US $1 Coin, Take 4

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Maybe you all know about this, since the act was passed last year, but I only just heard: it looks like the US will be introducing a dollar coin again next year -- the fourth such attempt in my lifetime. This one is going to mimic the State Quarter series. There'll be five designs issued each year, and each design will feature a different (dead) US president on the front and the Statue of Liberty on the back.

Anyway, I'm prompted again to wonder why on earth it's so hard to launch a dollar coin in the US. Canada has 1 and 2 dollar coins, and the EU has 1 and 2 Euro coins; the Japanese have a 500 yen coin, which is currently worth about $4.50. We may be the only advanced economy that still uses paper for a denomination that small. Why are we so resistant?

Personally, I'd love to see a dollar coin take hold, and then see the $2 bill increase in circulation. I got a $2 in change the other day; it's a cool bill.

Dollar coins.

[DanS]

All coins are from the devil. I'm with Sten Sture when he said that coins drive him bat**** crazy.

I thought we were moving toward a cashless society anyway?

Credit cards
Coins

[KrazyHorse]

Anyway, I'm prompted again to wonder why on earth it's so hard to launch a dollar coin in the US.

a) Because the US is full of old fogeys afraid of change. (metric system)

b) Because the US government refuses to actually commit to change by discontinuing the printing of 1$ bills

[GePap]

pure habit. People are accustomed now to whole dollars always being paper currency. Also coins are out of favor, too heavy and cumbersom.

[mrmitchell]

I don't like dollar bills. They are very cumbersome, and too much of a pain in the ass to get out for just one dollar...when you try to put them in a vending machine they're always too bent and wrinkled to work. I gladly welcome the day when they switch to coins.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yeah, but coins are still much better than paper for vending machines.

(x-post with Mr. Mitchell there...)

Plus, I like coins; good-looking ones, like the Peace Dollar, are like little bas reliefs that you get to carry around with you.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I ****ing hate coins, that's why. I'm fine having a paper dollar. All my change ends up going into a big plastic box anyway (which gets emptied at a Coinstar when its full), since I hate carrying it around with me.

[DaShi]

China uses coins up to 5.0, I believe. And for every coin there is a paper equivalent. I think that having both works just fine.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I ****ing hate coins, that's why. I'm fine having a paper dollar. All my change ends up going into a big plastic box anyway (which gets emptied at a Coinstar when its full), since I hate carrying it around with me.

See, I think lots of people in the US feel this way, which is why we can't make a go of a dollar coin.

What I don't understand is why we are alone in feeling this way, out of everyone in the industrialized world. Canadians, Brits, the Dutch, the Japanese -- none of them have this resistance.

Beyond that, we used to use coins a lot more. My mother has a bunch of Morgan dollars that she collected working as a bank teller in the 1950s, because people were still using them then even though they had ceased being minted in 1921.

In other words, coins used to be more common in the US than they are now.

So we hate coins more than other first-world countries, and more than our own grandparents did. Okay: why?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Because coins are heavy. And they fall out of pockets easier when you are sitting down.

[Jaguar]

Coins suck. Kill the penny and the nickel! The dime can stay a little while, but it has to go eventually.

[techumseh]

It's simple. You introduce the dollar coin, and you take the bill out of circulation.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yes, but then we get pissed and vote the bums out

[Jaguar]

I would vote against anyone who tried to put more coins and fewer bills in circulation.

[Drake Tungsten]

The dollar coins are always too damn big. The 100 yen coin is smaller and lighter than a quarter and the 500 yen coin isn't too much bigger.