The US Mint released commemorative coins honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman Thursday.

The coins include $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins that commemorate the bicentennial of her birth. This is the first time the US Mint has honored Tubman with coins, according to the agency.

      • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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        11 months ago

        Technically they are legal tender. I suppose some government offices might take them for face value if you’re stupid enough.

        Actually, probably anyone would take em for face value lmao

        • Fleamo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          That’s kind of like saying sports cars are the transportation equivalent of a painting because they are made to look good. I guess you could say that, but it’s not really a useful metaphor if they only have the one thing in common and they’re both things everyone would be familiar with so you’re not translating into more common experience.

    • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
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      11 months ago

      Biden restarted the process to get her on the 20.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/politics/tubman-20-dollar-bill.html

      Unfortunately the process was stopped for a long time by Trump. And that delay pushed the date back even farther.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/business/harriet-tubman-20-dollar-bill.html

      And goes without saying he could stop the process again if he somehow ends up back in office (or another republican).

      • Artyom@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        The “backlash” you’re referring to was that Trump scrapped it pretty much just because it was something Obama did. No one was upset about the new $20 bill until then.

        • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Trump is an accurate reflection of conservative ideology. He stopped it because conservatives didn’t want it.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        It’s enough to satisfy the center that they did something while keeping President Trail of Tears where they think he belongs.

        • Buffaloaf@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          The silver lining is that Jackson hated paper money and thought we should only use coins. Now he’s on one of the most used paper notes in the country while better people are being put on gold and silver coins.

          But still, fuck him.

      • jonne@infosec.pub
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        11 months ago

        I’m sure he did, but Biden’s had 4 years to get it back on track.

        • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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          11 months ago

          And just like putting Cuba on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, he won’t do a damn thing about it.

          • jonne@infosec.pub
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            11 months ago

            But if he does that, he’ll lose the votes of Cubans in Florida that have sworn off the Democrats since Kennedy! They’ll come back to the party any day now!

  • Furedadmins@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    A five dollar coin is going to get a few Walmart customers arrested for trying to pass fake currency.

    • Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      Highly unlikely. Those coins are over $700 to purchase from the mint. They are real gold. The face value is $5 but it’s literally worth its weight in gold.

      Then again I’m sure someone will spend it at face value at some point, and you’re probably right it will likely be at a Walmart. 🙄

  • JCreazy@midwest.social
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    11 months ago

    Keep in mind that these coins are for collectors only and not meant to be put into circulation, but even though that’s the case they are still legal currency and technically can be used. It’s just like the presidential dollar coins. They stopped releasing them into the public because they weren’t popular so they just only released them for collectors.

    • MaxHardwood@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      While they are legal tender they’re not circulating tender. That means only the Mint and Courts are obligated to accept them at face value. Anybody else has the option of accepting the coin as payment at whatever value both parties agree on, or not accepting it at all.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Not really though, the “$5” gold coin is $708.

      You could re-sell it for the gold or collector value, but you can’t spend it like money.

      • prole
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        11 months ago

        What do you mean “not really though”? It’s either legal tender, or it isn’t, and based on numerous comments here, it would seem as though it is legal tender. You would probably be a fool if you used it at face value, since it’s going to always be worth more than that, but nothing is stopping you from doing so if you desire.

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Neat, now quit printing dollar bills so folks will actually use them instead of just collecting them.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          The bigger crime is not that we don’t get her on the $20, which is, indeed, horrible, it’s that the genocidal Andrew Jackson is still on it. Every U.S. $20 bill is a celebration of genocide. And indigenous Americans have to look at them all the time.

        • MaxHardwood@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          On the flip side;

          Surcharges in the amount of $35 for each $5 gold coin sold; $10 for each silver dollar sold; and $5 for each half dollar sold—totaling $50 for each three-coin set sold—are authorized to be paid to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc., in Auburn, New York, to advance their missions.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      11 months ago

      These aren’t the coins that could replace dollar bills, but I would love to see $1 and $5 bills replaced with coins, along with a phase-out of pennies and nickels. Coins are supposed to be money, not trash.