Konrad: Thanks! Although for something that distinctive, I would have expected a higher value.
Markxxx: I doubt the Feds will remove the Suzies. They’re still valid U.S. currency, and I don’t think the Mint has ever recalled any coins. They probably won’t pull the Washington dollar, either, which would be the only way that a dollar coin would ever catch on. Suzies are so unpopular, that the only way the Feds could create a shortage of them would be to set up vats of molten metal and let everone throw them in :D.
–It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
Couple notes about the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin:
The Mint cranked out around 300 million of them in its premiere year. Since coins tend to last close to 50 years in circulation, they’ll probably be with us for a good long while yet. I get them from stamp machines at the post office.
The artist who designed the portrait of Susan B., as I recall, had two pictures to work with: one of her as a young woman and one as a fairly haggard old woman. Thinking wisely that no one would want the latter on a coin, he took some artistic license and ‘aged’ the young Susan in his portrait, hooking the nose and adding a few other touches of distinction. So, the portrait on the coin isn’t actually Susan B.; it’s just a good guess at her appearance, rather like the current Sacagawea dollar. There are no contemporary portraits, sketches, or even descriptions of her that I’m aware of. The portrait is really just a generic Native American woman.
By the way, Glenna Goodacre, the woman who designed the portrait on the new dollar, spoke at my graduation from college in 1996. Very interesting and talented woman.
Well, if you buy a beer for $8, and pay with a ten, your change can just as easily arrive as a $2 bill as two Sacajawea coins. So you’re stuffin’ two bucks into the G-string, so what? Just chalk it up to inflation, drink your beer, and quitcherbitchin’.
BTW, there is a bar and steak joint here in my neck of the woods where they don’t use dollar bills at all. They accept them, of course, but when your change arrives, you’ve got portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Susan B. Anthony to walk out with. Just another of Mr. Soffer’s quirky idiosyncrasies, I guess.
Of course truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
Mark Twain
Oh, and as long as the subject of the confusing size and shape of the SBA dollar has come up, this observation. I noticed that inside the raised edge of the coin there was described a triskadecagon. I often wondered why the designers didn’t just leave the thirteen superfluous arcs off and give us a thirteen-sided coin. Nobody would have mistaken that for a quarter, believe you me!
Of course truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
Mark Twain
So, kaylasdad, I see you’re from my neck of the woods, eh? I’ve never eaten at Sid Soffer’s joint, because both times I’ve been there (and it’s not easy to find) they said “There’s a waiting list, you can eat in two hours” even though I see plenty of empty tables. I guess they don’t like my looks. Sid Soffer must have special rules about turning away non-regulars.
>>Well, today was the official release of the new Sacagawea Dollar, and I picked up about 20 at Wal-Mart, the only place you can get them.<<
+++++
Yep, our friends at Wal*Mart, purchased 100 million of those puppies.
At face value (no handling charges … a sort of “volume discount”).
They will be the sole distributor until March 2000, with the full roll out.
The “golden dollar coin” is the exact same size as the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin so that vending machines would not have to be retooled.
The golden dollar coin (get ready for some heavy duty brain washing from our friends at the US Mint) also has a smooth edge, just like the nickel and not like the quarter.
In low light conditions (say a poorly lit corner grocery store) the golden dollar coin comes across looking like a quarter … ugh.
Here in suburban GA, they were limiting customers to ten.
Hey, Wal*Mart, you have about fifty checkouts (so we just went to another checkout).
At least it is a different coin.
Also a cheap converstaion starter (I tell people that I have “connections” at the US Mint, that is why I have them now).
Yeah, I figured that if the SBA dollar was the “Susie” and the Canadian loon dollar was the “Loonie”, that I’d start calling the Sacajawea dollar a “Sackie”.
Don’t forget the Canadian Toonie (twonie? twoonie? whatever). The queen is on one side, a polar bear on the other side on the small gold part, then it’s surrounded by a silver ring. I personally like the name Dubloon, but it didn’t catch on. Although, Moonie was a great name too–the queen on the front with a bear behind.
Canada also has collectable coins. I believe there’s a $2000 coin. I don’t have it handy, but I think the URL is http://www.rcmint.ca/ They have pictures of all the coins and the stories behind them somewhere on the site.
I’m so used to the coins now that I don’t even remember having $2 bills, and it was only about 4 years ago that they were pulled.
Konrad and Zulu, the gold and silver coin is a toonie, the gold is a loonie (named after the loon on the back). As for the whole idea of dollar coins RUN AWAY! Our “coin experiment” has now stretched to the $2.00 amount and threatens the five. I know they last longer but come one! No fun carrying 10 “singles” anymore. I think it was just an excuse for everyone to raise bus fare, pop machine charges etc.
Speaking of coins, I just saw the Massachusetts quarter last night. Quarters, actually. Seems they were the only quarters the bowling alley had last night.
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
Um, I know. I do live here, after all. A lot of people just spell toonie differently. I’ve always spelled it toonie, my boyfriend spells it twonie, I’ve seen it spelled twoonie. I think it’s a silly name, though.
Sorry Zulu, that shouldn’t have been addressed to you, for sure. To be honest though, I didn’t know where you were from. It is a ridiculous name, at least the “loonie” has a loon on it. I’m just tired of carrying around so many damn coins all the time.
I made a purchase at Wal-mart a couple of nights ago. Trying to chat with the cashier, I asked if she had seen the new dollar coin yet. She replied, “Huh?” I repeated the question and she replied “Huh? What new dollar coin?” I said “the one with Sacagawea on it.” She said “Who?” I said, the Indian woman who guided Lewis & Clark across America." She said “Who?” and I said “Never mind.” So I don’t yet have one but I will try again when I feel better.
Of course her mouth was open. How else could she share the sight and sound of her chewing gum with the rest of us? I suspect that her parents were fairly close cousins, maybe even siblings.
