A new dollar coin made its debut last week featuring the likeness of George Washington on the front and the Statue of Liberty on the back. The U.S. Mint will release four gold-colored dollar coins each year, honoring American presidents in the order in which they served. Previous attempts to encourage use of dollar coins — namely the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea — were unsuccessful. Congress approved the minting of this new series, hoping it will be as popular as the “state quarters.” Evidently, Americans are as fond of their dollar bills as they are their pennies, which cost more to manufacture than they are worth. According to Associated Press, “Even though doing away with the bill could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs, there is no plan to scrap the bill in favor of the more durable coin.”
Posted by Patrice Hein
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- CapnAmerica on Open thread 11/23
- ProudMan on Too many exemptions
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
- CapnAmerica on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- CapnAmerica on Open thread 11/23
20 Comments
we need to go to either all coins or those plastic bills that lasts longer.
the problem is that coins can get misplaced easier than bills, butit is not at all cost effective to be using paper.
we don’t have places to put the extra coins in the cash registers. So please either figure out one or the other.
we don’t have places to put the extra coins in the cash registers. So please either figure out one or the other.
I wonder if these new coins are the same size as the Sacajewa gold dollar coin?
I suspect these new metallic dollar coins were requested by the vending machine industry. However, a pocket full of these coins will be heavy to carry. Do we now need stronger belts with suspenders?
This new dollar will do no better than the previous attempts, going all the way back to the Kennedy half dollars. It’s just a stupid waste of “money”. Pun intended.
“Do we now need stronger belts with suspenders?”
Yes. And of course we’ll need to legislate that in the future.
Another good thread for you Patrice! It is well past time the American public get used to the end of the dollar bill in favor of the more durable coin. That said? There are Presidents who will be featured on the coin who will cause me to reject the coin out of hand. To name a few? I will NOT accept a coin that has the likeness of Ronald Reagan or george bush! Herbert Hoover is out too.
Geez, the dollar coins have never worked well before, so what does congress do? Authorizes ANOTHER one that the market place of currency has rejected.
Sounds like more “stay the course”. I’m willing to bet this was done while congress was still in the hands of the republicans.
And what do they ALWAYS do when something clearly doesnt work? Why of course, they do the same things, just harder and faster, and they expect different results.
From coins to wars, it is the republican m.o.
Iraq anyone?
Truth be told, if printing the bill ($1) or minting the coin (1-cent) costs more than the value, it is absolutely insane for the Government to continue to produce.Change (no pun intended) in any form comes hard, truth be told.
Yup, I’m thinking the same thing, KSGrrl.
I loved the Sacagewea dollars.
But everybody confused them with quarters.
Until they solve that problem, they’re never going to gain wide acceptance.
Also, they could phase out the dollar bill and force people to use the dollar coin.
That makes about the most sense, since a dollar is now worth about a quarter . . .
Some other countries distinguish their high value coins by fusing two metals together–a gold center surrouned by a silver ring.
It makes it easy to spot from a less valuable coin.
It is more expensive to mint the coins, but they also last, unlike paper money, so the in the long term, it cost less.
They will be the same size as the Saca Dollar. The myth about they don’t fit in vending machines, is untrue. Most of all vending machines except dollar coins.
Cash registars have at minimum 5 trays for coins. Which the 5th tray is for dollar or half dollar coins, but is mostly filled with paper clips and rubber bands. So saying they won’t fit in cash registars is untrue.
Canada has long since abandon using paper currency for $1 bills. Actually not only do they have a $1 coin, but they have a $2 coin. Both are widely used and circulated.
Saying that they add weight to our pockets, isn’t as must as any other change. It only weighs 8 grams. You would have to have 57 of them just to equal one pound of weight.
People then ask about Wait staff and tips. They can exchange their dollar coins into large denomination bills, so there is no problem there.
I think the dollar coin can catch on, but people believe in these excuses myth, which aren’t true.
I go back to when there were silver dollars in circulation and they were widely used. They were also an awesome looking coin, especially compared to today’s cheesy offerings. Is there something besides the size of the old silver dollars that made them acceptable? Or has inflation doomed the dollar coin?
Personally, I like dollar coins but when they roll out a new series, you never seem to get them as change. I’ll bet I haven’t seen $30 worth of Sacagewea dollars. The only way to get dollar coins to take hold is to get them out there.
Its funny to see all the fools buying at 2x the value on ebay. same coin they can get in the bank at face value…Hello…They will mint 300 million coins so I do not think it will be a collector item so what up with these fools.The coin will end up in vaults, unused like the other two did because we still have the $ bill. When we get rid of the paper, then the coin will work. Not untill then
Eventually I think that all money will be in coin simply because laser printer technology and counterfeiting keep outwitting the technology keeping paper money secure. You cannot use computer technology to counterfiet coins.
Get rid of all CASH. Credit Cards all around!
I hate carrying cash, especially change.
Anyone that confuses the Sacajewa dollar with a quarter needs to wear glasses. The gold color should be a dead giveaway.
The reason both earlier coins failed is the mint does not want to deal with them. The longterm cost of continuing to use paper vs. coins is huge.
Since most people rarely have more than a few $1 bills in their pockets/wallets/purses, the extra weight is minimal.
At some point, the system is going to cashless anyway, and everyone will have some form of debit card.
“At some point, the system is going to cashless anyway, and everyone will have some form of debit card.”
They’ve been saying that since we were supposed to flying around cars by now.
“At some point, the system is going to cashless anyway,”
How long have they been saying that? I’m still waiting for my flying car.
It is a lot closer than it used to be, and it will be sooner than later.
The technology is easily available to achieve cashless. Look at the growth in the instant check systems at some retailers. You write a check, they send through a scanner, and the money is out of your account almost instantly.
Direct deposit/EFT is another example. I saw an article many years ago where the federal government’s cost for writing a check was about $1 more than when they used DD/EFT. Multiply that $1 by how many checks the government writes in one month.
Debit cards have become increasingly more accepted by retailers, and some places on the East/West Coasts only deal in noncash transactions.
Congress mandated direct deposit for federal money years back, but backed down when the voters complained.
It will happen, and I believe it will happen in my lifetime.
The float for checks used to be the big reason consumers were against it, but now the float is gone. I had a check drawn from an out of state bank 1,000 miles away, and it cleared between the time I got home and the time I left the small bank I used.
As to flying cars, I would mention cell phones. Back in 1966-1969 when Star Trek first came out, the Communicator was considered advanced scifi, generations away. Or, the ability for me to post this to an internet board instantly and communicate with people from all over the world.