Got these two jokers in my change from the PO Vending machine today. The Philippine 5 Piso. Don't think I can get my money back from the Post Office, because they were CLOSED!! Plus they can claim that i'm trying to scam them seeing that the incident happened on Saturday and they were closed (FYI, they close at 12PM, and I used the machine at 4PM.) A little research on Wikipedia finds the Sac/Prez Dollars are 88.5% Cu, 6% Zn, 3.5% Mn, 2% Ni, 8.1g, and 26.5mm, while the 5 Piso is 70% Cu, 5.5% Ni, 24.5% Zn, 7.7 g, and 27mm. Not too much of a diameter tolerance, weight is big difference, but metallic/magnetic signature wise...I dunno. Plus a 88 cent difference in currency exchange rates. So am I right in believing this could be a possibly big problem in the future if the local Filipinas manage to grab enough 5 Piso coins from the motherland and co-opt machines that can accept dollar coins??
If the machine dispensed the coins I would assume they would also accept them. I would drop them back in the same machine and buy a book of stamps. My Post Office station recently removed the vending machine. It has been replaced by an automated postal station that only takes credit cards. I read an article recently that said all Post Offices will be removing their vending machines because of high maintenance costs. So it is only a matter of time before there are no dollar-dispensing machines at the PO.
Tried that, it spat the one I tried to put back into the machine. Either someone at the PO is dipping into the change fund, or the guy that replenishes the machine (and to an extent, the bank) didn't notice the interlopers.
Somewhere theres a guy from the Philipines whos got five rolls of these and is laughing at the system somewhere. No one knows about him but us few here and God.
Someone rolls them into a roll of dollars and turns them in at the bank. Person who restocks the machine gets rolls of dollars at the bank and receives it. Dumps dollars into the coin return hopper and doesn't see them. The machine tests coins coming INTO the machine, not coins going out of the machine.
