U.S. Gov't to Release New Dollar Coins

AP ^ | Sunday February 11, 5:19 am ET | Will Lester

[BenLurkin]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two recent efforts to promote wide usage of a dollar coin proved unsuccessful. But maybe Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea should not take public rejection personally. It's not easy overcoming people's indifference to dollar coins, even those honoring such historic figures.

An AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of people surveyed oppose replacing the dollar bill, featuring George Washington, with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a dollar coin.

A new version of the coin, paying tribute to American presidents, goes into general circulation Thursday. 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.

"I really don't see any use for it," Larry Ashbaugh, a retiree from Bristolville, Ohio, said of the dollar coin. "We tried it before. It didn't fly."

A quarter-century ago, the dollar coin showed feminist Susan B. Anthony on the front; then one in 2000 featuring Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The latest dollar coin will bear Washington's image, followed later this year by those of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. A different president will appear on the golden dollar coins every three months.

People have strong feelings about their money, even the penny, which occasionally is threatened with elimination.

When people were asked whether the penny should be eliminated, 71 percent said no, according to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted Nov. 28-30 that had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Some fear that getting rid of the penny will cause product prices to be rounded up, perhaps increasing inflation.

[R. Scott]

Which would you prefer, putting a dollar bill in their g string, or a coin in the slot?

Here in Newport News it’s not an issue. They have to wear full bottoms and there is absolutely no touching allowed. Tips are placed on the stage.

[savedbygrace]

Sheesh, keys in one pocket, money in the other, with the bills in a little money clip. It's a no brainer, R.

The only small difficulty is when you have to put a credit card receipt in your pockets, but if you fold those and slip them into the money clip with the bills, it's not a big problem.

I'd rather have bills than coins. They're lighter. (Imagine that.)

Also, unless you keep your wallet in a front pocket, it's easier for a pickpocket to steal it. That's why I never put bills in my wallet. Credit cards can be canceled, but money is gone forever if stolen.

[jiggyboy]

I thought we were supposed to be a "cashless society" by now.. You know -- everything done by computer so that all of the Big Brothers, governmental and corporate, could know everything about everything we think, say, and do.....

They're working on it, be patient. In the past two months I've been turned away from both Home Depot and Best Buy because I wanted to pay for something (< $50) in cash.

Then there's that VISA ad that shows a guy bringing a hyper-busy, perfectly efficient diner (and by extension, capitalism itself) to a (literally) screeching halt when he dares to attempt to pay in cash.

[robertpaulsen]

"Sheesh, keys in one pocket, money in the other ..."

Mitch Henessey (singing): Putting the keys in my left pocket. Dah DAH dah dah. Gun in the right-hand side.
Samantha Caine: It makes a bulge, people can see.
Mitch Henessey: Ya want me to stick it in my pants and shoot my damn dick off?
Samantha Caine: Now you're a sharpshooter?

[savedbygrace]

Money should go in the left front pocket. That way, when somebody comes close enough to shake your hand, s/he'd have to reach all the way across your body to take your money.

(Corollary: If you attend an event that requires you to wear a name tag, stick it on your right breast/chest. That way, when people shake your hand, they can more easily read your name.)

[MarkL]

Why do they keep floating this crap? It's the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome... They tried it with the Eisenhower dollas (the BIG coin), the SBA, and the Sac. Why they don't just say, "the heck with it," and file it away, along with the Jefferson $2 bill, I have no idea.

Mark

[MarkL]

Let's go back to Liberty.

I doubt that'll ever happen... When was the last time you heard a modern day politician talk about "liberty?" It's like crosses to a vampire. Pols today talk about what they can do for you, using other peoples' money. In fact, I'm pretty sure that congress has outlawed the whole "liberty" thing, anyway.

Mark

[MarkL]

I've been to Canada and used their 1-dollar AND 2-dollar coins. It was just fine. No problems. So what's the deal here? Perhaps the government should just stop printing more 1-dollar bills. Duh!

I just thought of something... Have you been to a place where a teenager is making change? DAMN! I can't imagine some of these dullards having to deal with 1 or G-d forbid, 2 new coins!

Mark

[Future Snake Eater]

Why does the new coin make George Washington look like the Hypnotoad?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Probably not, but little items like taxes and interest rates would also round up...

---

They don't round up, they just round. And sales tax calculations today are already rounding to the nearest cent.

Or do you still miss the old half-cent?

Besides, in a free-market, stores can advertise whether they round fairly, up, or down, and you can decide where to shop, if you care about the two cents.

Why should we denominate transactions in increments smaller than the value of a minute of a minimum wage earner's time?

