Have you ever wondered how much money is worth? I mean, the materials in it. Obviously, for paper money, the value printed on it is worth far more than the materials (except for possibly in Zimbabwe).
Some enterprising Indians have figured out the metal in rupee coins is worth much more than the coin’s declared value. Millions of coins are melted down and being created into stuff like razor blades. One guy claimed that the one rupee coin (about 2.5 US cents) was worth 35 rupees to him before the cops busted him for coin-melting.
The coin shortage is so acute in some areas, shopowners have resorted to measures like:
- Asking people to buy more to make the sale a round figure.
- Buying coins from beggars at a loss.
- Creating their own “currency” to be used at their shop.
The mint has responded by reducing the metal content of coinage, but it’ll take a while for them to catch up.
I was thinking that it’s crazy to tell people to buy more to round up. then I remembered the proposal to kill off the penny here in the US. Apparently they think the convenience of not having to give or receive pennies means that it’s ok to round up to the nearest 5 cents.
“scribbling drawings on cave walls” and “rare steaks”… looking better very day