undefined | Better HN

0 pointsbwilliams186y ago0 comments

US currency can go to more than two decimal places...

http://blogs.reuters.com/ben-walsh/2013/11/18/do-stocks-real...

I guess it's time for someone to write an "Assumptions Programmers make about money" post.

0 comments

raarts6y ago

Falsehoods programmers believe about prices: https://gist.github.com/rgs/6509585

raverbashing6y ago

Interesting list, though I'm not sure what do they mean by n. 7

jsjohnst6y ago

For a brief time in 2008, 1 Zimbabwe dollar was very roughly equivalent to one TRILLIONTH of a United State penny. So technically a value of “1” did exist, but it was meaningless. I have some of the 100 Trillion Dollar notes from Zimbabwe from that time period.

jjeaff6y ago

I also have a few. You could buy a stack of 100 trillion dollar bills few a few bucks then. They are now selling for $50-$60 on eBay.

1 more reply

raarts6y ago

Apparently hyperinflation: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Zimbabwean_dollar and https://currencyconvert.net/zimbabwe-dollar/dollar

LanceH6y ago

1. Money in a brokerage account is not US currency.

zrobotics6y ago

While it isn't physical US currency, my brokerage account represents the value of the account in units of USD- therefore any rules about how US currency works should apply.

Additionally, fractional cents are often presented to the consumer when purchasing gas/fuel.

F-0X6y ago

Money is not as wierd as anyone might guess. I work on a financial application, and money is almost always just a BigDecimal with the scale set to 2 (and stored in a database as a bigint type or equivalent). When its not, its just a higher scale (for say, compound daily interest on small amounts for a significant period of time).

blowski6y ago

How do you store Bitcoin?

zelly6y ago

Bitcoin uses fixed-width unsigned integers. The smallest unit is 10^-8 of 1 Bitcoin, which is represented as just 1.

blowski6y ago

I like this approach. Is it compatible with the parent comment?

1 more reply

nitwit0056y ago

No it can't. There are systems that track things worth less than a penny for later billing, but at the end of the month when they bill someone, they do some sort of rounding.

ars6y ago

If you are earning interest at a bank, and you've earned a fraction of a penny, they will eventually pay it to you once you've earned enough for a whole penny.

i.e. they track your account balance to more than 2 digits, they just only show you 2 digits.

jcranmer6y ago

Someone should tell that to everyone who ever used a ½¢ coin in the US. Also, US law explicitly states (31 USC §5101) that the unit of 1/1000th of a dollar is a mill.

coldtea6y ago

>Someone should tell that to everyone who ever used a ½¢ coin in the US.

All 10 of them?

jsjohnst6y ago

I’ve got some at home, but admittedly I’d never use one as currency. I also have US ½¢ paper notes too.

nitwit0056y ago

Go to a bank and ask for a half penny or a thousandth of a dollar. Let me know how it goes.

jsjohnst6y ago

Go to a bank and ask for a $500 or $1000 note too. They won’t give you one as they aren’t in circulation anymore, but most (all?) will let you deposit it for face value.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

raarts6y ago

Falsehoods programmers believe about prices: https://gist.github.com/rgs/6509585

raverbashing6y ago

Interesting list, though I'm not sure what do they mean by n. 7

jsjohnst6y ago

jjeaff6y ago

I also have a few. You could buy a stack of 100 trillion dollar bills few a few bucks then. They are now selling for $50-$60 on eBay.

1 more reply

raarts6y ago

Apparently hyperinflation: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Zimbabwean_dollar and https://currencyconvert.net/zimbabwe-dollar/dollar

LanceH6y ago

1. Money in a brokerage account is not US currency.

zrobotics6y ago

While it isn't physical US currency, my brokerage account represents the value of the account in units of USD- therefore any rules about how US currency works should apply.

Additionally, fractional cents are often presented to the consumer when purchasing gas/fuel.

F-0X6y ago

blowski6y ago

How do you store Bitcoin?

zelly6y ago

Bitcoin uses fixed-width unsigned integers. The smallest unit is 10^-8 of 1 Bitcoin, which is represented as just 1.

blowski6y ago

I like this approach. Is it compatible with the parent comment?

1 more reply

nitwit0056y ago

No it can't. There are systems that track things worth less than a penny for later billing, but at the end of the month when they bill someone, they do some sort of rounding.

ars6y ago

If you are earning interest at a bank, and you've earned a fraction of a penny, they will eventually pay it to you once you've earned enough for a whole penny.

i.e. they track your account balance to more than 2 digits, they just only show you 2 digits.

jcranmer6y ago

Someone should tell that to everyone who ever used a ½¢ coin in the US. Also, US law explicitly states (31 USC §5101) that the unit of 1/1000th of a dollar is a mill.

coldtea6y ago

>Someone should tell that to everyone who ever used a ½¢ coin in the US.

All 10 of them?

jsjohnst6y ago

I’ve got some at home, but admittedly I’d never use one as currency. I also have US ½¢ paper notes too.

nitwit0056y ago

Go to a bank and ask for a half penny or a thousandth of a dollar. Let me know how it goes.

jsjohnst6y ago

Go to a bank and ask for a $500 or $1000 note too. They won’t give you one as they aren’t in circulation anymore, but most (all?) will let you deposit it for face value.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse