# New $1 coins - here we go again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 20, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144 "2006-11-20T14:43:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/21 "2006-11-20T15:58:13Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] At least no living ex-President will be included. But what happens if 2017 rolls around and Bush and Clinton are still alive? [/QUOTE] Well, death (or lack thereof) doesn’t stop the Navy from launching ships bearing the names of living ex-Presidents, so why would it here? [And yes the ship-naming thing bugs me-wait until Reagan is gone before naming a ship after him mmkay?] ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/22 "2006-11-20T16:42:09Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If this is really true, it would mean that **Americans vastly prefer dollar bills to dollar coins**. Which means that they shouldn’t stop printing them, no matter how much “better for us” you think dollar coins may be. [/QUOTE] Do people _really_ like dollar bills? I thought everyone hated having to use them on vending machines. Even if Americans _currently_ prefer dollar bills, what is the reason? I don’t think it’s an inherent generic preference for bills over coins. I think it’s only because dollar coins have been hard to come by, and not widely accepted by machines and merchants. The only thing I don’t like about dollar coins is that whenever I try to use them, the cashier/teller would say “um, that’s not enough” and I have to point out that the coins are dollars, not quarters. And I’m afraid to use them for tips because I suspect most waiters/waitresses would think they got quarters. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/23 "2006-11-20T16:51:49Z")
Hey guys, you’ll get used to the dollar coins in no time at all. I seem to recall a bit of an aversion to £ coins when they were first issued over here, now nobody gives a hoot and it didn’t take us long to just accept them for what they are…a quid! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/24 "2006-11-20T16:57:09Z")
How do Sackies compare to Loonies, size- and weight-wise? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/25 "2006-11-20T16:57:26Z")
I hate coins. Coins, to me, are something you throw into a big glass jar and then drag off the bank to get real money every few years. Besides, you can’t slip a dollar coin into a stripper’s thong-- which is the main use for dollar bills anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/26 "2006-11-20T17:05:34Z")
> [@](#): > > These are some pug-ugle coins! Jeepers! Which is why the Mint should have used my suggestion and issued a series of dollar coins commemorating Playboy’s Playmates of the Year. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/27 "2006-11-20T17:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] b) vending machines don’t taking them (undercutting their utility). [/quote] Vending machines take the Sacys. Or at least, they do now. Nixon commemorated on a coin? Man, I can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![JediMaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@JediMaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JediMaster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/28 "2006-11-20T17:19:01Z")
If they want it to be accepted, it needs to be vastly different than a quarter. Make it two colored… a gold center and silver ring or vis-versa. Lots of other countries have this. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/29 "2006-11-20T17:27:58Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Which is why the Mint should have used my suggestion and issued a series of dollar coins commemorating Playboy’s Playmates of the Year. [/QUOTE] Given that we’re talking the government here, the coins would probably only show their faces anyway. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/30 "2006-11-20T17:30:41Z")
If you want to, you can help with the change toward coins. Every day, partially tear a dollar bill and spend it. Next time it passes through a bank, it will be returned to the mint. If the folks at the mint aren’t stupid, :rolleyes: they’ll replace damaged bills with coins. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/31 "2006-11-20T17:32:37Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Besides, you can’t slip a dollar coin into a stripper’s thong-- which is the main use for dollar bills anyway. [/QUOTE] I thought female strippers come from the factory with both front and rear coin slots. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/32 "2006-11-20T17:34:09Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] …If the folks at the mint aren’t stupid, :rolleyes: they’ll replace damaged bills with coins. [/QUOTE] I think that’s asking too much. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/33 "2006-11-20T17:40:12Z")
Question: why don’t we follow AUSTRALIA, and use plastic bills? They last 20X as long as paper bills, and cost nothing to make. Then we don’t have to carry all this heavy change around! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/34 "2006-11-20T17:51:54Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] Given that we’re talking the government here, the coins would probably only show their faces anyway. ☹ [/QUOTE] They’d show heads & tails! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/35 "2006-11-20T17:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Vending machines take the Sacys. Or at least, they do now. [/QUOTE] Do they? I don’t think most of the public are aware of this, since for a long time vending machines haven’t accepted dollar coins. So that may just be a problem of public perception. On the other hand, you still have the problem that merchants don’t give dollar coins as change. I don’t see this changing. What would be the impetus, as long as dollar bills are still around? This new coin is just another gimmick, same as the state quarters. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/36 "2006-11-20T17:58:50Z")
All these new coins just make life harder for vending machines. They have to be able to recognize THREE different one dollar coins now? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/37 "2006-11-20T18:08:52Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] The article says no inscription will appear on the obverse (face) side of the coin, but the illustration shows Washington’s name and the years of his presidency. Hmmm. [/QUOTE] There is a mistake there. I guess what they mean is that the front of the coin will not feature the standard inscriptions which appear on the front of coins- “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” and the year. “In God We Trust” and the year appear on the edge of the coin, and the word “Liberty” is absent, as the Statue of Liberty represents the concept of liberty. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/38 "2006-11-20T18:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If this is really true, it would mean that **Americans vastly prefer dollar bills to dollar coins**. Which means that they shouldn’t stop printing them, no matter how much “better for us” you think dollar coins may be. [/QUOTE] Or it just means that we generally prefer things that we are familiar with, which is not always a good reason to make public policy. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/39 "2006-11-20T18:17:44Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] The Sacagawea failed because: a) Merchants don’t give them out as change (making them hard to come by); and b) vending machines don’t taking them (undercutting their utility). I don’t see why it will be any different with the new coins. [/QUOTE] Most vending machines DO take them. By far the vast majority, actually. Unless the foldable dollar bill is removed from circulation, habit will keep us using it, even if it makes much less sense. I hate having to feed bills into a machine; coins are SOOOOOO much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144/40 "2006-11-20T18:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Do people _really_ like dollar bills? I thought everyone hated having to use them on vending machines. \. [/QUOTE] For that reason alone I would get rid of them. I hate fighting with vending machines to get them to take my dollar bill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-1-coins-here-we-go-again/381144.md?page=3)