h a l f b a k e r yWhy not imagine it in a way that works?
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I don't know about you guys, but I've heard talk of changing all the currency, at least in the U.S., to coins. Instead of 1's, 5's, 20's, 50's, etc. in paper bills, they would be metal coins. The reasons behind this as far as I know are metal lasts longer than paper, is generally harder to steal because
it weighs more, and cant be counterfeited as easily because it has certain engravings.
My idea is to manufacture these coins with a bit of radioactive substances, just enough to be noticed by a radio-active detector. At every store, the cash register would be equipped with one of these detectors, just as it would a credit card scanner, or paypal account thingy. When you buy your things with your coins, they would just pass them by the detector to make sure they're legit. This would make it very difficult for people to counterfeit money.
UPDATE: For those who would prefer not to contract cancer from their pennies, special lead lined wallets and purses could be manufactured.
Scan of article
http://img.photobuc...dan/counterfeit.jpg
Electronic Design, 1995 October 2, page 8 - which is a reprint from Electronic Design, 1955 October 1955, page 14. [neelandan, Dec 04 2008]
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Bank tellers would *love* this idea! |
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So, which isotope did you have in mind? |
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The problem is one of statistics. You need to be able to
detect the coin's radioactivity against natural background.
Suppose you want to spend no more than half a second
measuring the coin's activity. In that case, the coin has to
emit enough radiation to give a statistically significant
higher count than background. |
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I'm quite comfortable with radiation, but even I wouldn't
really want much of this loose change in my jeans pocket. |
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Criminals wouldn't be able to fake this too? please. |
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Hmmm, what if radioactivity determined value? Then using an isotope with a short half-life would mean use it or lose it. |
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Luminous tritium microspheres. They're used in some applications to replace the old radium luminous paint. Half-life of 12-some odd years; you could determine the age of a coin or bill by its year-mark or serial number, then cross-check by the brightness of the marks (which decays along with the radiation). Then you could give those U.S. Presidents little beady red glowing eyes... |
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A plot idea along these lines but in reverse appears in William Gibson's latest novel, 'Spook Country', where some people fire small amounts of a radioactive substance into a shipping container filled with stolen money, so that the criminals would be unable to launder the money. |
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And the mechansim of the half-life of the chosen isotope could automatically take into account inflation [+] |
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Using a large quantity of a short-lived isotope could give a wholenew meaning to the term "hot money" .... [+] |
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This would be a good way to get rid of nuclear waste. Embed a tiny amount in each coin. That way, collecting a quantity that was actually dangerous would be extremely expensive ... |
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Circa 1971, the author Larry Niven published this as an idea under the title "Another modest proposal." |
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Benefits included a solution to the disposal of radioactive waste, the assurance of keeping money in circulation, making hoarding cash more difficult, making counterfeit money easier to detect, making beach combing for money easier, bringing back the ever popular lead codpiece, etc. etc. |
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Due to the fact that I've mentioned the Larry Niven piece before on the H.B, I suspect this idea has been done before, and probably recieved a M-F-D for something, thus paving the way for this idea. |
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Maybe my children will have smaller ears if I carry my money in the front pockets. |
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Smaller, but more numerous. |
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I remember reading this same idea somewhere long ago. Printed in a magazine. <edit> scanned, photobucketed, and linked <link>. |
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Hey! be nice to El Dueno. He's certainly no more idiosyncratic than the vast majority of us. |
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Enter: The lead piggy bank. |
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Would you guys stop it already? |
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El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer |
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