# One and two dollar bills? or coins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581 "2007-10-13T14:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/21 "2007-10-14T01:06:56Z")
I’d prefer to switch from $1 bills to coins. The problem is trying to convince a 7-11 clerk at 4 a.m. that the coin you’ve just handed him is, indeed, coin of the realm. Make 'em a real “silver dollar” (in size, at least) so people will know they’re dollars and not quarters, and I think they’ll catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/22 "2007-10-14T01:11:05Z")
I’d prefer the $1 coin to the $1 bill provided we also increase production of the $0.50 coin and $2 bill and also abolish other coins in either one of two ways: 1. Penny Nickel Dime (using quarters as the lowest coin) OR 1. Penny Nickel Quarter (using dimes as the lowest coin) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/23 "2007-10-14T01:34:49Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] I’d prefer to switch from $1 bills to coins. The problem is trying to convince a 7-11 clerk at 4 a.m. that the coin you’ve just handed him is, indeed, coin of the realm. Make 'em a real “silver dollar” (in size, at least) so people will know they’re dollars and not quarters, and I think they’ll catch on. [/QUOTE] I"d prefer to switch, also. But I think making them huge is a mistake. If there were NO dollar billls, the clerks would catch on soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/24 "2007-10-14T01:36:50Z")
[QUOTE=Bearflag70] I’d prefer the $1 coin to the $1 bill provided we also increase production of the $0.50 coin and $2 bill and also abolish other coins in either one of two ways: 1. Penny Nickel Dime (using quarters as the lowest coin) OR 1. Penny Nickel Quarter (using dimes as the lowest coin) [/QUOTE] Trust me on this one—there are already enough $0.50 coins out there. They just don’t get called for. They are there. Same goes for the $2.00 bill. Perhaps they might have to print a few more, but, believe me, they’re out there. Most people just don’t use them, so they sit. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/25 "2007-10-14T06:32:39Z")
All you Murkins would be surprised at how easy you could switch over to dollar and two dollar coins, if it actually happened in a real way. It was virtually effortless and painless, honestly. You think about things a little differently, yes, you do get a change purse, but it isn’t like your world comes screeching to a halt or anything. And you can use ONE COIN to buy junk food, and not try to fit some wrinkle-assed bill or half a dozen coins into a vending machine. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/26 "2007-10-14T16:45:02Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] And you can use ONE COIN to buy junk food… [/QUOTE] With about three of them (if they’re toonies), you can buy a beer and still leave the bartender a nice tip. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/27 "2007-10-14T16:54:53Z")
I hate the idea. It would be almost impossible to engrave each coin I get with [wheresgeorge.](http://www.wheresgeorge.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/28 "2007-10-14T17:00:21Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I hate the idea. It would be almost impossible to engrave each coin I get with [wheresgeorge.](http://www.wheresgeorge.com/) [/QUOTE] Dangit. I went to the whereswilly Canadian equivalent (Willy for Wilfred Laurier, former PM on the $5 bill) and entered the serial number of my lone five and… it was the first entry. Booooooring! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/29 "2007-10-14T17:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] With about three of them (if they’re toonies), you can buy a beer and still leave the bartender a nice tip. [/QUOTE] So what? I can do that with a bill, and it’s a lot lighter and easier to carry. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/30 "2007-10-14T17:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] …we still have the paper dollar as a more attractive alternative. [/quote] It’s a _familiar_ alternative, but that’s all. Americans are remarkably conservative when it comes to personal life, and the American government has always been reluctant to challenge it. The resistance to the Metric system is another example of this. I don’t see what’s attractive about $1 bills anyway… They’re always wrinkled (more so than higher denomination bills because they change hands more often), they look just like other bills, and vending machines often have trouble with them. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/31 "2007-10-14T17:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] > [@Spoons](#): > > With about three of them (if they’re toonies), you can buy a beer and still leave the bartender a nice tip. So what? I can do that with a bill, and it’s a lot lighter and easier to carry. [/QUOTE] You have a six dollar bill? 😃 Dunno why I like the idea. Maybe it’s just that a beer doesn’t seem so expensive if I can pay for it with pocket change. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/32 "2007-10-14T18:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] It’s a _familiar_ alternative, **but that’s all**. Americans are remarkably conservative when it comes to personal life, and the American government has always been reluctant to challenge it. The resistance to the Metric system is another example of this. [/QUOTE] That is\* not \* all. I know it is hard to believe but some of us have actually venture out beyond the borders to other countries. I lived in Germany for two years. I have enough personal data to tell which I would prefer. I prefer having bills rather than fishing through a pocket full of coins. My world wouldn’t come to an end but it is my preference. And it is for an actual reason, not just because bills are familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/33 "2007-10-14T18:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] Dangit. I went to the whereswilly Canadian equivalent (Willy for Wilfred Laurier, former PM on the $5 bill) and entered the serial number of my lone five and… it was the first entry. Booooooring! 