I was anxious to try this task given the limited number of conventional places of business on base (camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq). We have the following to choose from: The AAFFES exchange, a "bazaar," a gift shop, a pizza hut, a subway, and a green beans coffee cafe. I knew there would be no way I could get the AAFES folks to barter with me (staffed by government employees) but I was hopeful that one of the third country local nationals (TCNs) manning one of the other businessess would be more amenable to a non-conventional transaction. I thought that the gift shop or bazaar would be the best place to try this - I mean come on - its all about haggling, right? Wrong! They were willing to barter for only one thing - cold hard cash. So, on to the fast food type joints. Since I am a regular (caffeine junkie) at green beans, I figured this would be my best bet. But how to ask? I had just purchased a 50 dollar coffee card last week, so they knew I had a conventional way to pay for coffee - clearly I didn't need to barter. So, feeling a mite shady (once again with an SF0 task) I approached the barrista last night and just asked him if he would be willing to let me trade for a cup of coffee today. I showed him my articles of barter (an army coin and an american patch) and waited for him to consider my offer. I didn't have long to wait. He immediately said yes, and went about making my coffee.

As far as value goes, the cost of the coin was at least as much if not more than the cup of coffee. For info on the non-monetary value of military coins, check out:Military Coins

UPDATE: The next night, feeling a bit guilty about not paying for my coffee, I offered to pay for the previous cup along with tonight's. Punam declined. It was truly a done deal