Return of the $2 Bill Conspiracy

[kevin_standlee]

I like using $2 bills, especially at conventions. Actually, I think the USA should follow Canada and stop printing $1 bills, embrace the $1 coin, and use the $2 bill. (Yes, I know Canada dropped the $2 bill as well; one step at at time.) One of the reasons I use them at conventions is as an attempt to show that we're putting money into the hotel in a noticeable way. I use them primarily for tips, so as to spread it around.

But getting $2 bills can be a hassle sometimes. Yesterday, I went to the branch near my office and inquired about them. the teller said there were two bundles of $200 each in the vault if I'd like to buy an entire bundle. I agreed, and a few minutes later I was handed a brand new bundle of one hundred $2 bills.

This is a bit much, even for me, and even though Lisa will want some of them. If anyone wants to buy some of them off of me, particularly if you're planning to use them for Westercon expenses at-con, see me at BASFA or at the con and we'll deal.

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

It's the same sort of idea as the Silver Dollar Fair in Chico (where I attended college). Specifically, the 1950's section:

In 1950, it appeared that the fair was in trouble. The local merchants seemed unappreciative of the business generated by the fair and were apparently unwilling to support it as enthusiastically as before. W.H. “Old Hutch” Hutchinson was working as publicist for the fair that year. He hit upon a way to dramatize to the merchants the impact of the fair on their businesses. He ordered 50,000 silver dollars from the U.S. Mint, and all premiums and much of the fair’s business were transacted with these new coins. As the large, heavy coins filled their cash registers to overflowing, the merchants got the message.

Not that my little contribution will make much of a difference, but I can try. For ConJose, I sort of wanted to set our at-the-door price at $198 instead of $200 and give any cash payers $2 bills in change, and make an effort to flood the area with $2 bills. Nobody but me was ever enthusiastic about this idea, and as someone who has had to deal with odd change at Site Selection* I understand.

*In 1990 in The Hague, the voting fee was NLD48, USD22, and GBP18.50, all three of which drove us crazy, especially those people (logically enough) paying with a fifty-guilder note. I know that if I'd had anything to do with it, I would have set the fee at NLD50 even if the other two were unchanged, even if that did overcharge people slightly.