😛 [/QUOTE] Now you have to mark it and spend it. It can get to be addictive. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/34 "2007-10-14T18:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I prefer having bills rather than fishing through a pocket full of coins. [/QUOTE] Well, if you’re using your pocket, I can see why that wouldn’t be convenient. Have you tried a wallet with a coin pocket? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/35 "2007-10-14T19:02:38Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Well, if you’re using your pocket, I can see why that wouldn’t be convenient. Have you tried a wallet with a coin pocket? [/QUOTE] My wallet is big enough as it is. A nice bifold that slips easily into my pocket. Why would I want to attach a coin bag to that? Like I said I have dealt with a pocket full of 1 and 5DM coins. I would rather have had the bills. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/36 "2007-10-14T19:06:34Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Like I said I have dealt with a pocket full of 1 and 5DM coins. I would rather have had the bills. [/QUOTE] Why would you have a “pocket full” of them? I believe the 10 DM bill was in common use, which means there’s no reason you’d have more than one 5-DM coin and four 1-DM coins in your pocket or wallet. And if you’re accumulating coins instead of spending them, how does the $1 bill help you? You’d end up with a pocket full of quarters anyway. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/37 "2007-10-14T19:15:52Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] You have a six dollar bill? 😃 Dunno why I like the idea. Maybe it’s just that a beer doesn’t seem so expensive if I can pay for it with pocket change. [/QUOTE] What kind of beer are you ordering? At my local, a Sierra Nevada draft is $4. Plus $1 tip, and a fiver takes care of things nicely. A $20 bill covers the evening. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/38 "2007-10-14T19:21:03Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] All you Murkins would be surprised at how easy you could switch over to dollar and two dollar coins, if it actually happened in a real way. It was virtually effortless and painless, honestly. [/QUOTE] Exactly. If multiple countries can change _currency_ overnight, then phasing out dollar bills not a logistical challenge. > [@pprgrl](#): > > I worked retail when they introduced the new colored $50s and $20s and I had to listen to complaints about them all day long when each was first introduced. “Why do we have to have this darned monopoly money? It’s so ugly, I can’t get used to it,” etc., etc. For most Americans, money is green and it folds, and anything else just doesn’t seem real. I was in Dublin when the euro was introduced. One of the most bizarre moments was being stood around ATMs on New Year’s Day, discussing with complete strangers the designs of the new banknotes. Or, if I’m honest, expressing a mutual expression of excitement, going ‘hee hee, it’s Monopoly money!’ Also, there was the extended discussion at lunchtime triggered by the presence of a Greek €1 coin in my change, which can only have come from somebody flying in that morning. (The individual euro coins have national designs on the reverse and, at least to begin with, were only issued by the existing systems within each country.) [QUOTE=scr4] Well, if you’re using your pocket, I can see why that wouldn’t be convenient. Have you tried a wallet with a coin pocket? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=pprgrl] Within 8 hours of arriving in London, I came up with a simple system: any coins smaller than a pound went in one pocket, anything larger went in another, and I didn’t break a bill (or is it a note?) unless I didn’t have enough coins to pay for my purchase. [/quote] Even when I’ve had a wallet which will hold coins, I’ve never used it to do so. I’m quite happy plucking coins out of a mix of pounds and euros, as many other people are. On arriving in America, I struggle to work with the smaller value bills at first, but then get used to it. It’s only about familiarity, nothing less. [QUOTE=scr4] Americans are remarkably conservative when it comes to personal life, and the American government has always been reluctant to challenge it. [/QUOTE] You’re right, and that is pretty much the only explanation of the current situation. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/39 "2007-10-14T22:07:12Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Coins = Evil. Bills = Good. It’s that simple. I don’t give a rat’s ass how much it costs the gummint to mint or print money. The impact on my tax load is insignificant. But I hate, hate, hate coins, and refuse to add the wear and tear to my pockets by carrying them when there are light, easily-foldable, 1 ounce of money can buy a car bills around. Screw the dollar coin! [/QUOTE] Maybe we need bills worth 25¢, 10¢, 5¢ & 1¢. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581/40 "2007-10-14T22:58:03Z")
Worked in the military for years. Script was always issued “In Theater” in “pocket-change” denominations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-and-two-dollar-bills-or-coins/422581.md?page=3)