Should the USD one-dollar bill be phased out, and a dollar coin replaces it? (complaint, interest)

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by Fallout Zone

Parking meters, bus fares, and vending machines can all be done electronically now. I can think of two things that I have had to use coins on in the last year - little rides for my daughter and air for my tires at the gas station.

This may have been a good idea a couple of decades ago, but there is no point in making the switch in a digital world.

Even those are going with a credit card option around here (Twin Cities). Except for Kwik Trip ... still free there, with metered air pressure.

[droc31]

No. Coins weigh too much and are harder to transfer than paper currency. This is why casinos have phased out coins in favor of payout tickets.

[homelessinseattle]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

You do understand this isn’t a liberal conservative issue right? It’s about cost of keeping physical notes vs coins. The reason it’s not been better adopted is because you’ve had an option, if they would do away with the dollar notes you wouldn’t have a choice. Plenty of other large developed countries have eliminated it and don’t have an issue surviving

For centuries people used coins as currency. Then we advanced to paper so people wouldn't have to lug around sacks of metal coins. So you'd like to go backwards and be like other countries. Jump on the next aircraft.

[Pyewackette]

In response to a question asking "what happened to Susan B. Anthony dollars":

Originally Posted by MLSFan

nothing, but not many people like using them

Susan B. Anthony dollars were only minted for 3 years - 1979 through 1981, and again for one year in 1999.

The problem was that they were designed so it was difficult to differentiate them from a quarter. Now they have a new design that is slightly larger and supposedly gold colored - but they are only a LITTLE larger than a quarter and the gold finish seems to wear off rapidly. I have one (with Madison on it) that I was apparently given by accident somewhere by a cashier who thought it was a quarter. I wasn't even sure it was real at first, had to go look it up. It really doesn't look gold colored at all - it looks like a slightly discolored quarter.

If you want to go to coins instead of paper money - which I think is a supremely bad idea - you have to make the coins easy to differentiate one from another. Our US mint seems to be terrible at designing coins that you can easily tell apart. Everything is fine until you start talking dollar coins - then they all come out looking like quarters.

There are any number of ways to differentiate larger denomination coins (and I hope they don't do it any time soon given the added weight and clumsiness of a large coin), including:

Making the coin NOT round, say octagonal or square or pentagram shaped or triangular - you could round off the edges so they don't poke holes in pockets and wallets and still make them some shape other than round.

Drill a hole through the middle.

Make them of copper coated zinc like a penny, only larger. And still larger than a quarter or with some deeply etched or raised design on the face or edges so you can tell by feel as well as appearance.

Before they came up with electronics capable of recognizing and processing dollar bills in vending machines, there was some use for a dollar coin. I really don't see that there is any practical need for such a coin these days, however.

Though I must admit - in the past it might have been an absolute boon to blind people to make large denomination coins (that are easily differentiated from other coins by feel alone). However these days they probably just use a debit card or other electronic method to pay for purchases. I know I would, rather than having to rely on a sighted person to tell me what denomination my bills are.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by homelessinseattle

For centuries people used coins as currency. Then we advanced to paper so people wouldn't have to lug around sacks of metal coins. So you'd like to go backwards and be like other countries. Jump on the next aircraft.

There’s nothing going backwards about opting to replace cloth bills with coins especially when it’s cost effective to do so. Given the propensity for electronic transactions you won’t need sacks of metal coins as many other countries seemed to avoid that albatross. Your response is just a silly as your first political nonsense

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by droc31

No. Coins weigh too much and are harder to transfer than paper currency. This is why casinos have phased out coins in favor of payout tickets.

Actually the change to paper tickets is purely to keep more money in the actually accounts of the casinos and not in the machines. Another reason for bills/tickets over coins is velocity and turnover of play.

[selogic]

Not no , but hell no . How many dollar coins have to fail before they stop that nonsense ?

[engineman]

Originally Posted by Threestep

What happened to the Susan B Dollar coins?

When there is both paper and coins, no one wants the coins. It has to be one or the other.

Canada has been using coins for years.

[kamban]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

You do understand this isn’t a liberal conservative issue right? It’s about cost of keeping physical notes vs coins. The reason it’s not been better adopted is because you’ve had an option, if they would do away with the dollar notes you wouldn’t have a choice. Plenty of other large developed countries have eliminated it and don’t have an issue surviving

I take it you like coins but don't impose your wish on to the rest.

I lived in UK and hated carrying all that pound coins. Thank goodness I don't have to do that here. I need the occasional quarters for air pumps and the occasional toll booths. The paper dollars are much easier, now that I have to carry a smart phone on one pocket and a wallet with credit cards, driver's license and other assorted store cards along with paper cash. Anyway most of my transactions are in CC except for the tips in hotels and for valets where a dollar bill or two suffices.

If people really wanted dollar coins they would clamor for it. They didn't.

[Lieneke]

Originally Posted by homelessinseattle

The idiocy is its been tried over and over and failed every time, but liberals won't stop until they get what they want.

There was a time when double bubble cost 2 cents and a chocolate bar cost a dime. It made sense to have small coins. Today a chocolate bar costs more than a dollar, so who needs pennies, nickels and dimes? You need too many of them to buy anything so you end up with a pocket full of useless heavy coins. Better to have a loonie or a townie, get a couple of quarters in change, and no heavy pocket full of coins to haul around.

... nothing to do with politics, everything to do with today's cost of living and being practical.