Today I was doing some cleaning in my home in the San Diego when I came across a large bag of change containing U.S. coins. “Alright!” I exclaimed, then I sat down to count the money I’d discovered, but to my chagrin it came to less than $10. In Japan when you have a large bag of coins, you have some real money, thanks to the 100 and 500 yen coins (roughly corresponding to $1 and $5), which enable someone with a pocketful of change to buy pretty much anything they might need. Although the idea is not a popular one, I hope that America can start taking its iconic $1 bill out of circulation in favor of those awesome dollar coins they have these days, which make you want to start storing your money in treasure chests. Coins can be used for thirty years or more, compared to less than two for paper bills, and making the switch to $1 coins would save the U.S. government half a billion dollars a year. And after the conversion is done, having some coins in your pocket will mean you’ll be able to buy lunch.
If you have a pocketful of yen, you have a lot of money.
