Someone linked me to this story which was posted on another forum:
quote: PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.
For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.
Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.
Have a nice day, Mike.
"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."
What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.
"When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.
"So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.' Swell.
"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll count out a few $2 bills."
He has lots and lots of them.
With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.
"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"
At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.
"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."
He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"
"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."
A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.
"I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'
"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"
Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.
"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."
Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
This will be important news to all concerned.
For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."
He's seen where such money can lead.
Man...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
My dad always put a $2 bill in each of our stockings at Christmas. I think they're awesome. Stupid people.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Whoa. I have a couple of them sitting at home, just 'cause I think they're neat. Weird.
Added: So, did he get his money back? After this publicity, I hope he gets the cash back for the radio and the installation, at least.
[ April 07, 2005, 03:36 PM: Message edited by: ElJay ]
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Did these people really not know that $2 bills were legal tender even if they're not used much?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
The Treasury Department has been considering issuing a new redesigned two dollar bill for years, and still might in the next couple years. We might start seeing it a bit more often.
I collect them too, and so does most of my family. My mom even has a bunch of old silver certificate ones, and some weird ones that have red stamps on them instead of green. She used to work at a bank, but I guess they are pretty rare/valuable.
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Link to the original article.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
On the way home from BobnDana Con, I stopped at an Iowa rest area, but had no change for the pop machine. But it had a bill changer. So I stuck in a five dollar bill -- and guess what I got? Five of those gold dollar coins that you hardly ever see anymore.
The vending machine took them fine. But I had to explain what they were to the toll-taker on the Kansas Turnpike.
Farmgirl
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I wish they would have caught on. Coins take better in machines than dollar bills.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
I see them every once in a while out here in Utah.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
We get $1 coins as change if we put a big bill in the machine for the DART Rail system here.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
*starts planning to pay for everything in $2 bills, Kennedy half dollars, and Eisenhower dollars*
You can get all of them a-plenty from banks, at least the first two. Eisenhower dollars are a bit rarer, iirc.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Eisenhower dollars are rare, but you can get the Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea dollars from banks. Posted by msquared (Member # 4484) on :
This guy has one hell of a case against Best Buy and the local police.
quote:"She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."
quote:THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
You CANNOT refuse to accept cash minted by the US Treasury for a debt. My understanding is that, if you do, that debt is considered null. I have had this verified a couple of times.
Usually the point is moot because you don't deal with most of your creditors face to face, and you are not supposed to send cash through the mail. (And if you did send a creditor cash, you would not really have any documentation to prove that you did.)
This is also a non-issue for services, because you often pay before service is rendered, and therefore the person does not have to accept cash--they can simply refuse to perform the service.
But in this case, assuming he could get documentation of their refusal to accept legal tender, he could have left and paid nothing.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Bleh, most people have at least heard of those, I want to really screw with people's heads Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I am totally tempted to get some $2 bills and go out with some folks at DallasCon trying to spend them. Posted by narrativium (Member # 3230) on :
That's it. Whenever I get cash at the bank from now on, I'm getting it in $2's.
And I'm buying one of those mini tape recorders.
CASHIER: "I can't accept that." ME: "Why not?" CASHIER: "It's fake." ME: (taking out tape recorder and pressing record): "So you're refusing to take these legitimate $2 bills as payment?" CASHIER: "Umm. . ."
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Or you could just get them to sign a document stating that they are refusing to accept legal tender as payment.
[ April 07, 2005, 04:39 PM: Message edited by: ketchupqueen ]
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
Last summer I bought some stamps at the Post Office vending machine to avoid a long line and received change in $1 coins. I was a little bit apprehensive about trying to spend them, but no one even hesitated to take them or even looked at them twice. They must be more prevalent that I knew, but since I don't work in any kind of money handling that's not really a surprise.
Posted by narrativium (Member # 3230) on :
Yeah, I've never had a problem with $1 coins. I've gotten double-takes, and one or two funny looks, but never an arguement.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Dang.... Bet heads roll
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I only keep one $2 bill, I can't seem to find any more of those anymore. I like to collect coins too, I found a 1943 dime buried in the ground of my buss stop the other day. After the billions of gallons of rain we got it surfaced and a lucky person got it. It's got one huge torch, instead of our modern-day three, on the back; and the face of mercury(the mythological god), instead of that "President-whose-name-I've-no-idea-what-it-is". I might scan it to show it to you all.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
Franklin Roosevelt is on the current dime.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Really? It don't look like him to me. Although he did seem familiar...
