I wonder if Americans expect to get american currency when they travel in Australia and Europe, or if it's just strictly a thing they do in Canada.

(Not that they all do this - I shouldn't generalize so much)

I hate our drab money and I wish the $1 coins had worked out. Except the government didn't just say "okay, we're going with $1 coins and we aren't going to circulate any more bills so get used to it."

I kept hearing people bitch "where will they go in register tills" um, yeah there's already an extra little slot for coins. And "I don't want to carry around so many coins, it will be heavy." Like someone is going to end up carrying around $15 in $1 coins, you spend them or change them or whatever. One dollar bills accumlulate. Seriously I figured out the other day I had $20 in ones. I'm not even sure how I got that many except someone paid me in ones instead of fives and then I kept some instead of spending them.

I'm dreading people's reaction to the new $20 bills that are going into circulation later this year, they are vaguely peach colored. Americans get so freaked out about inconsequential things.

Coloured money is fun! You gonna like!

Coloured money is very fun. And so are fancy coins. The problem with your dollar coins is that they looked much like your quarters, no? Try making them gold.

I'm looking forward to the $5 coins. They can't get here fast enough for me.

The fellow Americans I travelled with in the UK didn't except to get American currency, they were quite taken with the pound coins, which have different mottos and such around the rims. It was a thing to try and collect all the coins.

I think this was the only time they didn't act like stereotypical ugly Americans. I'd like to note that these were adults mostly in their mid 50s to late 60s. Seriously most of them had no manners and excepted England and Scotland to be just like America and were totally shocked and upset when it wasn't.

The new $1 coins were gold and a slightly different shape and weight than quarters.

However people tended to hoard the dollar coins rather than use them because the bills were still in circulation. It was doomed to fail because given a choice the public will go with what they know rather than strange things. Plus some people weren't too happy that Scajawea got on the one dollar coin.

Huh. So it was racial?

And, yeah, when you get rid of $1 and $2 bills the coins get used.

You don't even have $2 bills, though, do you?

Our coins have the Queen (god save her) and lovely animals! Our $5 bill has kids playing hockey on it.

And, you know, didn't you have $1 Susan B Anthony coins? I recall there was an uproar about that, too.

The new $1 coins were gold and a slightly different shape and weight than quarters.

Except in Michigan, where the dollar coins are the Susan Something Anthonys. Or something. I don't think those are gold-coloured, but they're easy enough to tell from a quarter just with your fingertips.