Customers rarely give out coins in their everyday retail transactions. I have observed that consumers dislike using change to approximate the amount due when paying for their lattes or Sunday bagels. They usually pay with bills only and gladly receive a few coins in return, which they use to fill up their coin glass jars at home. Nobody likes to carry change in their pockets. Cashiers dislike change even more. Particularly when customers retort to that terrible habit of giving extra coins with their bills in order to get exact change back -usually quarters. Most cashiers have forgotten their basic arithmetic in this age of intelligent cash registers, and the challenge of having to add or subtract while there are customers waiting in line makes them really nervous. The change purse is a wonderfully designed pocket object as well as a transaction facilitator. It was a very common male accessory in Spain years ago, when every man carried his black monedero (change purse) in his pocket. As a kid, I did have several toy change purses and proudly used them to learn the basics of retail transactions and coin identification. A few years ago, I received a change purse as a gift and I carry it in my pocket with me ever since. It is not only that it makes coin management easier: it dignifies change and its role in everyday life. Coin jars full of unwanted change are just plain wasteful.
