'What coin is this?' Man tries paying with $10 Lee Kuan Yew coin, puzzling cashiers
To accept, or not to accept?
Several cashiers in in Bukit Timah were recently left puzzled after a man tried to pay for his items with a unusual-looking coin — the new commemorative $10 coin marking the 100th birth anniversary of Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
35-year-old personal finance content creator Seth Wee, who goes by Sethisfy, took to TikTok on Sunday (Sept 17) to share his experience of trying to use the shiny new coin at several stores such as Starbucks and 7-Eleven.
When Wee presented the coin at the counter, each of the cashiers in the video looked confused and hesitated over taking the money.
"What coin is this?" A supermarket cashier questioned before saying, "No la, this one cannot."
In similar fashion, another 7-Eleven staff curiously examined the coin, asking: "$10 Singapore [coin] ah?"
He then waved his arms in a cross sign, rejecting the coin.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@sethisfy/video/7279610395839466760[/embed]
Wee then passed the coin to the fascinated cashiers so they could take a closer look, eliciting responses such as "Oh my god" and "very nice leh".
In the end, the man paid for his purchases with his credit card.
"It was the first time they're seeing the coin so they weren't very willing to accept it and I wasn't serious in really using the coin to pay," Wee told AsiaOne.
Is it legal tender?
As some netizens commented that they were also confused about whether these coins can actually be used for payment, Wee clarified the coins are accepted, but suggested that most retail staff are likely to be unfamiliar with the coin.
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the coins are legal tender and can be used to pay for goods and services in Singapore.
The $10 coin, minted in aluminium bronze, features a portrait of Lee on one side and Singapore's coat of arms on the other side.
A total of four million LKY100 coins were minted, and successful applicants can collect the limited-edition coins from Sept 4 to Dec 3, MAS said.
All uncollected and remaining coins will be made available to the general public for exchange from Dec 4 onwards.
ALSO READ: Gotten an SMS from MAS for your LKY100 coin yet? Here's how and where you can collect your coins
lim.kewei@asiaone.com
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