[tmtvl]

> absence of €1 and €2 banknotes

The US style? I much prefer the Japanese style instead (where €5 would be a coin instead of a note). When our largest coin is too small to buy a drink at a vending machine we've got a problem. ATMs don't turn over €5 notes anyway, so their existence is painfully awkward.

[krick]

Why, though? I'd much prefer not to carry any coins at all, ever since I gave up and stopped fighting the Big Brother (I applaud everyone who still does, but it just didn't seem like my struggle was productive). I mean, to think of it, coins never were very nice to use, I just wasn't bothered by it, because the volume of cash on me was quite significant anyway. Now it's not and I just don't carry any coins at all. Paper is so much nicer to handle. I still need to have some cash just in case, but I'd simply "forgive" any change below 1€ now. I don't feel rich enough to forgive everything below 5€ though.

[vel0city]

Coins are far more durable and usually easier for machines to properly sense. If you're using vending machines to buy drinks it's nice just dropping a coin or two into a machine and getting a beverage. Notes can get worn and fail to read properly by machines taking bills in the field. When you need like 5 of the most widely circulated coins for a single drink it gets annoying though.

I miss seeing machines that would bend a 12oz can of soda for 25¢. Those were the days.

I sometimes go to coin-op car washes, it sucks having to punch a fist full of quarters into the machine for a quick wash.

[Freak_NL]

> I miss seeing machines that would bend a 12oz can of soda for 25¢. Those were the days.

A bending machine?

[vel0city]

Oops, what a funny autocorrect. A vending machine.

[timpera]

Bills are imo way easier to manage and carry, especially when you don't have a wallet, which is why I prefer the US system, but I agree that durability is the main issue.

[crote]

Coins don't fold, though. Carrying a few bills around in a money clip is trivial, coins quickly devolve into carrying a giant pile of loose change with near-zero value.

The main reason I don't use more cash is that it is so inconvenient. I don't want any coins back as change, and always telling cashiers to keep the change when the smallest bill is €5 is just too much for me.

[vel0city]

> coins quickly devolve into carrying a giant pile of loose change with near-zero value.

Which is why it'd be better if they weren't all nearly zero value in today's money. Coins of tiny value really suck, I agree. What am I going to do with nickels and dimes, really? So useless.

I also agree bills made from that plastic material seem to hold up better and scan better by machines than the "paper" used in USD, so that's less of a concern.

[tmtvl]

When going home after training I sometimes like to get something to drink at the station and the stands are usually closed so I need to get something from a vending machine. Those only accept coins or contactless payment by card, and as I have disabled contactless payment with my card (after having seen a documentary where two people managed to obtain €240 in 2 hours) coins it is. But, because even the largest coin is insufficient, it's a bit of a pain to maintain the coinage balance in my wallet; which would be easier if there was a coin large enough to pay for a drink without needing extras.

Although on second thought if there were larger coins in circulation then vending machines would be more lucrative targets and the increased vandalism and theft would lead to even fewer vending machines being around.

[RamblingCTO]

ATS return 5€, or did I miss something? Also: vending machines can take notes as well, so I really don't get the argument

[freehorse]

Most ATMs I have used don't. Most of the time it is 20+ ime.

[timpera]

I'm in Paris and can confirm that most ATMs don't give €5 bills, but some do, and it's pretty nice to withdraw a stack of fresh, brand new €5 bills that are way more convenient than coins.

[tmtvl]

Here in Belgium neither is the case (or maybe I'm just unlucky with my bank and vending machines), but that might just be Belgium being a shithole again.

[RamblingCTO]

Okay interesting, I don't use much cash! Gonna try in Germany, but I always took out x5€ haha