The Intermediate Coin

Instrument — Abstraction of Value · Issued by Various

A currency sold in quantities that never match its prices.

The Intermediate Coin sits between the visitor's money and the visitor's purchase, and its single purpose is to sever the two. Priced in a denomination the visitor does not think in, the object being bought loses its relation to the dollar.

The museum draws attention to the specimen's defining property, visible in the case to the right: the coin is sold in bundles, and the bundles are sized so that no bundle ever equals a price. A remainder is always left over, and the remainder invites the next bundle.

The mismatch is not incidental to the instrument; it is the instrument. A bundle equal to a price would settle the account and end the relationship. A bundle that cannot equal a price leaves a balance, and a balance is a reason to return.

The residue — the coins that cannot be spent and cannot be redeemed — is the true product. It has been calculated that a mature currency of this kind holds, at any moment, a considerable unspent float belonging to visitors who have already paid for it.

The remainder of this placard is reserved for the museum’s patrons. Your contribution of $2.00 ensures the continued preservation of this exhibit.

Provenance

c. 2005Console marketplaces adopt point-denominated currencies.
2013One major points system is retired; balances converted.
presentThe bundle-mismatch remains the prevailing design.