h a l f b a k e r y"More like a cross between an onion, a golf ball, and a roman multi-tiered arched aquaduct."
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Prompted by "Carbon Steel Pennies" (qv).
Why not make all coins useful, in
addition
to their monetary role?
Under the new system, coins will be
made
with lenticular glass centrepieces. Start
with the two-pound coin, which currently
has a silvery centre set in a brassy ring;
replace
the centre part with a lens of,
say,
+1 dioptre. Other coins will need more
radical modifications, but ultimately each
coin will bear a glass lens set in an outer
ring - the ring, of course, will carry the
essential information such as year and
denomination, whilst the middle glass
part
remains unsullied (at least until stratched
in use).
Ideally, the lens should not be thicker
than the rim. For concave lenses, this is
no problem. For convex lenses, the
periphery of the lens will be slimmer
than the rim of the coin, whilst the centre
will bulge out to become the same
thickness as the rim of the coin.
With a two-pound coin and a 10p piece
held at the right distance, you now have
an improvised but effective telescope. A
5p piece and two 20p's can be used to
construct a makeshift microscope. And
for the hard of seeing, either the 50p
piece or the 2p coin will serve as an
emergency monocle, depending on your
prescription.
Prompted by
Carbon_20Steel_20Penny
[MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 04 2007]
Shameless self-promotion
Penny_20protractors
This idea fits in well. [fridge duck, Oct 04 2007]
British coppers
http://news.bbc.co....usiness/4766897.stm
[fridge duck, Oct 04 2007]
New currency for space travellers - Looks like they might be able to magnify with these.
http://news.bbc.co....usiness/7029564.stm
Ningies / Triganic PUs, anyone? [Dub, Oct 07 2007]
[link]
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Yo Fridge Duck! I am stunned - I actually
started writing this idea by suggesting a
variety of coin-based gadgets (bottle
opener, magnifier, wire-stripper) and
including, bizarre of bizarres, a protractor.
But then I figured enough was too much of
a good thing. So, all respect to you. Are
you on the same medication as me? |
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Thing 1: Use polycarbonate or something other than glass - less scratchability, less shatterability.
Thing 2: The coin would be far more expensive to make than its face value, which sort of defeats the purpose of money (although I think this is already the case for some coins/countries). |
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//Are you on the same medication as me?// Toothy Gus' reliable tincture? |
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Also, //Thing 2: The coin would be far more expensive to make than its face value, which sort of defeats the purpose of money (although I think this is already the case for some coins/countries).// With regards to that, have a looksee at the new link. |
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Glass is more scratch-proof than polycarbonate, less shatterproof. In general. |
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With a little sunlight and a scrap of paper you'd have money to burn with. |
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I was going to make a joke about burning a hole in your wallet/pocket, but I decided it would be far too corny... |
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Yes, you'd make a spectacle of yourself. |
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////Are you on the same medication as
me?// Toothy Gus' reliable tincture? // |
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That's the one! I find it stings during
injection but it certainly wakes one up. |
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//The coin would be far more expensive
to make than its face value// True
probably for the smallest
denominations, but probably not true
for anything from 10p upward. And in
any case, this only really becomes an
issue if the metal content is worth more
than the face value (prompting people
to melt coins down - as per
FridgeDuck's link). |
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