Around the same time I was working as a cashier when a woman came in with a Sacagawea dollar.

"Woah, look at this, I just got it as change from the vending machine. I think it's Middle Eastern. Very exotic."

"It's a dollar coin, US currency."

"Woah! No way, how can you tell!?"

"It says United States of America one dollar?"

"Oh."

>Concurrent dismay and delight.

That's exactly what I felt at the time too. To me it was always three-quarters delight and one-quarter dismay. A jangling rain of dancing gold coins is a delightful thing. Sure, now I have to go to the bank; but until that time I will walk around as a pirate, pockets full of doubloons.

USPS stamp vending machines around that time period were a great source of dollar coins. Didn’t commonly see them otherwise. Never had an issue spending them afterwards. Unlike the time I was in line at a fast food restaurant when the employee at the register was yelling at a customer about fake money. Turned out the “forgery” was a $2 bill.