All my accumulating Swiss coins. I hate you...
but love the coin pouch (thanks, Jodi!)
Here is what I know:
- They are all too silver... I know US coins are also very silver, but... these are just way TOO silver. Too shiny.
- They are all too similar. I feel that US coins vary more - like with the States on the back of the quarter - that makes me happy. These all have the same pattern and same repetition. It makes my eyes hurt. Get creative Switzerland. You make your paper money colorful, what's up with the coins?
- Jace hates to use them. So we end up with buckets of coins around the house that we have to use up. Thank God there is no penny though... similar to Australia so I am over the fact that they are rounding up somewhere and ripping me off. Over that. Won't speak of it again. So thankfully no need for a huge penny jar. But I do wish that they didn't accumulate so much. I think it has to do with the fact that there are 1, 2 and 5 Franc coins and therefore there is always just so much coinage to go around... Hate their accumulatingness... know that is not a word. Hate that the coins force me to make up words.
I hate you most of all fifty rappen piece... ooh you irk me.
From bottom left to top right, 5 Rappen, 50 Rappen, 10 Rappen, 20
Rappen and 1 Franc/100 Rappen (Rappen are what cents are called in Switzerland)
From bottom left to top right, 5 Rappen, 50 Rappen, 10 Rappen, 20
Rappen and 1 Franc/100 Rappen (Rappen are what cents are called in Switzerland)
- I hate the fifty rappen coin. It is way too small for its own good. Now, I know that the dime is small, but this is like if we created a fifty cent piece and made it smaller than the penny. It just does not make sense. They get it right when it comes to the Franc sizes: 2 is bigger than 1 Franc and smaller than 5 francs. Makes sense... But with the fifties - I am continually finding them stuck around the house and cursing the minters for making such a valuable piece so freaking small. I HATE YOU MINTERS! Why do you punish us so?... I can't imagine the small fortunes I must leave behind in other people's car or on the bus. Just follow me around if you need some dough - just follow the trail of fifty cent pieces to find me.
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25 comments:
It's all a matter of getting used to them; I never mix up the swiss coins as do with the american coins just because I grew up with them... Plus the one dollar bill wins the annoyance level contest hands up ;-)
I agree with you, Jessica!
Daniele, Como IT
Bad day?? :(
LOL... Romy, actually, no. I have had these photos for awhile, just in case I did not have anything new to blog about, something to have in the wings, and today it just came out.
I actually thought about not posting it, but really... I hate them.
I try to be mostly positive on the blog, but I also want to be honest and I just cannot get used to Swiss coins. I am slow when it comes to counting them out and paying for things and I just all around despise them.
:)
There is a method behind the madness. The 5,2,1,1/2 pieces are all weight proportionate, so you could weigh a bucket and know how much value was in there. The 10c and 20c are also weight proportionate but not by the same scale as the others, and could get picked out of a pile with a strong magnet. The 5c are simply useless.
hehehe
What I do is I have two coin keepers (is that how you call it?) in my bag: one to the 5,2,1 and 1/2 pieces, and another one to the rest of them. All because I was too tired of spending ages trying to find a 1/2 piece among them all.
Carla!!! Now that is a good idea.
Very clever. Then of course the 50 rappen pieces are easy to find as they are the smallest... clever girl.... I might have to try that.
Oh and Carla, it's a coin pouch in my book. Or a coin purse... yes, probably coin purse.
i'm always getting the 10 and 50 rappen coins mixed up!
haha! Good post! But I find the coins here much easier to understand than the US coins. When I go to visit my sister in California, that's when I accumulate coins. When they get too much I give my purse to my sister to pay using my coins. But I also kind of 'forget' about the 50rappen in my purse. When we just got here we asked a waiter if this 1/2 fr is really equal to 50 rappen because it's so much smaller!
HA ! So funny. Ok, I'll tell you what I hate the most about Swiss coins.... I love the 5 franc piece, it's cool to have a coin for 5 whole francs. BUT - you spend more money way too easily. And voila, a few coins here, and you just spent CHF 20 ! Very dangerous. And I agree - it takes me forever to distinguish between the 10, 20 and 50 rappen pieces. The 5 rappen, that one can just go. ;)
I respectfully disagree. I like the Swiss coins - I find it less frustrating than all those one dollar bills in the U.S. I don't really have a problem telling them apart, but I hate all the 5 rappen coins that accumulate in a jar in the kitchen!
