New $1 coins - here we go again!

[Raygun99]

@Alex_Dubinsky

This is bad, because it very much takes away from the real aim of phasing out dollar bills. For one, the practicality of the design isn’t being considered. The size is too large.

This is an odd complaint to me, since the coin is exactly the same size as the Canadian loonie and just slightly larger than the quarter.

[Oregon_sunshine]

Flops? The Sacagawea Dollar fuckin rocks!! It’s my favorite money, hands down. Oh Clinton.

[Cunctator]

@Gorsnak

Every time these threads come around I’m reminded of the debate back in the late 80’s when the Loonie was introduced here. Exactly the same arguments were given. Every single thing anyone has said in this thread in opposition to dollar coins I heard 20 years ago up here. And after a couple years, absolutely everyone preferred the loonie to the dollar bill. When I was in Michigan for a few years a while back, I found that my wallet was usually fatter from all the singles than it ever is here with loonies and toonies in the change pouch. And trying to convince a vending machine that a tattered one is actually money? Bah.

Try it. You’ll most likely find you like it.

Yes, it does all sound pretty familiar. All the same arguments were trotted out here too. Even so, the $1 and $2 notes were scrapped and the coins were introduced. And everyone get used to them very quickly.

[Alex_Dubinsky]

This is an odd complaint to me, since the coin is exactly the same size as the Canadian loonie and just slightly larger than the quarter.

Compared to the quarter, the diameter is almost the same but the weight and thickness is much greater. When packing them in a wallet, weight and thickness matter most. Compared to a loonie, you’re right. Still a good bit bigger, but closer. Dunno why the canadians like em so much.

I don’t know, I think the smaller a coin is the more convenience. Maybe I need to get a differently-designed wallet. Still, I think the dime is a perfect size for a coin.

[Martini_Enfield]

@ralph124c

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!

We have $1 and $2 coins in Australia, and we do indeed end up carrying coins around- but it’s not nearly as much of an inconvenience as some of you would think.

Just do what we did: Make the $1 goins Gold. Everyone equates “Gold” with “Money”, and hey presto, most people’s objections will vanish.

[Fern_Forest]

@scr4

But when you spend the dollar bills, you get coins as change. So you have to carry the coins anyway, don’t you? How is it different from carrying 5 & 10-dollar bills and ending up with a handful of coins as change?

It’s fairly easy never to have more then 10 coins on your possession. It’s just kindergarten math.

I pondered last time that dollar coins take up more space and weigh a more per buck then bills. Meaning shipping costs go up. If anyone can work out how much I’d be interested in knowing.

And I’ve almost never had problems putting dollar bills into machines. In fact the only time I can recall having trouble with a vending machine was a copier at UH Manoa which said it took dollar coins but instead ate the coin I put in. Took quite a bit of haggling to get my money back because they didn’t believe the machine had a picture of a dollar coin on it and refused to come out and look at the machine.

[scr4]

@Fern Forest

It’s fairly easy never to have more then 10 coins on your possession. It’s just kindergarten math.

So now you’ll have up to 14 coins. I just don’t see that as a big deal.

…dollar coins take up more space and weigh a more per buck then bills. Meaning shipping costs go up.

You mean the cost to distribute the coins to banks? Wouldn’t that be offset by the longer lifetime of those coins?

And we could always abolish the penny… That’d make up for both of the above.

[Fern_Forest]

@scr4

So now you’ll have up to 14 coins. I just don’t see that as a big deal.

I was addressing those who end up with jars of money. It just seems so unnecessary. Same with dollar bills, why have more then 4 unless you want more then 4?

As it is I’m getting to the point where I don’t see why money has to be so fancy other then to drive the collection market. Although I’m not sure if I want to stop it. It seems kinda like a voluntary tax that would make things cheaper for those who don’t pay it.

I’m ready to abolish the penny. But if we do that I’d like to start referring to the other denominations in nickels rather then cents. And then down the road in dimes, then quarters and finally dollars as inflation eats away the lower amount. It just seems nicer to me and I’d need three people for the movement.

[chowder]

@gonzomax

Coins eventually wear holes in your pockets. When you sit down they will leak out and hide in car and sofa cushions. You can not throw a dollar bill across the Potomac though.

