[MikeV]

Originally Posted by buggyone

Well, the Susan Anthony dollar was a failure as was the Sacajawa dollar. The silver dollar was just too big to carry around so that was a failure, too.

Keep the paper dollar. Much easier to handle.

If you have ever been to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and tried using one of our dollar coins for a tip or small purchase, they will not accept it.

I go to Cancun every September to my Time Share. When the new Dollar Coins came out I took a bunch with me to have some fun. You should have seen the looks I got from the locals when I handed them a dollar coin or two for a tip. They smiled with a funny look in their eyes thinking I gave them a quarter. When they looked at the coins it was really funny to see their reactions. It was as if they were stumped as to what they were. My wife thought I was cruel to do that but it was funny to me. Just my sense of humor I guess.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by cindyj99

I'd rather carry around $ coins if that means saving millions and millions of dollars each year than cut another dollar for education and food for the needy to balance the budget.

The problem is that millions and millions of dollars while in reality is a huge amount of money, it is a drop in the bucket when compared to our debt. Also, there is nothing to guarantee that any of this saved money will go to education, food for the needy or any other of your favorite programs. If it doesn't go to paying a very small portion of the interest on the debt, it will go to some politician's pet pork barrel project. The 535 will find some way to waste it. They usually do.

That being said, I think that dollar coin is a good idea. It will save millions and millions and that's not a bad thing. And those savings will go on every year from now on. The two problems brought up on this thread need to be addressed. The coin needs to be less bulky and printing of the dollar bill needs to stop. If this is done, the bill and coin will co-exist peacefully for a few years and the coin will eventually take over. Of course, thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of bills, perhaps a million, will be saved by people hoping that they will increase in value in the future. But even a million one dollar bills is a relatively small number.

Some ideas for a coin based on some foreign currencies that I've seen: Why does it have to be round? Many countries have coins that are octagonal in shape. It could be made smaller than a quarter, bigger than a nickel and a different shape. How about a pentagon in honor of our armed forces? Another alternative is a hole in the middle. Again I've seen this in foreign currencies. It could be made round with a star shaped hole cut out. Instead of a buck we'd call it a star. (Where did the term "buck" come from anyway?)

One of the problems that will arise from this change will be that vending machines across the country will have to be altered to accept a new sized, (or shaped) coin. I don't think that would be a problem. They were changed, or are in the process of changing to accept bills.

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by cindyj99

I'd rather carry around $ coins if that means saving millions and millions of dollars each year than cut another dollar for education and food for the needy to balance the budget.

i prefer to carry four $1 bills since they are lighter than four $1 coins; and because no one is advocating cutting any amount of money '...for education and food for the needy to balance the budget.'

regardless of the expense to the treasury dept, there is a more extensive/expensive impact on all of the businesses that would have to conform to the use of a coin rather than paper...and which cost would probably be quickly passed to consumers...from the article:
'Cash-intensive businesses would have to modify vending machines, cash register drawers and night depository equipment to accept $1 coins. Over the longer term, some businesses would have to buy coin counting and coin wrapping machines. Others would bear higher transportation and storage costs because of the heavier and bulkier coins. '

[billethkid]

did you know the last dollar coin that was cancelled remained in production after it was cancelled to honor the manufacturing contract? As a result, did you know there a billions of dollars of minted gold coins in storage? And did you know that the storage costs millions of dollars per year to lease the storage space? And finally did you know a couple of years ago they had proposed and increase in the warehouse size to accomodate future uncirculated coins to be produced? And I know you didn't know the constrction costs were to be approaching a million dollars!!!!!!

By the way that multi million annual storage fee is still being paid.....for the billions of dollars of uncirculated coins.

If the new proposal is for a new coin....then shame on everybody remotely involved. And shame on the silent, uninformed, we the people. Your REPRESENTATIVES at work fleecing America....and we the people approving it.

btk

[Cedwards38]

It's all going to be electronic at some point anyway. and then coin and currency become a moot point!

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by jblum315

What dollar coin?

All of these posts have not answered the original question. What dollar coin are we talking about?

The government cancelled the normal distribution of the US President gold dollars to the banks so that is not them. I did see something that they were planning on putting out gold dollars with the president's wives on them but I HOPE that was a dream.

