Coining it

Argentina has a critical shortage of coins - change cannot be had for love nor, erm, money, it seems. The Wall Street Journal notes that this once happened in Britain. Back in the days when the a bit more backbone was displayed by the inhabitants of these islands, the banks simply started minting their own coins, solving the problem in fairly short order (at least until the government stepped in, forcing them to cease, and recreating the problem at a stroke).

A solution for the Argentine, perhaps.

Comments

[James P]

I've often thought that minting your own coins would be a darn sight easier than forgiing paper money, with those tricksy holograms and serial numbers, although I suppose the hardware required to do it properly might be harder to conceal (and the neighbours might notice the clanking noises in the middle of the night). Still, given the state of some of the coins that pass through my pockets, I don't imagine the required standards are too high - I wonder how much you could deposit in the bank before they got suspicious..?