every day when i get home, i throw my change into a little container. since that change includes €2 and €1 coins, it adds up pretty quickly. in a month, i’ve generated €36.87 (about $50.50), and that’s not even counting the change i’ve taken out to spend.
i think of it as a rebate on my day or something, and it’s not that big of a deal. but it is really bad in one situation: you’re a country trying to get out of a crippling recession. in a recession, governments need to help consumers spend–that is, you want people to be taking their spare change and putting it back into the economy, not into a piggy bank.
for me it’s not a huge deal–i’m spending the same as i would otherwise–but if your checking balance is really low, you might not realize that you have $50 sitting on your counter. and if everyone who’s checking balance is really low has $50 that they aren’t spending every month, that’s a massive problem.
in the successful stimulus package, the “making work pay” tax credit (not the best part of the bill by any means, but stimulative nonetheless) was $400 per person ($116.2 billion total). my change refund would be about $600 a year. that could do a lot for a shitty economy.
from philly to dublin. 
The exact same thing happens to me whenever I go to Europe — after a few days I somehow manage to accumulate a small mountain of change. It’s a major pain in the ass to carry around. I also don’t understand why they think they need 2 cent and 20 cent coins.
The 2 euro domination, though, is really useful. I don’t understand why the 2 dollar bill is not more popular in the USA. A 2 dollar domination is useful for everything from tipping to buying a soda that costs 1 dollar + change.
Call me crazy but I swear one of the biggest things I hate and could go on long tirades about would be the inability of the dollar (or higher) coin really getting traction in the states.
I honestly believe it would further our economy along. In the minds of most people change is just an annoying inconvenience. I see it as obsoleting smaller units of payment and ultimately raising the bar for everyone/everything.
Not really sure if I’m making a compelling argument but damn it’s not uncommon on one of my short trips to Canada for me to amass $10-15 of change in my pocket. They’re so damned convenient to use for things such as parking meters, tolls, leaving as tips, etc.
Give me dollars coins or give me death. For America.