# Money, money, money! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096 "2001-04-24T04:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thursday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@Thursday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thursday)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/1 "2001-04-24T04:13:47Z")
Does anyone here know which is more cost effective: printing $1 bills, minting $1 coins, or (as apparently happens in Australia and New Zeland) using soft plastic for bills? ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/2 "2001-04-24T04:19:22Z")
It’s considered far cheaper to mint coins than bills. Coins last longer than bills, although they are more expensive to mint. This is the rationale behind the dollar coin in the U.S., although due to pressure from printing lobbyists, they were unable to even consider phasing out dollar bills to encourage use of the coins (as I believe happened in Canada). Why is probably while the coins will fail here. Don’t know anything about the plastic stuff . . . ---
**Author:** ![Thursday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@Thursday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thursday)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/3 "2001-04-24T05:01:34Z")
Is true. Both one and two dollar bills were taken out of circulation when the coins hit the scene (the loonie came in about 13 years back, the toonie five years later). However, I have also been told that the Land Down Under uses plastic money. Literally, as folding bills. So, I was trying to find the cost vs. value between the three options. Please note: I have boldly refrained from making any joke involving the word “cents”, despite hideous temptations. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/4 "2001-04-24T05:17:31Z")
As I recall, and this is somewhat off-the-cuff, that a dollar coin costs something like $0.80 to make, but a bill costs closer to $0.17. That’s a fuzzy memory, so I’ll gladly welcome a correction. The kicker is that a coin lasts an average of 30 years, while a $1 bill lasts an average of 18 months. Larger-denomination bills don’t wear out quite as fast since they’re not spent nearly as often as the ones. The other primary benefit to a dollar coin is that it’s easier for a machine to recognize- a simple mechanical system can be used rather than a complex and error-prone electronic bill-recognition system. On this same topic, I have not yet recieved a _single_ Sacabuck in any change. I had to ask the bank tellers before I even _saw_ one. A friend of mine that works in a convenience store, which is next to a popular bar, says he hasn’t seen a single one come in yet. They’re being collected… as if something they made 200 million of will ever be a collector’s item… like the state Quarters- yeah, let’s get a complete collection… just like fifty million other people are doing…! Yes, it’ll take phasing out the bill to boost the coin’s acceptance, but speaking personally, I prefer paper bills to coins. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/5 "2001-04-24T12:51:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doc Nickel \* > **On this same topic, I have not yet recieved a _single_ Sacabuck in any change. I had to ask the bank tellers before I even _saw_ one. A friend of mine that works in a convenience store, which is next to a popular bar, says he hasn’t seen a single one come in yet.** The vending machines in US Post Offices around the DC area give Sackies as change. But I’ve never gotten one as change from a human clerk. One night while delivering pizza, I handed out Sackie as change. People took them, but gave me a funny look. Plus they chaffed my thigh being in my pocket all night. As logical as it might be to eliminate US $1 and $2 bills, that would leave $5 as the minimum tip to give strippers (coins are tacky stripper tips). :D:D:D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/6 "2001-04-24T15:56:33Z")
Am I the only one who read the title of the OP and continued the ABBA song … “Must be funny/In the rich man’s world.” Probably so. Sigh. I have yet to see a SacaBuck in Birmingham, Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/7 "2001-04-24T18:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\*Am I the only one who read the title of the OP and continued the ABBA song … “Must be funny/In the rich man’s world.” > \*\* I am leaning into your microphone belting “Uh- HUUUUUuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuh… all the things I could do… if I had a little money…” Take it, Sauron! _shuffles off to do a wicked grapevine step into her part is called for again_ I wish the Sacabuck would take off. It’s a nice coin, and if the Canajuns can do it, surely we can. But like others have said, I’ve only gotten them at stamp machines at the post office. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/8 "2001-04-24T19:25:10Z")
There is a bit of a mystery here in the UK about 2 pound coins. They have been in circulation for about three years now, but they rarely turn up in my change.Once a month at most.It’s not that British people dislike the large denomination coins( one pound coins has been in use for a few years and are used all the time) it is just that it’s larger brother has become almost invisible. Where have they all got to? ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/9 "2001-04-24T20:02:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > I am leaning into your microphone belting “Uh- HUUUUUuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuh… all the things I could do… if I had a little money…” > > Take it, Sauron! Thank you for making me feel, if not less weird, then a little more mainstream. I owe you one. What is the deal with Amurricans and dollar coins, anyway? Why don’t we seem to accept them as readily as, say, the Brits accepted pound coins? I recall the last dollar coin we had died a slow and painful death (although the debate still continues regarding that death; was it intentional numismatic homicide or apathy that slayed Susan B.?). Just for you, **Cranky** : I work all night, I work all day To pay the bills I have to pay That’s too bad And still there never seems to be A single penny left for me That’s so sad … ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/10 "2001-04-24T22:30:55Z")
Well, we’ve been in IMHO territory for a while now, so let me throw in my HO: Coins suck. Not just dollar coins, all coins. At the very least, we should eliminate pennies; they’ve been irrelevant for decades now. Nickles too if I’m in charge. And screw these Sac-a-whatevers. I went to the post office the other day and they had the nerve to give me one in my change. The only - and I emphasize only - benefit is cost savings, and that savings is miniscule compared to anything else the government touches. For starters, eliminating pennies would save far more than converting dollars. Hell, the next step should be to privatize the Post Office, which in addition to the cost savings would eliminate the only business that actively pushes those stupid dollar coins anyway. As a complete aside, I find it very ironic that the people who seem to adore the dollar coins the most and justify that adoration by the cost savings tend to be the same people who have no concern for governmental fiscal responsibility when it comes to social programs or other government programs that make the coin savings look like pennies. So to speak. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/11 "2001-04-24T22:38:21Z")
> [@](#): > > What is the deal with Amurricans and dollar coins, anyway? Why don’t we seem to accept them as readily as, say, the Brits accepted pound coins? I recall the last dollar coin we had died a slow and painful death (although the debate still continues regarding that death; was it intentional numismatic homicide or apathy that slayed Susan B.?). IIRC, the UK quit printing pound notes at some point, and Canada quit printing dollar bills when they came up with their dollar coin. If the US Treasury simply quit printing dollar bills we would bitch a while, and eventually get used to dollar coins. As long as the bill exists, people will resist the “change”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-money-money/63096/12 "2001-04-24T23:05:26Z")
> [@](#): > > At the very least, we should eliminate pennies; they’ve been irrelevant for decades now. Nickles too if I’m in charge. I agree that at current relative values it would make sense to lop a significant digit off everything and simply deal in tenths. Unfortunately, quarters are a very popular denomination, which keeps prices in two decimal places. Dealing in units of $0.05, with dimes, nickels and quarters doesn’t seem like enough of a reform to be worth it, and I doubt if it would be popular to dump the dime, too, and simply go to increments of quarters. That’s still too granular. The US mint did make twenty cent pieces for a short time in the 19th century … they were very unpopular. Guess why? Yep. They were too close to quarters in size.