I’ll bet you can if you wrap it around a $ coin

[Rigamarole]

@Gadarene

They’re going to be putting each successive president’s face on the coins, like they did with the states on the quarters. Four a year, apparently.

Wait, does this mean that in 2017 they will be minting…

George W. Bush coins?!

Oh, the humanity.

[Monty]

@Walter Windchill

I wonder if it isn’t a craven move just to make more money.

Now, was that necessary? And I ask this as someone who loves puns.

[mobo85]

@Rigamarole

Wait, does this mean that in 2017 they will be minting…

George W. Bush coins?!

Oh, the humanity.

Only if he dies by 2015 or so.

[the_PC_apeman]

@Fern Forest

… and I’d need three people for the movement.

Excellent seasonal reference.

[RickJay]

1. The only way the dollar coin will ever be accepted is if they get rid of the bill, period. I was floored by the article in USA Today wherein Treasury folks were babbling about how they hoped this dollar coin would be accepted because of the different Presidents motif; they compared it to the popular state quarter program.

How stupid. State quarters were popular because everyone uses quarters anyway. Dollar coins will not be popular if the bill remains.

2. The idea that you can confuse a dollar coin and a quarter is preposterous. The “Sackie” was pretty much exactly the same size as the Canadian “Loonie,” and the two countries have quarters that are pretty much the same size. It is simply not possible to confuse a loonie with a quarter; they don’t feel remotely the same. Even had the loonie been silver there is just no conceivable way you could mix them up; it would be like confusing a quarter with a nickel.

3. I know a lot of you folks love your dollar bills. Believe me, if they got rid of them you would not miss them. The reaction in Canada was the same; people bitched long and hard about dumping the bill for the loonie. “Loonie” was, in fact, originally a commonly used double entendre, referring both to the loon on the coin as well as implying that the idea was crazy.

Within three months, everyone was used to it. If you took a poll now there is no doubt in my mind people would be opposed to going back to paper $1s and $2s.

I spend a lot of time in both countries (actually, I’m sitting in Phoenix as I type this) and I just hate, hate, hate, hate U.S. 1-dollar bills now. They’re almost invariably crumpled and filthy and they stuff my wallet and they don’t work in vending machines 98% of the time.

[CBEscapee]

@ralph124c

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!

We’ve been using a plastic 20 peso note for several years and just recently they started issuing a 50 peso note. I think they will eventually issue plastic for all denominations. I like the 20s. They seem cleaner than paper notes. Haven’t gotten a 50 yet.

[dropzone]

I see collectible coinage as a secret government plot to make Americans save more money. Next will be collectible $5 and $10 coins and soon there will be $100 coins that change weekly. Mattresses will be bulging with lumpy, uncomfortable coins and we’ll all wake up with Millard Fillmore’s mug pressed into our butts.

[Loach]

I object to any program which will have an adverse effect on my other internet obsession.

[i_am_a_scientist]

@Voyager

Given that we’re talking the government here, the coins would probably only show their faces anyway.

commemorative breast coins - one breast per coin (living Playmates get to choose which breast is featured).

[D_Odds]

@RickJay

3. I know a lot of you folks love your dollar bills. Believe me, if they got rid of them you would not miss them. The reaction in Canada was the same; people bitched long and hard about dumping the bill for the loonie. “Loonie” was, in fact, originally a commonly used double entendre, referring both to the loon on the coin as well as implying that the idea was crazy.

Within three months, everyone was used to it. If you took a poll now there is no doubt in my mind people would be opposed to going back to paper $1s and $2s.

I don’t have the problems with dollar bills that you seem to. I’ve had some rejected by machines, but not many. I’ve also had vending machines refuse to accept coins (weird one once was accepting quarters and nickels, but spit out dimes).

I had 2.5 years to get used to the idea; I preferred less coins and more paper. I don’t like keeping much in my pants pockets, and I don’t carry a purse. On the plus side, maybe I’ll save even more, as I collect change rather than carry it. The $5.00 will be the new default small bill in my pocket…or maybe I’ll start actually visiting a bank and asking for $2.00 bills.

[alphaboi867]

@Martini Enfield

…Just do what we did: Make the $1 goins Gold. Everyone equates “Gold” with “Money”, and hey presto, most people’s objections will vanish.

We tried. It failed.