I was thinking about the new Presidental $1 Coin program that the U.S. Mint started this year, and how they’ve tried to push $1 coins in the past, to no avail. I was thinking about how the rest of the western world has embraced $1 coins, and how the U.S.A. hasn’t, time and again. Canadians use both coin and paper $1, and they are only a few feet to the North. Why can’t we?
First off, weight. A person can carry $10 in singles in their pocket, and it barely weighs an ounce. In fact, there is no difference in weight if you carry $10 in singles, $50 in fives, $100 in tens, $200 in twenties, etc.
Secondly, paper dollars are easier to handle everywhere except at vending machines. When you’re at a deli and your lunch comes to $6.67, it’s a lot easier to pull out your wallet and pull out $7 in one swell foop than it is to pull out your wallet, pull out $5, then dig in your pocket for $2 in coins.
Number C, people are just used to paper dollars, and if you use a dollar coin, you’re gonna get some weird looks, some merchants might not take it, etc.
The general consensus is that the only way the U.S.A. will switch to a coin dollar is if we get rid of paper dollars completely. The U.S. Mint wants to do that because in the long run, dollar coins are cheaper than paper dollars, mostly because they last longer and therefore the Mint will not need to produce as many since they won’t be removed from circulation as often as paper dollars are (coins are supposed to last about 30 years in circulation).
But I’m here to tell you the real reason why the dollar coin will not catch on. It’s actually quite simple. The dollar coin will not catch on because American men will not use it. American men will not use it because it is next to useless in strip clubs.
There you have it. Until the mint can figure out how to make a dollar coin fit into a g-string, it will never be widely adopted.
I’m from Canada.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Canadian one dollar bill that wasn’t sealed in a plastic envelope…or a two for that matter.
But I have dozens of Sacajawayas (pardon the spelling) and a few Susan B. Anthonys as well.
But yes, they were from change machines in lunch rooms. Mostly in New Jersey.
Later,
Gordie.
I can’t tell you the look of disappointment that people get when they get a dollar coin as change from a vending machine.
I understand your points: I once tried to give a dancer a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, and it fell out of her garter and bounced on the stage… not a good experience.
But aside from that, the dollar coin, if used properly by merchants and the public, would be as common as half dollars used to be, before vending machines were designed to take up to quarters in coin.
I enjoy leaving the new dollars as tips, or for making small purchases. And yes, I am a numismatist, so I might be in the minority. I see the eventual discontinuation of the dollar bill (and the $2, despite how much I like it) in favor of coin as a good thing; our politicians lack the political will to do it (or much of anything that doesn’t (in)directly help them fill their campaign warchests).
The problem is that they won’t be used properly by merchants and the public because it’s a change of they way they’ve been doing things their whole life, and there is no perceived benefit to making that change. I liken it to the gas crisis of the ‘70’s…it’s been 30 years and we’re no closer to a real alternative to oil based car propulsion.
I think that being a numismatist makes you more apt to use the coins, just like an environmentalist is more apt to buy a hybrid car. Have you ever had someone refuse to take a dollar coin, especially the new Presidential series, because they didn’t think it was real, or U.S. currency, or just because they didn’t accept them? What about them telling you they prefer bills, or getting dirty looks?
I totally agree about the politicians, by the way.