Wednesday, December 21, 2005
The Weight of Money
As my brother once observed of a very distant relative’s labors to create a genealogy of the Jones family, it may seem that this post “speaks of a man with too much time on his hands.” I don’t think that’s actually the case here: I think it speaks to the power of tiny obsessions.
I ran across an article several years ago that noted that the average UK resident keeps £8.50 in change. (Which raises some interesting methodological questions: do you stop random people on the street and ask them to empty their pockets?) Since I have observed on my travels that the British make good solid money, it occurred to me that these monetary pounds probably add up to a lot pounds avoirdupois.
And there it sat for the longest time until I rediscovered where I had stashed some coin specifications that I looked up in my first burst of enthusiasm.
Using the simple arithmetic average weight per value ratio of the UK coins up to £1 – OK, I probably have been spending too much time on this – that £8.50 works out to a little over a kilogram (2.2 pounds).
It further seems that there is a pleasing irregularity in at least the lower denominations: the weight of a coin correlates badly with its value, probably a holdover from funkier, pre-decimal days. (Although we have the same thing here, with our tiny little dimes and whacking great nickels.) In contrast is the scientifically devised Euro, a creature of the 21st century. . .
I ran across an article several years ago that noted that the average UK resident keeps £8.50 in change. (Which raises some interesting methodological questions: do you stop random people on the street and ask them to empty their pockets?) Since I have observed on my travels that the British make good solid money, it occurred to me that these monetary pounds probably add up to a lot pounds avoirdupois.
And there it sat for the longest time until I rediscovered where I had stashed some coin specifications that I looked up in my first burst of enthusiasm.
Using the simple arithmetic average weight per value ratio of the UK coins up to £1 – OK, I probably have been spending too much time on this – that £8.50 works out to a little over a kilogram (2.2 pounds).
It further seems that there is a pleasing irregularity in at least the lower denominations: the weight of a coin correlates badly with its value, probably a holdover from funkier, pre-decimal days. (Although we have the same thing here, with our tiny little dimes and whacking great nickels.) In contrast is the scientifically devised Euro, a creature of the 21st century. . .
