In Reply to: Coin Bracelets posted by beccraig on Thursday, 5. January 2012 at 17:10 Bali Time:
You can get them anywhere, just ask anyone "do you make the bangles out of coins" and you will be making a deal within 2 minutes.
I go on the beach, just outside of Jayakarta Motel Legian entrance beach side, buy them from Bob Marley looking guy (he hangs around Chonky's and Nymon's beach bar/esky). You will be able to get them for less than $10 AU easy (probably half that).
Just to have a bit of fun and a laugh, give him a gold coin, it only costs you $2 and he is happy and you are happy for helping him out. Every time I visit, I catch up with him, I don't buy the bangles but I do take all his coins from him and give him a better rate than he would get from his buddies at the airport. So he gets to sell a bangle for IDR, plus get $2AU than I exchange his AU cash for 11 days while I am there and his $2AU turns into $20 IDR. I feel great for helping him out relaxing on the beach with a bintang chatting too him and his mates and he gets a good deal as well.
My first visit to Bali, I used to barter hard and squeeze every cent I could, now I just compare it to buying lunch and a coffee in Melbourne ($15 down the drain in 10 minutes) so if you can get a bangle that lasts a lifetime of memories for $10, how cheap is that!!(even if it does go green, that will also make you smile when you look at it and remember your time on the beach chatting and think about those cheeky buggers just trying to make a living)