I lived in Kansas City, Missouri back in the early 2000s. The local K-Mart had a machine in the lobby, one of those machines where you put the coin in the slot and rotate the handle and a random item comes out through a door. These machines usually dispense bubble gum or small toys in plastic bubbles. The machine at K-Mart dispensed foreign coins and bills in plastic bubbles. I believe they were either 75 cents or $1. I'm sure I got hosed on the exchange rate but it was a cool way to get money that I would not otherwise get.
I got mine from McDonalds they used to have a coin and currency of the world thing in the happy meals. I unloaded it all when silver got to be $32 an ounce as I was lucky enough to have three or four silver's (nothing over 70%) from it and the bills because they were all crisp and protected on bubble cards. I think I got like $34 for my small world collection.
