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Out of curiosity... why were they discontinued?
Jeremy Falcon
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Because they ripped holes in people's pockets and they were too heavy to carry around for long. Could you imagine carrying around 100 pounds to go shopping? 
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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Cost. The price of printing the note was exceeding the value of the note itself!
(It's all special papers, special inks, hugely expensive printing plates and presses, serializing, etc., etc.)
Coins are cheaper to produce.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I don't think it's the cost. Banknotes are relatively cheap to produce (smaller nominal values can have less fancy protection).
I think it's more likely due to the inflation. Less valuable coins became more useless and they needed something to throw into parking and vending machines.
Actually, I have no clue and I think I have never pound in my hands ever, but it's a fun thread.
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Can imagine the shear volume of coins that must collect from it.
Jeremy Falcon
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Coins last much longer though. Fishing around for some reference numbers: A US 1 dollar bill costs 6 cents to make and lasts about 21 months[^]. That's about the same as the metal cost for the old pound coint[^]. The minting process will add to that total, but unless it adds a lot a coin that lasts for a few decades will still be cheaper overall than a stack of bills that die last mayflies.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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They keep on saying the same thing about pennies over here. It cost more than a penny to make a penny. 
Jeremy Falcon
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No idea. All the news from back then that I can find only mentions that it is happening, not why. There's one article that calls the coins "longer lasting" but they're just randomly throwing some adjectives and adverbs around, not actually saying that's the reason for switching back to a coin.
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Ok, thanks for the heads up. Seems like they'd get heavy adding up in your pocket though.
Jeremy Falcon
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i am an expat, I recall the pound note being taken out of circulation in the early nineties!
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Out of curiosity... why were they taken out?
Jeremy Falcon
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the development of the 1 pound coin. For a Bank coins are cheaper to maintain than notes, as they have a much longer life span!
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The only reason the same didn't happen in the US was that the Susan B Anthony dollar coin was a flop (too easy to mistake for a quarter); and then vending machine makers figured out how to make a cheap scanner that could tell real bills from mass market grade counterfeits before the hangover from the former debacle made another serious attempt politically viable. Once they had a bill slot available they stopped agitating for a dollar coin; and since they were the main advocate in the US at the time...
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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That actually makes a lot of sense. So I'm starting to wonder if the 1 notes will ever make a comeback in the future... I mean before we drop paper altogether.
Jeremy Falcon
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I doubt it. Coins are more cost effective for the national banks/mints. If anything, I'd expect to see higher denomination coins slowly eroding the supply of bills from below to encourage people to use cards or other traceable forms of electronic payment instead.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I have a feeling you might be right. Crazy to think that in future generations paper money will seem so antiquated to folks.
Jeremy Falcon
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They'll probably feel the same about coins. And credit/bank cards for that matter. IMO the only real question is if some sort of physical token (eg a smartphone or whatever replaces them) will still be used or if the system will go fully biometric.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I don't have anything to really go off of, but I'm willing to bet the entire physical nature of it will just go away. So, I'd lean towards biometric, etc. I mean hell, we're even doing that with other things like roller coasters already. Can't go and have a real one, that's scary, they gotta be virtual now.
Jeremy Falcon
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I still have the last one pound note that I owned. No idea why I kept it. I also have some groats, farthings, threepenny bits, sixpences, florins, half-crowns, crowns, guineas, ten-bob notes and various other old currency.
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Maybe in 100 years it might be worth something if you keep it. You never know.
Jeremy Falcon
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Whilst I plan on being here in 100 years I'm pretty sure it'll still be a nice to look at collection but not worth very much.
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Indeed: Age != value
They made a whole lot of 'em! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Then give it a million years. At some point... eventually man. You just gotta hang in there.
Jeremy Falcon
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Ah, real money that actually had some value. I remember going out for an evening with only a ten shilling note and a few coins in my pocket. Never had anything left for the bus home though.
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