I see that you’re up to Andrew Jackson in the presidential dollar coin roll-out. Are these things catching on? People using them much in everyday life, or an interesting curiosity that you see very now and then, or are they just for collectors?
The only place I ever see dollar coins is at my local post office – or at a 7-11 next to the post office. The 7-11 manager says he’s fine with accepting them, and most of the customers who use them have come directly from the post office and can’t wait to get rid of them.
I’ve never seen one of the presidential dollar coins.
I’ve never seen one either. Last time I used the machine at the post office I got a bunch of Sacagaweas in change. I don’t mind them at all, but my coin purse won’t accommodate more than about 8-10 of them.
Never seen one in circulation. Never seen a Sac in circulation, for that matter, or a Susie B. other than in change at the post office.
I love them and will request them every time I go to the bank for any money changing reason. My tellers love me because I always ask for their $2 bills too – I guess it makes counting their tills a little easier.
I’d be more into collecting the presidential dollars if they weren’t so darn cheap looking. They look like a coin from a banana republic or an arcade token. While Sacies never caught on in the US, I got and spent quite a few in Ecuador (where the dollar is coin of the realm).
I wish the mint would knock it off with the whole dollar coin thing. For better or worse, the people have spoken, and the people like paper. The government should listen to the will of the people.
I’ve only gotten them once, as change from a vending machine.
Haven’t seen one either. I really wish they work out this time. The day of the paper dollar bill is over. It has gone the way of the dodo.
They are an odd bunch of portraits. The Andrew Jackson one looks like a startled Gene Wilder.
No it shouldn’t. It should just take the $1 paper bills out of circulation and be done with it. It’s a cost savings. In a few years you’ll forget even having $1 bills. Been there, done that.
QFT. I like them and try to use them, I ask for them at the bank, but other than that? no, I don’t see them in circulation.
I use them as often as possible, and they’re generally met with a “what the hell is that” by cashiers.
They’re the perfect size for rolling across your fingers like this (although my technique is somewhat different and I more often use a Swiss 2f coin). I also get them as change from the LA MTA ticket machines, although they used to not accept them (though I believe they do now) and from the occasional vending machine. It seems to be hard to get clerks to take them; they initially assume that you are giving them a quarter and make change accordingly, so that’s problematic.
In general, I’d call its adoption not too successful; in order to really make a go of it, the US would need to withdraw the US$1 banknote from circulation, as it probably will sometime in the next decade.
Stranger
I wasn’t even aware these coins existed or were even planned. Since I’d prefer to keep the dollar bill and I keep hearing how we’ll save money if we switch to coins, I’m curious: does anybody know what the per-capita savings would be if the US switched to dollar coins?
Have never seen one; would refuse to use one if I did. Coins must die!
eta: OTOH, I love $2 bills. They are perfect for tipping the drinks girl at the blackjack table.
I’ve never seen one. I’d forgotten all about their very existence until this thread jogged my memory.
I have standing instructions from Walgreens management to foist them off on customers ASAP, so they’re not left in the drawer at closing time. About 50% of customers won’t take them. I find it helps, when s/he’s standing there puzzling at this strange foreign object, to say brightly, “It’s a dollar coin! I’m told they’re…collectible!” This frequently does the trick.
The lifespan of a paper bill is about 21 months. A coin lasts about 30 years. I don’t know about the U.S., but this is what one website had to say about Canada’s swithc over frorm paper to coins:
Accustomed to paper money and small change, Canadians were not excited about the announcement of a coin to replace the dollar bill in 1987. The change was to save money on printing since coins need fewer replacements than paper in circulation. Using the coin would save about $250 million in costs over 20 years compared to using the green and white $1 bill, estimated the government.
Somewhere I read that the U.S could save something a lot higher like $600 million annually if they stopped printing a paper dollar bill. But I have no cite at the moment. ETA: found cite, $500 million annually. Don’t know about the per capita savings.
I haven’t seen them in circulation. Since many vending machine items cost around a dollar, it would make sense to have a dollar coin for that reason alone. Singles tend to get folded, crumpled, sweated on, and generally battered very quickly, and sometimes the machines don’t want to take the bills.
However, I don’t like the current dollar coin designs. The Sackies are pretty when they’re new, but they tarnish quickly, and then they look like oversized pennies. The new presidential dollars are just not circulating, but I suspect that their size is a drawback. I think that we need to have the dollar coins very distinctive in size from the quarter.