-> Down here in NZ,  we're in the throes of changing coinage - from  
-> large, metal-hungry coins to smaller, lighter effects manufactured  
-> for us by the Canadian Mint. 
 
-> Confusion reigns because the new 50c coin is sized in white metal  
-> similar to the old 20c effort,  while the new 10c looks like a  
-> very old copper 2c piece.  Our 5c `sixpenny' has been done away  
-> with altogether,  causing all retail prices to be rounded off in  
-> cash transactions to the nearest 10c. 
 
-> Needless to say, cries of anger, confusion and conspiracy create a  
-> new dawn chorus for the talkback and correspondence enthusiasts. 
 
-> And that could well be inflamed should your coincidences start  
-> appearing down here... 
 
-> Miles. 
  
Whenever I visit Britain I get thoroughly confused by the coinage, 
which bears no resemblance to the coins I remember from some 35 years 
ago, when I lived there. To make matters worse, there are regional 
differences. In Scotland, they use tiny scraps of paper as "pound 
notes". (In England, they use a pound, and two-pound coins.) In 
Northern Ireland, they also use paper notes, but they are issued by the 
banks, so there are several different pound notes, produced by 
different banks. Legally, this is all one kind of money - "sterling" - 
but if you carry any of the regional stuff to another part of the 
country, you can have a lot of difficulty trying to spend it, or even 
to change it at a bank. 
  
In Southern Ireland (which includes the northernmost point of the 
island) they use euros. Carry those across the border (which is 
undefended, unmarked, and virtually invisible) and you might as well 
forget trying to use them. 
  
Money is all an illusion anyway. 
  
                       dow 
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