I love Swiss coins. I love the 5 franc piece, it's got a real heft to it.
MsMac: The 50 rappen piece is ridged around the edge, the 10 is not.
My goodness, what a bunch of whiners you are!!
:-)
I like the Swiss coins. Or rather, I'm neutral to them. But then, I like most things numismatic. My wallet has a coin section (what is the deal with silly US wallets that have no coin sections?!?!) and I use up all my coins. Even the 5 Rappen ones as I like to pay in exact amounts if I can. We have absolutely no stashes of coins around the apartment, which can be bad if we're all out of money and I want to grab a carton of cherries from the farmer's stand across the street. I speak from experience here.
So, when can we meet up so I can score some minted goodness off you??
(Oh, can I just insert another US coin gripe here? Why don't they have numbers on them? Quarter dollar, dime, nickel? What's with that?)
I adore the 50 Rappen piece exactly because it is so small and handy and doesn't weigh down the wallet. Here's a (positive) post about Swiss coins I wrote last year:
http://basedinvilligen.blogspot.com/2008/08/city-daily-photo-theme-day-metal.html
I have to admit, I do like the 50 rappen coin. When I first moved here, I couldn't believe that it was worth 1/2 a fr. Now, I am so excited to use them.
My husband has always hated having coins in his pocket, so at the end of the day when he empties his pockets, I "steal" the coins and put them in my wallet. Similar to how Carla organizes her coins, I have 2 separate coin sections in my wallet, so all the desirable coins (1s, 2s, 5s, and 1/2s) go in one section, and the undesirable ones (5r, 10r, 20r) go in the other section. I always try to pay with exact change.
Unfortunately, today I tried to pay for my CHF 17 train fare with all coins (one 5 fr coin, one 2 fr coin, and the rest in 20 rappen coins) and I got REJECTED! It turns out there is a LIMIT to how many coins you can put in the machine. It cut me off when I had only 3 francs to go!!!!
I think it is all a matter of what you grew up with.
I dislike the 10 and 50c pieces being too close in size.
There is only 4 common coins in the US... compare it to 7 here... it's more difficult just because there is more of them.
We never have enough coins! I have to collect the 20c and 1 pieces for laundry and the rest go to parking meters. We often have to spend our bills to get more coins! Opposite problem!
We have a huge coin stash, too. Who has ideas about how to get rid of it? Can we take them to the bank and make them change it into bills? Will they look at us funny or send us to the post office or charge us a huge service fee?
Couldn't agree more about the 50 cent piece. It confuses just about everyone with its size and the fact that it says 1/2.
Great post. I have one jar already and will probably add more. I am trying to be conscientious and use them, but then of course they are in the jar and not in my pocket...
If you want change your coins in your post office or your bank you will find little sheet of paper to make rolls of coins of 50 pieces each.(or 5.-, 10.-, 25.-, 50.-, 100.-, 250.- CHF)
I kind of hate the 50 rappen coins as well...I'm always getting them mixed up with the 10 rappen coins.
I get to the checkout and think I have enough change and after sorting through my coins for a while realize that I don't... :-/
It is always fun, though, to find them and have more money than you thought you did?
I really like that there aren't pennies and the 5 franc coins are great...I love being able to buy things with just coins.
Back in the states I NEVER used coins. I would periodically empty my wallet into a piggy bank and when it got full take it to the bank. Last time I did that I got over $70, which was actually pretty cool. :-)
Too bad there isn't coin star machines here!!!
Whenever I go to a foreign country I have a hard time getting used to their coins.
I don't really get why the accumulatingness is a problem though. Don't most banks have machines where you can put in coins and than get whatever amount it is transfered to your account? The ZKB I go to certainly has one.
I lived in Zurich from 1999 - 2003. Placed all coins in big jar at end of day. When I left I had 18,000 SFR's.
-B
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