The problem with dollar coins

To incentivize the switch to dollar coins, the U.S. Mint allowed the general public to purchase them at face value. As a result, customers charged thousands of dollars worth of coins to their credit cards, earning free miles, and then used their coins to pay off the balance, banking free trips around the world. #travel #money #creditcard #unintendedconsequences

[chuck_duck]

The best part of this is that the government didn’t mind people taking advantage of free shipping, but they didn’t like people immediately depositing into banks, because that took the coins immediately out of circulation. The whole point was to put coins in circulation, which failed spectacularly.

[Boethius]

Damn I feel stupid for not getting in on that.

[ThePhantom]

Damn, I wish I had spent 2008 doing this instead of being 10.

[HopperYTRealChannel]

There seems to have been many major events in 2008 with lots of money glitches

[xConceptz]

The problem?? Strippers don’t take kindly to having dollar coins thrown at them

[djm]

People will start using US dollar coins...when the US *stops producing dollar bills!*

[Nathan-endn]

I bet the credit card company was very happy to charge the mint the 2% fee to use the card. They didn't even care about the miles.

[jordanmcgrory]

The point of the coins is that they're so much more durable so cheaper in the long run for the government to circulate. The Fed's stats suggest a dollar bill will last on average 7 years. The equivalent statistic for the UK £1 coin is 40 years.

[quartz]

It's nice to know how many straight up infinite money glitches were found, abused, and patched out while I was busy being 11.

[criley]

The funny part is people trying to sell these coins as gold collectibles.

They're worth one dollar.

[felixsmdt]

One thing missing here is that the government wanted to encourage people to switch to dollar coins because they are cheaper. Not initially but since they last much much much longer than bills they save taxpayers money in the long run. That’s also why most other countries don’t make banknotes equivalent to $1.

Why they went for such a stupid approach is beyond me, they could’ve just stopped making $1 bills and phase them out by not printing new ones, like any other country did.

[Gtoonm]

For anyone wondering what happened to those coins. They sent them to other countries that use the US dollar. In Ecuador, one of the countries where the US dollar is the official currency, coins replaced bills years ago. And to this day it is still getting new ones from the US mint.

[firesturmgaming]

Basically, they were using borrowed money (that what the money in your credit card essentially is for those who don't know) to buy actual money so they could use the actual money to pay for the borrowed money.

[mikea]

My dad did this. Made bank. He was one of the lucky few who got capped at only 1, 000 coins per ten days. Still got the government letter framed above his desk. This shit paid for my collage and disney trips for the family. All started with maxing out a 10k credit card...

[kvstxr]

2008 The Year when Financial Crysis Hit
Also 2008: Money hack exploit found

[twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

My dad collected these. He still has a big jar with about $2000 in it. One time when he wasn't around I poured the jar out over myself hahaha. I probably lost about $200 under the couch.

[hlavco]

A family member of mine ran a business and would stock up on dollar coins to give as change. He knew people didn't want to carry them around, and so they would often spend them on other things before leaving.

[morganrose]

If only I had a bank account and a credit card at 8 years old

[pvkk]

Would somebody please think of the strippers.
Making it rain with coins could be a health hazard.

[oddsketch]

Me; knows this trick in 2008.
Also me; Fresh out of high school and having no credit.