Like say, the $5 bill, where he is already.
can’t remember who said this, and I’m too lazy to go back:
If the gov’t’s concerned about the political fallout from doing away with the dollar bill, why not just print fewer of them each year, and more of the dollar coins?
The banks would have to give out more of the coins, and cashiers would get used to receiving and giving out the coins. There would still be dollar bills floating around, to satisfy people’s conservative instincts, but the proportion of dollar coins in ciruculation would increase as time went on.
As well, it’s my understanding that the US, like most countries with stable currencies, never dishounours its currency. As someone else noted, the old 50 cent notes are still legal tender, but when they come into the banks, I assume just get taken out of circulation. That approach is a key principle in keeping people’s confidence in the currency. Gradually reducing the number of dollar bills in circulation, while still keeping them as legal tender, would respond to that concern.
Flymaster asks:
Flymaster, I think you’re missing a key psychological point - it’s easier to leave tips in change than in bills. Maybe I’m cheap ( :o ), but I noticed that when the loonie came in, I was leaving bigger tips at the bars and restaurants. It was just easier to leave coins on the table than bills, somehow.
So, maybe the hassle factor will increase a bit as you mentioned, but if it results in the servers getting more $$ in tips, you think they’ll complain?
What? I think it was named the Shatner building when I was there. Did he make them un-name it?
They don’t HAVE to be heavy. If we redesign our coinage, we can make sure the new coins are lightweight. Why not make them out of colorful plastic? Lightweight, easy to tell apart. They don’t have to be made of a material that’s worth anything; bills aren’t.
We can also make our new coins logical – the smaller the coin, the lower its value.
Ha! You’re right. Yet I’ve read that the Illinois Congressional delegation is strongly opposed to scraping the penny, due to it’s portraying Lincoln.
I currently own four Sackies, one for each of the other members of my family, and those are the only ones I have seen. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, and I can see the logic of using coins that don’t wear out as fast as paper money, but obviously it isn’t working well.
As for eliminating pennies, I’m not crazy about paying several cents more for every single thing I buy. The sales tax rate here is .0775. Does anybody honestly think that won’t go up to ten in very short order when there are no pennies to pay the odd amounts? Does anybody think that stores will round things DOWN to the nearest nickel?
jti said
Uh, what other countries would that be? Canada and …?
As to where all the half dollars are: my educated guess is, sitting in bags in all the Federal Reserve Banks and the US Mint vaults. The government is storing most of them as the general public never really used them since the 1960’s.
Oh yes. The 1965-1970 40% silver halves and their melt value. My coin store currently pays the public 60 cents ea each for the halves. We sell them to the refinery and get about 70 cents each. We ship $1000. face value bags and make a little after expenses.
I think it helps when most commonly circulating coins can be used, by themselves, to buy everyday small articles of commerce. For instance, when I was in Germany (late '70s),
I could get a beer for a mark (one coin), or an inexpensive lunch for two or three marks (one or two coins). An American style hamburger could be had for about 5 marks (also one coin). Incredibly, I could get a great Italian meal, with wine, at a table, with full service, for 6 or 7 marks (as little as two coins to pay for the entire meal).
Consequently, change never piled up, it got used.
(I’d appreciate if anyone could update my information about prices and coins in Germany).
Here in the Good Old USA, disregarding the Sackie, I can’t think of anything you can really buy with a coin, except for a newspaper, or maybe a few minutes on the parking meter.
[Remainder of post is in Old Fart Mode]
But when I was a young whippersnapper (10 years old in 1968)
we could buy LOTS of things with coins. Gum cost a nickel.
Any of a wide variety of popsicles and similar items could be had for a dime. Sodas, bags of chips, etc., anywhere from 8 to 20 cents depending on where you bought them. The bus cost a quarter to ride. For 50 cents you could get a Plenti-Pak of gum, which held 50 sticks. For a buck or two you could get a huge variety of toys, Revelle car or airplane models, etc.
The only time change EVER piled up was when we could discipline ourselves to save some in a piggy bank.
Unfortunately Flymaster is probably right, it won’t do much to decrease the supply of quarters. What’s more, the person leaving the tip is likely to be very eager to unload 12 quarters on the server–if he has them–and hang on to “better” currency (including Sackies). However, this phenomenon isn’t a result of introducing the Sackie, even if the dollar bill were to be eliminated. Instead, it happens because coins that are too low in value relative to their size and weight–as are all of our coins except the Sackie–inevitably pile up in pockets and change jars.
I was stationed there for a couple years, when I wasn’t keeping the peace in the Balkans, and in Bavaria at least, a glass of beer runs around 4.40 DM during regular hours at an average pub, and 2.50 DM during “Happy Hour.”
With the exchange rate, that’s pretty cheap, considering. At the Getranktmart, a case of 20 1/2 litre bottles of beer ran around 18 DM sans deposit, or 24 DM total.
Everyone I talked to didn’t seem too happy with the coming Euro currency, they seemed to believe that everything will become much more expensive once the transition is complete.
I did bring quite a few sackie dollars to confuse the natives on post… 
They are all in the casino trays in Las Vegas. Go there, and every time you hit blackjack with a $5 bet out, you’ll get a 50-cent piece.
Don’t let them know about the semi-silver ones from 1964-1970, since they let lots of those slip. I have half a dozen thanks to Las Vegas. 
Woo hoo! Just went to a vending machine here at the hotel where I work and not only did it take them, but it actually had a little sticker ad, “Use the golden dollar here!” with a picture of it. Way cool!
It’s only a matter of time…
Esprix