…yet again.
Say what you like about the American spirit, one adjective that must describe it is persistent. Despite two failed attempts to interest Americans in the dollar coin, Congress is prepared to give the idea another stab. But will the third time charm? Given its history, I’d only be willing to bet a dollar coin.
"The recent history of the dollar coin in the United States is not a proud one.
"In 1979, the Treasury Department introduced the Susan B. Anthony dollar, and produced nearly one billion of them between 1979 and 1981.
"The Carter administration promoted it with a vengeance, calling it ‘the dollar of the future.’
"They hyped its cost-savings — metal lasts much longer than paper, so you don’t need to mint as often as you print.
"They hyped its subject — Anthony was the first woman (if you don’t count Lady Liberty) to appear on U.S. money since the early 19th century.
"They even hyped its design — the 11-sided polygon (a hendecagon) was meant to mark a clear difference between the coin and all others.
"Despite the fanfare, the public hated it. The Anthony dollar quickly became another quaint relic of the Seventies, like the AMC Pacer.
"In 1999, Treasury made another attempt at a dollar coin. This time, it honored the Shoshone woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark across the West.
"Boosters again made arguments about cost-savings and historical import. Americans again responded with vast national indifference.
"Three years after its introduction, a General Accounting Office poll found that 97 percent of American had not used the coin within the past month, and that 74 percent could not remember ever using one."
here’s the deal– when you go to europe, the 1 euro coin and the 1 pound coin are hefty, substantial– they look like money. people use them, they are convenient. that can work here, too, if they make the coin right. issue a thick, substantial coin, maybe a different color. put washington on it, not some gloria steinem clone, in a glorious equestrian pose. take the dollar bill out of circulation and redesign the quarter with reagan on it. now THAT’S an idea, eh?
The problem is that they don’t coin enough dollars and they print too many dollars for dollar coins to work.
If they would quit printing paper dollars, sooner or later the public would have to use the dollar coin.
The Anthony dollar was clunky, ugly, and almost the same size as a quarter which made for a lot of confusion. The store clerks I dealt with sure didn’t like it.
The Sacagawea dollar is definitely prettier – the gold color helps, as does the handsome young Indian lady who modeled for Sacagawea – but most banks (at least here in Chicago) don’t carry them. Every once in a while I go to a nearby small bank and buy a roll of them for $25. All the rolls are still from the 2000 minting, which shows you how slowly they’re moving. And the store clerks *still* don’t like them. However the Chicago Transit Authority farecard machines accept them, which is where I end up spending most of them.
I agree with Tim that the only way you’ll get Americans to use the dollar coin is to force the issue by taking the $1 bill out of circulation. They’ve done this in Canada and in the UK (no more one-pound notes). I don’t think people will like it though, unless you design a coin with a little heft and class to it. I’ve seen the Canadian “loonies” and the new Brit coins, and they look ugly and cheap.
No..no…no…it’s the 21st century. It’s time to get rid of paper and coins and go to electronic. I buy almost everything off my debit card. Let’s get on with it!
StephenL – I can’t wait until they replace the coin/dollar slots on vending machines with debit/credit card readers (but they’ll have to find a way to reduce the backend cost).
Bring ’em on! The kids & I are big fans of the dollar coins (though I definitely prefer the gold one.) We also ask for some $2 bills whenever we get cash; & the banks around here can almost always accomodate us.
The fun of people’s reactions as we spend them makes them well worth any (possible) inconvenience!
And speaking of vending machines: I HATE the paper bill slots!!! They are usually so finicky(sp?) that I’d rather walk or drive to a conveninece store than wrestle with folded, wrinkled paper bills in a vending machine.
If I win the lottery, one of the (many ridiculous) things I’m gonna do is buy as many vending machines in the area as I can reasonably afford, & update them to take (& dispense) the dollar coins. I actually stopped using ‘Vendo-Land’ at work when they disabled the dollar coin features on the machines. (That was probably a blessing for me, to tell the truth!)
I had read once that transit systems on the East Coast had embraced the dollar coin long ago. That alone should secure the coin’s future for some time.
dollar coin?!?! Do you mean those freaky silver things that come out as change at the Post Office Stamp machine?! I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. As I recall the cashier at the store at which I used them remarked, “What the heck are these?!”
If you take the train in Salt Lake City, you’ll end up with a lot of dollar coins as change when buying tickets. So they seem to be moving here at least – nobody looks at me funny in the drugstore when I spend them :).
Dollar coins are great… we have dollar AND two dollar coins in Canada. I mostly use plastic money anyways though.
Maybe if they got rid of the penny, people would tolerate another coin.
I doubt that people will switch until the paper dollar disappears.
The Sacagawea dollar might have caught on if the alloy used for the coins didn’t oxidize so quickly. My mother-in-law got some of these for my kids when they were born and now they are so dull (the dollars, not my kids) that they look like big pennies.
The Sacagawea dollar is the size that it is because it was designed to work in vending machines that accepted the Susan B. Anthony dollar. A heavier or thicker coin (like the old Eisenhower dollar) was ruled out.
By the way, does anyone else hate the new design for the nickel? It looks like a hypothetical Jefferson driver’s license.