In Colombia, the old (probably withdrawn from circulation by now) 5 and 10 peso coins were the size of American dollars when I was a child.

The singles were the size of an American 25 cent piece except half a millimeter thicker, so you couldn't use them in an American coin phone. [Linked Image]

The single peso was then discontinued and the 5 and 10s were then shrunk down to the size of nickles (10 peso) and dimes (5 peso) presumably to save on brass or whatever their alloy is. All Colombian coins ranging from the 5 peso to the 100 peso coin have the same design and same color. Just size varies. Guess it makes it cheaper to make. The 200 and 500 have their own designs.

Currently the value of the peso is almost C$3,000 to US$1, rounding up. Precisely it's C$2,800 to US$1. Denominations that used to be bills were then converted to coins (e.g.: 500 pesos, 100 pesos, etc.). Now bills are for amounts in the thousands.

I guess as the value of the metal is more than the face value of the coin...... [Linked Image]

Now if only the US Mint would start giving tours to the general public again.....did they ever?

I wish American coins would have fancy things like holes or weird shapes (squares, flower-outline) or even the thing that Canadian two-dollar coins have -- a slug of one alloy inset in the ring made of another alloy....I also wish our paper money were color coded....blue, pink, green, gray, light brown, purple, etc. Would make it much easier to sort. [Linked Image]