[MarkL]

Yup, I would be totally bummed out if that KFC Snacker sandwich went from costing 99 cents to costing a full dollar. The inflation associated with getting rid of the penny would undoubtedly destroy this country, LOL!

Well thats all fine and good for you, but my .79 cent bean burrito and my .69 cent soft taco will now be costing me a dollar. That would just ruin me. LOL.

I'm wondering what that would do to the state sales taxes... They're currently added in at fractions of a sent (for instance, the DARE tax in MO is 1/8 cent). The total sales tax in the county where I live is about 6 7/8 percent. I suppose that on top of everything else, the city, county, and state governments would have to round up as well, probably to at least a 10% tax.

Mark

[Atlas Sneezed]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Inflation has made our currency system irrational and inefficient.

Here's the revamp:
Bills:
$500 (need a larger bill, though the big government goons wouldn't like us with this freedom - note that there is a $500 Euro note)
$100
$50
$20
$10
$5
(We have dropped the $1 and $2 bills Coins
$5
$1
$.50
(drop the quarter, as we have dropped an entire digit from all transactions) $.10
(drop the nickle and penny)
The problem with a dollar coin is not that it weighs too much, but that it weighs too much when added to all that other puny change. There is no need for more than 4 (5 at most) coin denominations. It reduces weight, and makes it easy to use the coins you have, because they can be of distinct sizes.

With the above system (or a slight variant) you could one again pay for lunch, cab-fare, or a magazine without taking out your wallet. A pocket of change would have some purpose, instead of just transporting monetary scraps back to the jar on your dresser.

[OrioleFan]

I went to the post office to buy stamps out of the machine and it would only take one of my Five's so I had to put in a Twenty, and then I hit the jackpot on Sacajawea's when I got 1 book of stamps for $7.80. Sounded like a slot machine paying off.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I'm wondering what that would do to the state sales taxes... They're currently added in at fractions of a sent (for instance, the DARE tax in MO is 1/8 cent). The total sales tax in the county where I live is about 6 7/8 percent. I suppose that on top of everything else, the city, county, and state governments would have to round up as well, probably to at least a 10% tax.

---

That makes no mathematic sense at all.

Currently, the 6-7/8% tax on a (say) $15.88 purchase is $1.09 (rounded down from 1.0918). Under a system without pennies and nickles, the 6-7/8% tax on a $15.9 (no need for that last zero) purchase is $1.1, rounded up from 1.0931. You pay a total of $17.0, instead of $16.97. (Note that I could have come up with an example where the rounding benefited you, so that factor all averages out.)

And the three cents we are talking about can be earned in less than 20 seconds by a minimum wage worker. Imagine if this simplification saved a few seconds each time people made a transaction, because of the simplification. That, multiplied by billions of transactions weekly would add up. (Say each person in the nation has three transactions daily, that's a billion a day.) Save 5 seconds per transaction, that is a penny of minimum labor value saved per transaction or $10m per day, or 3.6b per year. Makes the currency printing cost worries look pretty small.

So, please, anyone. Name me a transaction in which a penny or nickle is important.

[maui_hawaii]

The US government is stupid. They make a $1 coin bigger and heavier than the size of a quarter.

Carry around $10 in ones and its like hauling a roll of quarters in your pocket. You will jingle all the way down the street.

I won't use them.

When I used to live in Australia they had it down. They had a $2 coin that was great. It was small but a bit thicker, and really easy to carry around. It was smaller than a US nickle, but it weighed more and was thicker.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

How many dollar bills do you carry?

I walk out the door with anywhere from $20 to $100. Since I don't drive, I always need to have money for taxis. The weight of a hundred dollar-coins in my purse would be unmanageable. Why do they keep trying to foist these stupid coins on us?

[Atlas Sneezed]

I walk out the door with anywhere from $20 to $100. Since I don't drive, I always need to have money for taxis. The weight of a hundred dollar-coins in my purse would be unmanageable. Why do they keep trying to foist these stupid coins on us?

---

May I suggest $5 bills?

Back a generation or two ago, we all got by just fine when a $1 bill was worth more than a $5 is today. (And the penny back then was worth more than today's nickle, and no one anguished about buying bits of candy, or evil tax rounding stealing their wealth.)

[BenLurkin]

I believe in keeping the wallet where one can keep one's hand on it during the entire conversation.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

May I suggest $5 bills?

I carry 5's, 10's, 20's. But who wants to carry that much in coins?

[BenLurkin]

Agreed that the silver eagles are a beautiful coin.

Could be issued in some base metal "sandwich 'coin'". Problem I guess is that they weigh about an ounce -- maybe keep the design but issue sandwich 'coins' in 1/4 ounce size?