Pound Coin Keyrings

[jack]

There is an item which is a pound-coin-shaped keyring clip, intended to be used in trolleys and lockers that take a pound coin. I decided to buy such a thing, since my gym uses lockers with £1, and it's a pain getting £1 out of my wallet, or remembering to keep one with me and not spend it :)

What interested me was what that should cost. It feels odd if it costs MORE than a pound coin, since you could just use a pound coin. But actually, the convenience of having a dedicated coin with a whole through and a clip attached is worth several times more than me.

And it feels odd if it costs LESS than a pound coin, since it's just strictly better. Except that not everyone buys one in advance, and a pound coin is inherently liquid after you've stopped using it in lockers.

And it feels odd it costs EXACTLY one pound, since things aren't normally that neat.

What's the actual answer? Some online cost exactly £1 (free delivery). Some cost more, up to about £3.xx. Some cost £0.99. I bought one of the last.

My biggest problem was there were no designs I really liked. With some reservations I picked a four-leafed shamrock. Um, now I type that, that just seems really odd, shouldn't it be "four-leaved clover" or "shamrock"? But it was clearly four-leaved, but advertised as a shamrock.

Comments

[simont]

I think I'd say that there's no obvious comparability in value between one of those clips and an actual pound coin, because each one has usefulness the other one lacks. A pound coin is useful for other things in addition to lockers and trolleys, whereas a dedicated locker-and-trolley clip is more useful for lockers and trolleys since it's more likely to be there when you need it.

So neither one is strictly better than the other, and so in the partial order of 'clearly ought to be worth more' there's no ordering relation between them. Hence, I think I disagree with your claim that it seems odd for it to cost more and odd for it to cost less – by that analysis, neither possibility is odd :-)

and it's a pain getting £1 out of my wallet, or remembering to keep one with me and not spend it

Hmm, you've just given me an idea. My wallet has a couple of pockets I've never used. I've just moved a pound coin from the normal change pocket into one of those, and that should make sure I don't spend it!

(Though, of course, next time I need a pound coin for a trolley I'll manage to forget that I stashed one there, so I'll be no better off...)

[jack]

by that analysis, neither possibility is odd :-)

:) FWIW, I agree with your analysis, I don't think it *is* odd, but it took a while for my intuitions to catch up to my reasoning :)

I've just moved a pound coin from the normal change pocket into one of those, and that should make sure I don't spend it!

Oh, cool, glad to help :) I used to keep coins in a coin pocket of my wallet, but it just got filled up with small change I never actually took out again, so I've started keeping a few pound coins in a flat pocket, and putting any other loose change into my pocket, and not worrying if it just gets dropped into a charity tin instead of spent.

Though, of course, next time I need a pound coin for a trolley I'll manage to forget that I stashed one there, so I'll be no better off...

Yeah... I'm not sure how to deal with that. Perhaps it's to be a bit like Bill and Ted, and train myself, if I have a problem, think "how would I solve this for next time, if I could plan in advance" and then check to see if I've actually secretly already done that :)

[simont]

train myself, if I have a problem, think "how would I solve this for next time, if I could plan in advance" and then check to see if I've actually secretly already done that

This has historically worked badly for me, because (at least in this type of situation) I don't seem to be able to think the same way when it's counterfactual as I do when it's for real :-(

[jack]

Yeah :( I was sort of hoping that *could* be worked round somehow, but I admit, I don't really have any solution other than just good organisation and searching thoroughly anywhere the lost thing *could* be. I feel there must be some better answer, but I don't know what.

[kaberett]

(I have managed to acquire one with King penguins on, which makes me happy.)

[jack]

Oh, yay, that's a lot better. I had a choice between "Cross of St George", "Cross of St Andrew", "Shamrock/4LC", "World's best Mum/Nan/Dad", and "Flowers". I much prefer the connotations of the Scottish flag to the English one, but it would be inappropriate. I want to reclaim the English flag for diverse melting-pot nationality, not racism, but I think a keychain runs the risk of people thinking I'm BNP :( :( :( So I picked the "lucky" one. Maybe I should have picked the flowers one.

[whitepaw]

This sounds like exactly the sort of thing that 3d printers are ideal for. A quick search reveals multiple models, for example one that would take a Replicator 10 minutes and 1 gram of material at standard settings. 10p of material.

[jack]

Ooh, good idea. Although it would probably take more than 5 minutes of my time to arrange that :)