It hurts to spend cash. Literally . And in a way, that’s a good thing. Because we’re living in a time where most people have less than $1,000 in their bank accounts, and almost $5,000 in credit card debt . Yet it’s unfair to simply blame the middle class’s financial woes on some lack of self-control, because in the age of smartphone payments, Amazon’s Subscribe & Save, and good old credit card swipes, who earnestly considers their monthly budget every time they buy a coffee?

Scrip is a provocative solution to a world full of easy electronic payments. A concept by NewDealDesign (NDD)–a design firm known both for working on major products like Google’s late Project Ara, Fitbit, and Lytro, as well as feasible sci-fi tech like swappable tattoos that live under your skin. It’s a digitally connected, mechanical brass coin that you load with money like a MetroCard. And as you go about your day, paying for things via wireless NFC connections (like Apple Pay), it offers braille-like tactile feedback so that you recognize how much you’re spending.

“It’s a digital-physical, or a physical-digital object that’s enabling transactions akin to cash,” explains NDD founder Gadi Amit. “This project was almost a paradoxical effort to approach interaction design from the perspective of, let’s do something inefficient that people really do have to pay attention to, that’s quite literally trying to stimulate the pain receptors in your body.”

Sure, in a utopian society this frictionless spending makes sense. But that’s not the world most of us live in.

The Scrip itself is a beautiful copper object, designed to look as precious as any currency, and weighing in at a solid ounce (about one-fifth of your iPhone, but heavier than most change or jewelry). Its aesthetic was inspired by Japan’s Tokugawa coinage, which was oval in shape and stamped with relatively complex texturing. Whereas most coins really rest in your palm, this Scrip is designed to be grasped more like a deli ticket.

For an interactive, electronic device, these ergonomics were key. Because in theory, you approach an NFC payment station with the Scrip. The station beams over the money you owe, which is displayed. Then, the Scrip’s braille-inspired surface, powered by actuators, begins stamping out virtual currency in giant numbers that you can both see and feel (a feat that NDD says they could pull off in real production, since braille computer displays do it successfully already). Say you owe $26. A $20 will appear. You swipe the Scrip toward the payment station. Then a $5 will appear. You swipe that. And then a $1. The oval shape allows you to hold the Scrip in one hand, which provides a directionality necessary for this swipe gesture.

“It’s meant to mimic the act of peeling off the bills,” says NDD lead experience designer, Jaeha Yoo. Or, I imagine, flicking away your life savings of pokéballs just to buy a bodega sandwich.

In prototypes, NDD has even experimented with using integrated gyroscopes and motors, to produce simulated weight, making it feel like your Scrip was lighter or heavier based upon how much money was left in your account. “It’s speculative if that can be achieved,” says Yoo. “We tried playing with hacked things to create the effect, and it worked, but it was extremely crude.”