There are also ancient Greek and Roman coins, which are no longer in use...but there's still interest in them. Thus, I'm hoping that all of the work/money we've put into our coin collections will still be worth it if we do enter into a "cashless" society soon.
Cash was the only thing that worked around the mid-atlantic coast of the USA last week. Power was knocked out for many, and comms were knocked out for most. ATMs didn't work either. How would this be handled if we go to an all e-money scenario?
@jcz1 Very good point. I charge everything I can to my credit card to get the rewards but I always have a couple of twenties tucked in my wallet and a couple of hundred in cash kicking around the house just in case. There would have to be billions invested in infrastructure upgrades to provide the virtually 100% reliability required to make a full transition.
Quote: Cash was the only thing that worked around the mid-atlantic coast of the USA last week. Power was knocked out for many, and comms were knocked out for most. ATMs didn't work either. How would this be handled if we go to an all e-money scenario?
The same argument was used when homes started going all electric. Apocalyptic scenarios would affect everything, not just the flow of money... and even if you were among the very few to have cash on hand, it would be worthless. Better to keep extra food, wood and guns.
And as described, ATMs didn't work - so people couldn't get to their cash anyway. But I bet people could still pay with their cell phones where merchants have the infrastructure.
lets think worse case scenario, the aftermath of a global viral pandemic, nuclear war or a Zombie Apocalypse. In each case we will probably revert to a more primal civilization where the ability to barter and trade will be most important. Also I feel bullets will be more valuable than gold coins.
In the mean time, while all is good, electronic money will become the norm. Any disturbance to the system will most likely be short and have little effect on people reliance on this form of money. As long as people continue to put their faith in gold and silver, electronic money will simply be a convince. The day we put our faith totally in the electronic transfer of money is the day we a totally screwed as a society.
Quote: The day we put our faith totally in the electronic transfer of money is the day we a totally screwed as a society.
Let's talk candidly for a minute. Let's not pay too much attention on this apocalyptic video from a kid barely out of school and who probably doesn't even have a steady job yet. Yes, RFID tags are becoming widely used and may be a concern to some extent i.e. if used to track people instead of merchandise. How many of you use a badge system at work? Clocking in/out for lunch break etc. Employers can track your every move within the building. This is nothing new.
Back to cash...
When was the last time you received your salary in cash? Taking all your assets, how much of it is in cash? I bet the vast majority of your "money" is in the form of 401K, RRSP, CD, Annuities, etc. Major purchases like a home or a business are be done electronically. Thank god. Not in cold hard cash.
I really don't understand when people say that cash transactions are safest. Or maybe I have a different notion of risk. Certainly for me, traveling here or abroad with any significant amount of cash is out of the question. My wallet was stolen once in Florida and I recovered every e-pennies - but not my cash.
I'd rather have my identity stolen and recover through my bank or insurance, rather than be mugged or killed at the ATM.
I think society can also be screwed because of cash, by being a vehicle for illicit activities, underground commerce and what not.
I believe for the most part all of our coin collections will continue to have value in the future, it wont matter if we have a cash or cashless system. Our coins will be collected as art and as bullion. I imagine in a few hundred years there will be a lot less collectors as a percentage but the population will be larger. I think their collections will be very large and amazing, all the more reason to dump anything you have in the lower grades and only collect the better grades. It surprises me how easy it is to obtain almost any Canadian coin I want in higher grades, I think in the near future it will get a lot harder.
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Posted 07/07/2012 5:43 pm
