A Nation of Numismatists

Tuesday, 12th May 2009

Well, sort of. There's a serious shortage of coins in Argentina at the moment, possibly because they're worth more, as commodities prices rise, when they're melted down and resold. Or it may have a different explanation. It's a mystery! Anyway...

The coin scarcity has created a strange predicament: Merchants regularly refuse to sell their goods or services if it means they’ll have to give coins back as change. For small transactions, they’d rather lose the revenue than spare the change.
Black markets have reportedly cropped up for the resale of coins at more than 7 percent above their face value. And starting in June in Buenos Aires, more than half of the 3,200 members of the Chamber of Chinese Supermarkets (ubiquitous small groceries run by immigrants from China, not markets of Chinese food) will start issuing their own special bonds as change for purchases, worth 10 percent more than the coins they would otherwise give customers. The move is expected to cost the groceries less than the 450 to 600 pesos ($120 to $160) they spend weekly buying coins on the black market, according to chamber estimates.

Poor, sweet, Argentina, perhaps the most melancholy country on earth and a place where everything is accompanied by a sigh wondering What Might Have Been. Justifiably so too, given that 100 years ago Argentina was richer than Canada. Now? Not so much.

[Via Marginal Revolution]

Filed under: Argentina (24 more articles)

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ndm

May 12th, 2009 6:50pm Report this comment

The US Mint released an interim rule in December 2006 forbidding the export of more more than $5 worth of one cent and five cent coins. Having more than $5 in small change in your pockets when you leave the country is punished by a fine of up to $10,000.

-- The regulations also prohibit the unlicensed exportation of these coins, except that travelers may take up to $5 in these coins out of the country, and individuals may ship up to $100 in these coins out of the country in any one shipment for legitimate coinage and numismatic purposes.

The reason is that:

-- We don't want to see our pennies and nickels melted down so a few individuals can take advantage of the American taxpayer. Replacing these coins would be an enormous cost to taxpayers.

dearieme

May 12th, 2009 8:48pm Report this comment

I learnt only recently that the reason for the old "truck" stores was the shortage of coin of the realm: employers issued their own coins and therefore had to supply a store that would accept them. That solves the mystery of the old claim that they were all a plot to do the workers down - an odd claim, since it would surely have been easier just to pay the workers less.