I wish the OP would enlighten us as to what brought on this thread.

BTW: I agree that the only way to get the dollar coin into circulation would be to quit printing the dollar bill. But this is a government that will not quit minting the penny and the nickel even though it cost 2.00 cents to print a penny and 10.09 cent to print a nickel.

Cost to Make Penny and Nickel Declines But Still Double Face Value | Coin Update

The US mint has stored billions of dollars of the presidential gold dollar coins because no one wants them.

U.S. Suspends Production of Presidential $1 Coins - ABC News

They should cut their losses and flood the market with the gold dollars and suspend the one dollar printing to see how it goes.

Z

[jblum315]

The U.S. mint has over a billion dollars in dollar coins sitting in bags. Nobody wants them.

[Monkei]

Originally Posted by Cedwards38

It's all going to be electronic at some point anyway. and then coin and currency become a moot point!

You mean sort of like that not too old movie where everyone had a bar code on their arm. In the movie it was for time you had left on this world, but I guess it could be used for cssh.

[Monkei]

Originally Posted by zcaveman

All of these posts have not answered the original question. What dollar coin are we talking about?

The government cancelled the normal distribution of the US President gold dollars to the banks so that is not them. I did see something that they were planning on putting out gold dollars with the president's wives on them but I HOPE that was a dream.

I wish the OP would enlighten us as to what brought on this thread.

BTW: I agree that the only way to get the dollar coin into circulation would be to quit printing the dollar bill. But this is a government that will not quit minting the penny and the nickel even though it cost 2.00 cents to print a penny and 10.09 cent to print a nickel.


Cost to Make Penny and Nickel Declines But Still Double Face Value | Coin Update

The US mint has stored billions of dollars of the presidential gold dollar coins because no one wants them.

U.S. Suspends Production of Presidential $1 Coins - ABC News

They should cut their losses and flood the market with the gold dollars and suspend the one dollar printing to see how it goes.

Z

I thought it was pretty clear, there have been numerous articles in the news and in print about once again issuing dollar coins, in fact I think I read one article in Forbes where the coins were actually already minted. The articles were all about savings.

My post mainly questioned why try it again when it failed so badly the first two times.

I agree without a mandate to do away with the paper dollar this has very little chance in success either.

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by jblum315

The U.S. mint has over a billion dollars in dollar coins sitting in bags. Nobody wants them.

maybe the mint should sell them on one or all of those shopping networks!

[DougB]

Originally Posted by billethkid

did you know the last dollar coin that was cancelled remained in production after it was cancelled to honor the manufacturing contract? As a result, did you know there a billions of dollars of minted gold coins in storage? And did you know that the storage costs millions of dollars per year to lease the storage space? And finally did you know a couple of years ago they had proposed and increase in the warehouse size to accomodate future uncirculated coins to be produced? And I know you didn't know the constrction costs were to be approaching a million dollars!!!!!!.....

I didn't know that.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by cindyj99

I'd rather carry around $ coins if that means saving millions and millions of dollars each year than cut another dollar for education and food for the needy to balance the budget.

Cindy, you are obviously a female and carry a purse, so carrying coins makes no difference to you. I'm wearing shorts 99% of the time and don't want to be weighed down by heavy coins.

[BobnBev]

Originally Posted by BritParrothead

I have a Sakagawea golden coloured dollar coin. I was given it in change in Orlando about 5 years ago by a lovely Asian man, who told me not to spend it! Have kept it with other coins which will not be spent!

I have 5 of them. Was gonna give 1 to each of my siblings, never got around to it.

[Topspinmo]

An't going to matter" in five years that Dollar coin will be worth penny. If they want to save money get rid of the penny! use the copper for something else, O wait pennies not made out of copper due to copper worth more than penny!

[Rosie53]

I will retire from the US Mint in 2015. I work at the West Point Mint. We do not make circulating change; we make boullion and commemorative coins. The Treasurer of the US was here yesterday and we spoke about the issue. The dollar coin would replace the dollar bill. A coin lasts much longer than a bill so it would be a savings. As a Mint employee, it would be a boon for us but not for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which makes the paper money. Also, Congress will have to deal with the public who has expressed that they do not want to carry so much change. With the use of debit cards these days that issue may not be as important.