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U.S. Mint Will Try Dollar Coins Again

by Flexo on November 22, 2006

in Uncategorized

The U.S. Mint has unveiled the first designs for the new Presidential Dollar Coin program. The new coins will feel identitcal to the Sacagawea coins that begun production a few years ago.

For some reasons, the American public just doesn’t like dollar coins. Most vending machines won’t take them, and companies don’t want to retool their equipment to deal with them. Yet the Mint continues to come up with new programs to push the coins. They do last a lot longer in circulation than paper bills, so would save money in production if they were to catch on.

Presidental Dollar George WashingtonThere are some things that make this coin unique:

* Some text inscription will be on the edge rather than the face.
* Rather than the word “Liberty,” which is found on other coins, the new $1 pieces feature a design of the Statue of Liberty.

The Mint is hoping that people will take to the presidential dollar coins the same way the public enjoyed the state quarters series. It seems to me that people just won’t use the coins enough to make the program worthwhile. There has been no success yet, and I don’t think any marketing will make the coins more useful in everyday life.

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Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • henry
    Until they take the dollar bill out of circulation, the dollar coin will be doomed to failure.
  • brian
    They should get rid of the penny first. I am always trying to get rid of my change because I have no good way to hold them other than to shove coins into my pocket and they are heavier than bills.

    I think the first comment above nailed it though. Get rid of dollar bills if they want us to accept dollar coins. We won't have a choice.
  • Around here, all the vending machines take the dollar coin and, more importantly for the vending companies, return it as change.

    The dollar coin is a boon for the vending companies. Now if you don't have a dollar bill, you can pay for your candy and soda at the vending machine with a $5, $10, or even a $20 with less risk of a pocketful of quarters as change.
  • I'm all for a dollar coin, but as others have mentioned I don't think it will be very successful until the paper dollars are removed, or at least significantly reduced from circulation.

    That was one thing I loved when traveling through Europe was the Euro currency. Even though they still use the equivalent of a 1 and 2 cent coin, the way the coins are broken up is fantastic. You have 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 1 and 2 euro coins. Even with so many different coins, it was extremely effective. For small purchases or using in machines.

    I hate fumbling through my wallet just for a few singles for a small purchase, or worse yet having to break a larger bill just to buy something that costs a dollar or two.

    After spending over 3 months using the Euro currency, coming back and getting accustomed to our money was interesting.
  • Canada has been using a dollar coin for a while now and it has been a success! It's really the natural way to go as inflation eats away at money value.

    Joe
    http://www.StingyFinance.com
  • Mrs L
    Why don't they invest in some sort of incentive to vending machine makers to get them to take dollar coins--some sort of government grant or tax credit to defray the costs of altering the machines? I can't see the use of $1 coins becoming widespread until they can be used in soda machines.
  • its yet another stupid idea.

    dollar coins will not take on because they're heavy. thats why we have paper notes in the first place.
  • How about credit cards for everything? People spend more when they don't have a concept of actual money, so that should help out the economy (until it all collapses and everyone declares bankruptcy)
  • Cujo
    On the contrary, I think recent dollar coins have failed because they're not heavy enough. The Susan B, and the backward-compatible Sacagawea, and now this one - all too similar to the quarter. Now the English pound - THAT's a coin.
  • MD
    I just spent a month in New Zealand, where all cash transactions are rounded to the nearest ten cents, they have $1 and $2 coins, and the bills are different colors and sizes. Oh, and taxes are always included in the posted prices. It was so much easier.

    Let's get rid of the penny and bring back the $2 bill (or coin!).
  • I seen Henry had the same thought as me.

    The only way to make the coin catch on, is to take the dollar bill out of circulation...I beleive thats the way the U. K., and Canada did it and probably any country that went to the dollar coin.
  • I actually have a page on my blog to try to create a list of vending machines that accept dollar coins. When I worked close to my bank, I would go get my weekly allowance out in rolls of dollar coins but now that I work further away and with miserable bankers hours I have them less often.

    http://epistolary.org/6348.html

    My non-scientific study concludes that half the people I pay with dollar coins get a real kick out of them, and half accept them grudgingly. That's a 100% acceptance rate in my book. :-)

    The newer vending machines never complain.
  • W.Ward
    My friends in Canada HATE their $1 gold coin (appropriately called the Looney buck)
    I would NEVER use them at a store. I've worked in retail where you have to account for the quantity of each currency at the end of the night. What a pain in the ass for the store accountant who had to separate them out and go to the bank to make a conversion to get the registers to balance with an equal amount of bills.
    Any coins have become a hassle at the airport.
    They're heavy.
    The artwork is ugly.
    I wouldn't want to carry Bill Clinton in my pocket. Or anywhere near me, thanks. The thought makes me cringe!

    It would be better if the government could pay TEACHERS what they're worth instead of sports celebrities. THAT would be a wiser use of money.
  • Eric
    I think it is the banks that cause the failure of the dollar coins. Try to get some. You can't unless you order them directly from the mint at a substantial markup. I believe the banks dont want or cant deal with them so they dont get them and it dies a quick death.
  • TJLeeland
    Teachers already get paid what they're worth; more really since most of my K-12 teachers were completely worthless.

    I really like $1 coins. I used to get $20 a week when I deposited my paycheck; they're great for tolls and driving-releated expenses. The problem is that the only place I could ever get them was at the bank, and even that slowly dried up.
  • Jiri
    Some thoughts:

    If the Mint REALLY wants the dollar coint to be popular, stop wasting money on the dollar bill.

    Also: For two thousand years the accepted standard for portraiture on coins has been the profile view. Why is the Mint is dead set on suddenly producing coins featuring full facial portraits? There's a word for a coin like that: UGLY.

    Finally: At least the Treasury has FINALLY, I realized that Americans like having portraits of PRESIDENTS and FOUNDING FATHERS on their coins, as opposed of women simply for the sake of having a woman on the coin. If heaven help us Hillary is the next President, I'll bite the bullet and accept the fact taht eventually she'll be featured on a coin. But let's hope it's a pretty one, featuring a classical profile portrayel.
  • Jiri
    Edit:

    "At least the Treasury has FINALLY realized that Americans..."
  • Funny Money
    When will the U.S. Mint produce a coin that has a value of one dollar, instead of 6 cents? The 5 cent Jefferson nickel has more value then the new dollar.
    Do you trust a coin that no longer has "In God We Trust" removed?
  • The "In God We Trust" inscription is on the edge of the new dollar coin... but I don't see how that has any bearing on "trust" of the coin's value itself.

    The fact that it costs more for the Mint to produce coins than the face value of the coins is a cash flow problem that the Mint has to work out.
  • Lon Willis
    I remember back in the late seventies when they designed the susan be anthony dollar it was the same controversy about the vending machines. They took the previous coin (large) ike dollar and they did extensive testing of vending machines and agreed the new coin would be a benefit.

    However I remember the general public did not like the coin they reported the coin looked liek a quarter and it was ugly.

    My point:

    The susan b anthony dollar and sacagawea dollar and all the presidential dollars are the exact weight and will work in the previous machines and new machines.

    I frequently go to machines to obtain change in dollar coins. I have found 30 or more machines that will give you change in dollar coins

    Thank You
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