How to recognize Phony things?

Recently read a comment, which said, “Counterfeit money is only recognised by those who know how to identify the real thing”. And from my time behind the counter selling newspapers where I often to late, found coins from other countries being used, either accidentally or intentionally as Australian currency, I know this is true. When things are busy and you are not watching very, very carefully the non-genuine article often slips through leaving you unaware until it is too late. I didn’t (that I know of) have any problem with counterfeit notes. Or even counterfeit coins for that matter, but every now and then foreign coins would come through passed of as “real” Australian currency.
In some cases you had to see the other side of the coin to tell the obvious differences, because often the “Heads” side was very similar as many Commonwealth countries also have the Queen of England on one side of their coins.
What is true of money is also true of many other things too. Just like there is a lot of phoney money (both coins and notes) floating around, so is there a lot of phoney things floating around being passed off as the real thing and you need to know the real thing if you wish to avoid being tricked into buying into the inferior and often dangerous alternatives being offered around as the “Genuine article”.
This is true of religions too. There are many phoney religions floating around including many phoney so-called Christian ones too! And just as with religions in general, so as with Christianity too that we have to both know and pay attention to the real thing, so as to be able to distinguish between the phoney and the real thing.
So this year as we fast approach the Christmas season, let us all keep an eye out for the phoniness of the festival, and remember the true reason for the season. And the only way we can safely do that is to know the real thing from the phoney when we see it and to take our time in analysing and checking out what we accept, so that we don’t get “fooled” in our hurriedness, like I did a few times with non-Australian coins being passed off as the real thing.
So it is my prayer that even in the busyness of the fast approaching Christmas Festival, that this year at least, you will remember the real Reason (Christ) for the 9Christmas) season and spend quality time and prayer over the word of God; and then know and show the full and whole Christ to the world. Let there be nothing phoney about you or the message of God that you share, this Christmas and beyond.

Five Cent Man. Is He The Only One?

One of my customers at the Kiosk reckoned that another of my customers looked like Stephen Waugh (Former Australian Test Cricketer and Captain). I don’t really think so but will use the name Stephen in this item.

One day, actually one of many, Stephen threatened to bring in his $1.10 for the daily paper in 5 cent pieces, as he had so many of them. Stephen reckoned he was getting light on bigger change and must one day have to resort to that measure. Stephen was joking but I wasn’t. So one day I gave Stephen some plastic coin change bags and told him to put two dollars worth of 5 cent coins in each one and I would exchange them for bigger coins. The next day Stephen bought 4 bags in. I jokingly told him I wouldn’t accept anything less than $10 worth. Stephen then replied that I had then better give him more bags, so taking his $8 I gave him more bags. Sure enough the next day Stephen came back with another $10 worth, also claiming to still have more at home. It seems like my son before him, but more successfully so, Stephen has been casting these small coins aside and letting them build up.

Even Stephen was surprised at how much money he had sitting around not doing anything simply because he couldn’t be bothered in dealing with it because of it’s seemingly little value by itself.

This got me to wondering how much “wealth” we have lying around doing nothing, simply because we don’t recognize its true value unless gathered together.

What about you? What riches do you have just lying around gathering dust? Do you have “dollars” worth of wealth lying around untouched simply because you still see them as “five cent” items, and don’t recognize or value their collected worth? Over to you. Walter

What to do with illegal Coins.

In a couple of earlier articles about foreign coins, I mentioned how easily they were being circulated as legal tender but that although similar to Australind Tender and easily confused as such, they eventually do get noticed. The question then, is, “What do you do with them then?

This morning I was discussing my “Five Coin test”, with one of my customers and he remarked that he was surprised that I hadn’t passed them on already to some one else. That is to recirculate them. That is what most people would do. However by doing that you are simply passing the problem on to someone else.

On the other hand, if you withdraw them from circulation, you end up carrying the loss. There in a nutshell is one of life’s big questions. Bear the loss your self; or pass it on to some other poor sucker.

Now in this case it is only a matter of a few cents and not a great loss for anyone, you or the “poor sucker”, to bear, and thus, it is not really that hard to do the right thing, or in some people’s minds, no great crime either, to pass the loss on to someone else.

However what you do with the small things indicates what you would do with the big things, so tell me what would you do?

As it now stands most of the foreign coins that come by me are Kiwi coins and I know someone who is going to New Zealand soon, and they are happy to carry the cost of conversion and take the coins off me at face value. Both to take them out of circulation, and later to spend and recirculate in their right place.

The other strange coins are strange enough for me to want to keep, and so far, I am happy to bear the cost. What would you do? Walter

Five coin Test

In my, “Three 20 cent coins, similar but totally different”, story, I told how I had obtained a Fijian and New Zealand Twenty cent piece, and how that the “Head” side of the coin was very similar to the Australian coin.

I then went on to say that “If I was to put a Fijian, a New Zealand and an Australian 20 cent coin heads up on a table, I suspect very few Aussies would be able to pick the Aussie coin without inspecting them all closely.” Well I decided to put my theory to the test.

To make it a little bit more challenging, I decided to use three Aussie coins with the two ring-ns. In picking my Australian coins I found that we too have a variety of faces on the “Tails” side but on the “heads” side we have two similar but distinctly different pictures of the Queen. On the earlier coins, she is younger. On the later Coins, she is a little older. Anyway I put my five coins face up on a table or bench and challenge people to choose the two duds.

Apart from those who cheat and read the writing on the face, most but not all, pick the Fijian Coin among their two guesses, but most again need a second go for the Kiwi coin, with a few never getting it till they come to the last coin.

Apart from being a time waster and amusing to some, what does my test prove?

It proves that mostly we don’t pay much attention to the small things, even to the point of not even being able to tell what is genuine and what is not. It seems that we don’t worry too much about the littler things but worry about the big things. Like counterfeit Fifty Dollar Notes.

Yet it has been said that if we get the little things right the big things will naturally follow. What say you? Walter

Three 20 cent coins, similar but totally different.

I work at a Kiosk at the local Railway Station, selling Newspapers and drinks etc. As such, I handle a lot of coins. Not all are Legal Australian Tender however. These days many people travel overseas and bring back coins from other countries and either deliberately or accidentally these or some at least, end up in circulation. Some of the more obvious ones are easily detected and taken out but not all are so easily detected.

One day I picked out a couple of “strange“ 20 cent coins. But only because I saw their reverse side, which is so obviously different to the Australian coin, as to be noticeable to most people.

However when turned over with the “head" side turned up, it is not so noticeable on either coin without close inspection.

So If I was to put a Fijian, a New Zealand and an Australian 20 cent coin heads up on a table, I suspect very few Aussies would be able to pick the Aussie coin without inspecting them all closely.

This reminds me of many things in life. They are not the real thing but are often taken for and even used as the real thing. But they do not stand up to closer inspection and in the end are not “legal tender”.

What about you? Are you the real deal? Or are you just a facsimile of the real thing? Perhaps like the Fijian and Kiwi coins, you are the real thing in your own place but are currently in the wrong place? You may be getting away with it now but you will be found out in the end. Best to correct the situation now and if you are of the wrong currency, it is best to voluntarily remove yourself from circulation before someone else does it to you.

Because in the end, some one will notice and then it will be too late! Way too late. Over to you: Walter