I got stuck with some Sacagawea dollars (change from a stamp vending machine).
It was quite an effort getting rid of them. Nobody knew what they were, and they always had to ‘ask their manager’ before accepting.
Here is a story about around a BILLION of them sitting in a warehouse, because nobody wants them:
http://www.good.is/post/why-are-1-billion-dollar-coins-just-sitting-in-the-federal-reserve/
That said, I would rather have Ronald Reagan or George Washington on them than that Indian Shoeshine girl.
They should be destroyed. a billion is not much in the way of inflation defense, but it is a start.
This is hard for a Canadian to understand. There was a lot of debate about the Loonie, when it was first minted; but they soon became very popular. When the Toonie was introduced, there was no debate — it was an instant success.
When you consider inflation, over about the past 5 decades, a dollar coin is worth what a nickel used to be worth. A five dollar coin (we might be getting one of those in Canada, soon) would be worth what a quarter was “back when”.
The real problem is having a pocket full of nearly-worthless pennies and nickels. Canada is no longer minting the one cent coin, because it costs a lot more to produce and circulate it, than it’s worth. It all comes down to a side-effect of inflation.
The larger coins proved very handy for vending machines and parking meters. Of course, with the move to digital transactions, all coins and small bills will soon be largely obsolete; and the issues with them will then be moot.