TIL: This Country Uses Plastic Coins!
I am currently preparing a gift for a fellow stacker here on hive, which amongst other things will include two coins made of aluminium, because he apparently "hasn't seen one before".
As a side note, other than being super cheap, aluminium is actually a great metal to make coins as it's quite resistant to wear and tear and corrosion when used as an alloy, like 95 % aluminium and 5 % magnesium. It's just not seen often due to being super cheap so the few times it's preferred, it is typically for super small denominations and/or times of high inflation.
Anyways, I have a wondering mind... so while preparing the package I wondered if there are any REAL coins made of plastic... Plastic is probably the worst material for coins as it's even cheaper then aluminium, super easy to forge and easy to wear and tear... This is why it's only common for fake coins, like poker chips, tokens, boardgames etc. It's just not durable enough for daily, hand to hand transactions!
Guess what though?
After a bit of googling,it turns are out there is a country out there called Transnistria that actually uses THIS VERY MOMENT plastic coins!
Transiwhat?
Yeah, never heard of it either and that's because it's only a new nation with limited recognition:
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldovan–Ukrainian border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria has been recognised only by three other unrecognised or partially recognised breakaway states: Abkhazia, Artsakh and South Ossetia. source
So yeah, not exactly a country with the conventional standards but pretty close!
Here's how their plastic coins actually look like:
Pretty neat right? And I love how they come in so many different colorful shapes 😍
Apparently, the coins aren't made of regular plastic but some special plastic composite that makes them both durable and difficult to counterfeit.
They are also just 1.2 millimeters thick yet very difficult to bend. Each comes in different color and shape (triangle, square, hexagon and pentagon) and four denominations of 1, 3, 5 and 10 Transnistrian rubles. The front of each coin depicts a famous Russian individual. Here's a quick video showing their back and front:
Of course they come with their own security features like all modern money, to prevent counterfeiting:
For protection against counterfeiting, the technology of their production involves the use of a special texture, contour elements, micro texts and specific reflection of light when exposed to ultraviolet and infrared light. source
According to this site, they were originally made for the visually impaired and despite how how cool they look...locals hate em 😂
Well... I know I love em and I just ordered a set of 4! They are very cheap (less then 10 $ for a full set, I paid 5 euro) and such a great monetary novelty to own!
Can't wait to hold em in my hands!!! Stay tuned, I'll probably have them by the end of the week!
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I never heard about plastic coins. May be because of the light wight
Yeah, but mostly because they just aren't durable
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Every day we learn something new about plastic coins, could it be that they melt with fire? Really, even the name of the country is strange.
Yeah, weird name indeed 😂
When you get the coins test to see if they melt 😂😂.
Lol no 😂
Ok maybe I'll get a second set 😂😂😂
This is surprising I have never heard nor seen one before lol.
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more plastic to contaminate earth? I thought we had enough already
I want some.
Ebay has a lot of sets for cheap prices! I ordered one for 5 euros from a local shop!
Colorful coins. Looks very pretty.
Oh yes!
Only very few countries recognize this country as an official one. Most of the world is still in the belief that it is part of Moldova. It's close to Ukraine and seen as another place the Russians want to extend their influence.
Yeah, the quoted text from wiki covers that part.
That is bizarre, but it's cheap to make I guess! They almost look like tiny restaurant coasters to put your drink on! That's a great novelty to have though, I don't think any other countries will follow suit on that (at least I hope.)
Aluminum coins are just so light, they don't really feel like money. But you're right, they're tough and don't wear quickly.
And a real cheap one too!
And cheap is why people will buy them!
Plastic coins are used in tea houses in Turkey. Tradesmen initially give money and buy a large number of coins. When they order tea to their shop, they use them. They give plastic coins as much as the number of teas received.
Are these coins you talk about, legal tender or just something those traders use?
The tea house issues and sell them :)
"Çay" means tea.
Ha ! Pretty cool!
Definitely non traditional out of the box. Why do they need the coins at all? Why not just paper money . Is their money worth so much?
Although I couldbt some info about that, my guess is they lack a mint of their own and/or they are cheaper to make
That could be the case!
! I had no idea that there was a country that used plastic coins. It's definitely a unique and interesting way to make money.
I'm glad that you were able to find a set of them to buy. I'm sure they'll be a great addition to your collection.
I'm also curious about why the locals hate them. I wonder if it's because they're not as durable as metal coins, or if it's just because they're not used to seeing plastic coins.
No idea about the latter, couldn't find much info!
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Plastic coins ….. WTF….. good luck with that, no wonder no one has heard of your country…..
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It's not my country silly!
I've seen cloth banknotes and of course wooden 'nickles' coins have been used as actual legal tender from what I have seen at a few past coin shows. It is inevitable plastic would be used for coins, my Canadian fiat currency banknote is made of some kind of polymer plastic. It has a chemical like smell and different feel over the original paper/linen currency.
Wooden coins? Can you point me to some?
Here's an example of a Japanese 100 Mon wooden coin, more a token as this was an temporary fix for the lack of currency.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COXCcDNLLfX/?img_index=1
Most wooden coins are the of local commerce
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsDwEX6oof8/
There is even a Wooden coin club in Canada, most local legal tender wood/metal coinage were originally issued during the depression when cash was scarce. But nowadays they were also issued by local chambers of commerce to promote business. However the Government only allowed it if it had an expiry date to end their legal tender status.
https://www.nunet.ca/cawmc.htm
I have a handful of wooden nickles stashed somewhere but I can't find them.
Ha! Those are really interesting finds!
Quick history lesson: Moldova is a country that historically, linguistically, culturally belongs together with Romania but the USSR took control of it after WW2. And it wasn't happy when Moldova declared independence when the Soviet Onion collapsed, so in true Russian fashion it created an artificial "fuck you" state so that Moldova will be in it's sphere of influence for as long as Transnistria existed. It's sort of the Moldavian equivalent of the Donbass - it prevents EU and NATO membership and also unification with Romania. Russia be like" if I can't have Moldova, nobody can". Also they did similar shit in Georgia.
Haha, now it makes sense. All this geopolitical shit are really complex.
glad I could shed some light :)
These plasitc coins look like play money, anybody up for a game of monopoly. lol
But seriously they do look cool and I had no idea there was ever plastic coins made
for any Country. I wonder what kind of wear they get over time.
The current ¥1 coin in Japan is made of aluminum. It's so light it will float on water if you gently put it on (if you drop it it will sink).
Never seen any plastic coins, though. That's nuts!
No way! Aluminum is heavier then water I think. Sorcery?
Naw, it's just because if you put it on the water slowly, the coin is light enough (1 gram) that the surface tension can hold it there.
Scratch that previous video. This one is much beter:
Geez, you do a google search for "float on water 1 yen coin" and thousands of links come up.
Plastic really ? And not sure if you know this but back in the day aluminum was more expensive than gold
Come on, its a great novelty!
It sounds interesting but I have a feeling that there will be counterfeits in the future. It might just take time before they can the technology right.
Meh, doubt it. Their currency is shit, nobody would care to counterfeit it 😂
pretty cool find!
now i want a set too!
Go for it, they are pretty cheap!