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
"I'm not going to think about what they're not teaching you in school." Sam, Sleepless in Seattle.
So, your quarter is worth about a buck and a half.
What grade are you in?
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I don't know, I hadn't actually taken a good look at it. I've also got a gold modern dime, I haven't checked the year though. I don't even know if its real or just dipped in gold. I think it might be brass though.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Yes!!! Its that one!!! I'm a senior in HS, why?
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
quote:Really?
Really.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Idle curiosity. You mentioned a bus stop. That's all.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Oh! I take a public bus.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
I got paid for babysitting once in one dollar coins because they had gone to a casino for the night. I had to repeat that story everywhere I used those suckers Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
How much is a moderately weathered 1908 penny worth? A penny?
And I've still got a few nice crisp $2 bills left from when we switched to the toonie. Once, I was working and a guy came in to buy a couple packs of smokes with a handful of beautiful mint $2 bills. I accepted the change, pulled out $10 of my own, and traded the till.
And yes, coins are so much easier in vending machines.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
That would be wicked funny if it weren't for the fact that the poor guy got in so much trouble with the police.
I have a $2 bill that I got as change in a gas station a few years ago. I was really surprised to get it, and thought the guy was messing with me, but he showed me a whole section of the cash register full of them. I still haven't spent it, just because I think its so cool, but maybe now I'll have to think of a place to spend it where I can really freak someone out...
The vending machines at my school give back Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea dollars if your change is more than a dollar... Its actually kind of annoying, because I have more space in my wallet for paper money than for huge coins, but they are cool.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I think I'd have started having fun with them when they threatened to call the police if I didn't come in to pay them.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Actually ran into my first $2bill in years'n'years when the cashier kept examining one as he handed back my change today. Naturally, I got it off him.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I used to collect coins a lot, but never really had the money to get any of the really nicer pieces that cost more.
The best thing I have is probably an old Morgan Head silver dollar, and a walking liberty silver dollar.
A 1908 penny would be worth more than a penny, is that a wheat penny? I can't remember which years are wheat penny's. Or what years are iron pennys.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
One word...lawsuit.
I am not usually one to recommend that, but in that case I would insist it was warrented.
[ April 07, 2005, 10:40 PM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
What does the 1908 penny look like? I wonder, because the Lincoln penny wasn't introduced till 1909.
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
Or what years are iron pennys.
1943. And it's steel, not iron. Wheat pennies were printed until 1959. I used to collect pennies. I have a really pretty 1943-D. I also had some good Indian Heads, but I lost them when I moved. I am still in pain over this, because it was really cool to own something with a date in the 1800s.
[ April 07, 2005, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: xnera ]
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Apparently these have the wreath design on the back too.
Edit: I'm slow. But my picture's bigger
[ April 07, 2005, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: MyrddinFyre ]
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Wow, so, between $3 and $8 or $50 and $80. Is it an S mint?
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
::pouts::
MyrddinFyre, I'm "not authorized" to view that page.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
O_o
"http://collecting-us-coins.com/" is NSFW? Or something??
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
NSFW?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Not safe for work Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Ahh. I'm not at work and trust me, there's no filter on this computer, so I doubt it's that.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
But, I got the sight with the pasted link, so thanks!
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
O_o Strange. It wasn't that exciting or enlightening so you're not missing out!
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
I'm now itching to get back into penny collecting. It was very relaxing and fun to sort through a batch of pennies, looking for a new find. I doubt I'll find anything rare enough to be worth any money, but it'd still be something fun to do.
*admires 1943 D steel penny* It really is pretty. It's only worth $0.75 at most, but it's pretty Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Boy, am I slow.
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
*perplexed* Mine's not an Indian Head penny. Am I misremembering the date? Now I have to go find it...
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
I have a couple $2 bills in my little bank at home.
My dad told me the story of when he was in elementary school and got into an argument with another boy about the existance of $2 bills. My dad claimed they were real and the other boy didn't believe him. So they asked the teacher. She sided with the other boy. Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
Something like that happened to me in seventh grade math. We learned how to find the area of a circle and the topic of п came up. I raised my hand and mentioned, as my father had taught me, that the digits of п neither terminate nor repeat. The kids asked the teacher if that was true and he said "Well, п is 22/7, so check it out for yourself."
22/7 repeats after 7 digits.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
My screen makes that pi look like "n". It took me a sec to figure out what you were talking about. I couldn't figure out what the variable n had to do with circles.
Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
By the way, A guy I used to work with who once tended bar told me that a two dollar bill left as a tip is the highest compliment you con give to a bartender. Just thought you all might like to know. He was a really cool guy, and when he moved away, I gave him a card with a two in it.
Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
rivka, I'm assuming that's satire, and as such, it's brilliant.
But it's a little too close to reality for me to be certain.
First of all, --
*GAH* ::suddenly realizes his copy of The History of PI has been removed from his classroom::
okay, from my vague recollections coupled with some googling, then--
First of all, many fundamentalists have historically rejected the irrational value of pi as heretical because of a that and other bible references suggesting a value of 3.
Apart from that, the Indiana legislature did attempt to legislate a different (nonbiblical) rational value of pi in 1897. This value was based on the work of an ameteur mathematician who had figured out that all those stupid ivory tower mathematicians were mixed up. They were in a hurry to pass his bill, because he promised them that if they were the first, they could use his value of pi royalty-free. (Excuse me, what does God need with a starship? Oops. Wrong question. What I meant to ask was, since when do we have to pay royalties for "facts"? Because if nobody has patented 9.8 m/s/s as the acceleration due to gravity, I'm staking my claim now. And I'll register 10 too, while I'm at it. )
Anyway, this bill actually passed in the state house, and nearly passed in the state senate, before they came to their senses and tabled it indefinitely.
Scary stuff.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I think it's interesting that the only threads of mine that go on for a while are threads that i don't post in!
Watch this thread die now...seriously...WATCH!
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
I've always been a fan of the engineering approximation where pi = e = 3.
Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
Shhh! Saxon! We're all being quiet now!
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
You're rightm this thread is dying. Thanks to you man! You totally killed it now!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
*pis Strider*
Maybe that will get things going.
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
Just for the record, please don't be mad if you go to the bank and can't get a $2. We only get them from other customers who deposit them, mostly businesses. If your bank doesn't get a lot of business deposits, they probably won't have any and never regularly. Credit Unions serve almost no businesses so don't even bother there. We never get anything interesting.
This guy is getting bills special ordered from the Fed. He's buying them in whole straps, probably a thousand dollars at a time. You could work out some kind of deal with your bank, but it wouldn't be cost effetive, and it would take about a week or two for the order to come in. (Nothing irks me more than folks who come in just before Christmas wanting stuff like that and need it today.)
As for the cops being suspicious cause the bills were sequential, I can see that. It's a classic counterfeiting blunder. But I've called Secret Service before. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to verify the bills. I wonder if he got mouthy with the cops and they were jerking him around. Definately fishy behavior from the cops.
As for the cashier, I can understand the case of the IRS not wanting to take a thousand dollar late payment in pennies. That's a guy just being obnoxious. But 57 $2s are not a lot of money. I hope her supervisor had a few strong words for her when all was said and done. Especially considering the bad press she caused the company.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Sweet my 1906 Indian head penny is worth $8!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I payed my rent in unrolled pennies once. I took pictures as well, when I dumped them on his desk.
All he had to do was tell me I had to roll them and I would have been screwed, but he was so mad he kicked me off the property. Then he lied about the fact that I had payed him in housing court, so I trotted out my picture, he the whole court burst out laughing. I had a witness and oictures to prove that he had throw me out too, so he got busted for lying, and I walked.
Without a doubt the most evil thing I have ever done....so far.
Kwea
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Make a $100 dollar payment in 100 $1 checks?
-Trevor
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
We were waiting for an early-morning blood test once, and needed breakfast, so my mom and I wound up at Denny's. (*shudders*) The service was so slow, even though we were the only ones in there, that my mom paid a 10% tip-- in pennies. (She always had a whole change purse full of them.) Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Make a $100 dollar payment in 100 $1 checks?
I've never signed a lease that didn't require that rent be paid in the form of a single check or money order. This is an exception to the legal tender rule - they can refuse cash, pennies, or separate checks- but if they accept another form of payment they can't use the form of payment provision to make you pay again or claim you didn't pay.
Absent specification of how the payment must be made, though, I think you can probably get away with pennies. It might be hard to get a receipt, though - he can make you wait while he counts them.
Which is exactly what I would do.
Dagonee
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Actually, I was thinking about mailing it to a bill.
And I don't think they have guidelines, but I will have to read the fine print.
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I am still in pain over this, because it was really cool to own something with a date in the 1800s.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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