And that last is announced and on the way.
Does this mean the government is reading the Dope?
Or feeling a little broke.
The currency issue that would not die: Dollar coin advocates renew push to replace dollar bill
IIUC, the U.S. Treasury would make a profit on each dollar coin, since they’re fiat money, unlike F.R. banknotes which are subject to double-entry bookkeeping.
John McCain is an advocate of the coin, and reassured one group of upset constituents:
[QUOTE=http://www.mediaite.com/online/john-mccain-reassures-angry-strippers-outraged-over-1-coins-youll-get-bigger-tips]
One group particularly unhappy with this is strippers, because they don’t want men throwing heavy coins at them instead of easy-to-carry bills… But never fear, strippers of the world, John McCain is here! And John McCain understands the pain strippers will go through if they get pelted night after night with coins instead of the feel of a hairy arm slipping a paper bill into their thongs. …
“Then I hope that they could obtain larger denominations.”
The 76-year-old lawmaker began answering another reporter’s prying questions before cracking a smile and hollering to ITK down a Capitol hallway, “Fives, tens, one hundreds!”
[/QUOTE]
They keep trying, bless their little hearts. They’ll be disppointed yet again when the American public collectively lets the coins drop into the dustbin of history (yet again), but they’re still at it.
I just don’t follow this. Make the coins. Announce you will stop printing dollar bills the following year. Then simply stop printing them.
Listen to the howls of outrage and explain patiently why this is best. Then stop printing the bills.
Of course people don’t like change (sic). They don’t like it when things are different. Tough. Don’t listen to these whiners. Stop printing the dollar bill. This is what every other country in the world has done. We have our share of whiners too. We ignored them.
That article does not describe the actual content of the bill and how it would promote use of the $1 coin.
The summary descriptionfrom the Senate Bill website is equally murky.
It apparently directs the Federal Reserve Board to sequester all the Susan B. Anthony dollars and release them to collecters and to foreign countries that use the US dollar as their base unit of currency. This appears to be a method to remove Anthony dollars from further introduction into the US circulation.
Ambiguous statements to promote the use of dollar coins and then after some nebulous unspecified condition, stop printing dollar bills.
Reading the text of the bill, the purpose of the sequestration is to remove the Anthony dollars from the US monetary supply. The existing inventory will be distributed in such a way as to limit entry into US circulation. They will then be designated “obsolete” and removed from US circulation through the standard process that any time a bank collects them, they are segregated and disposed of by the Fed Reserve.
The second element is to direct the Fed to determine methods to improve circulation of the non-Anthony dollar coins (Sackies, Presidential dollars, or other subsequent dollar coin design)*, to track their use, and to report on the methods they are using to improve circulation and to further the process, including end user supplies of materials like rolling tubes.
They are instructed to engage in an educational campaign directed at businesses to actually use the coins as well as foreign countries using the US dollar as base currency so they understand the importance and durability of the coin.
The deadline for removing the dollar bill from being produced is the earlier of (a) the number of 1 dollar coins being placed into circulation equals 600 Million annually; (b) 4 years after the date of enactment of the bill.
This is to provide the stated sufficient time to increase US coin inventory and distribution of coins and supplies in circulation. There is a subsequent 1 year period where the Fed may not print any more money, but may put existing printed dollar bills into circulation.
Standard disclaimers that existing bills will be removed from circulation as they wear out through the usual process, and that some limited number of dollar bills will still be able to be produced to “meet the needs of collectors”.
So there’s a 4 year deadline for printing new dollar bills to be placed in circulation, plus an additional year for any dollars printed before then to be placed into circulation. There’s also a strive goal to beat the 4 year deadline by increasing coin usage to 600 Million new dollar coins a year. If the country is still not using coins to meet the 600 M new coins a year rate at the 4 year deadline, tough noogies.
I suppose one can argue the 4 year deadline is a bit far out, but the stated goal is to provide time for people and businesses to get used to them and for inventory and supplies of coins and coin handling materials to be sufficiently distributed to handle the load of the loss of $1 bills.
*The bill does not use the term “Susan B. Anthony dollar” or “Anthony dollar”, but rather defines the coin by years of manufacture, 1971-1981, and 1999". The other uses of $1 coin do not specify a specific dollar coin design, other than not be the ones produced 1971-1989 and 1999. I extrapolate from that the language about future unnamed dollar coin designs. NOTE: I was originally confused and thought this meant the Sackies would be eliminated, but I caught myself.
Then apply for unemployment and food stamps when your ass is fired by Congress, who will respond to the massive blow-back from voters by cutting the Dept. of Printing & Engraving’s budget to $.05 until they drop the fucking STUPID idea about dollar coins.
The country is so divided and partisan right now that a decision to stop making paper dollar would cause civil war.
Why is it such a stupid idea? A dollar is worth about what a quarter was in 1975 due to inflation. Where was the huge demand for .25 dollar bills in 1975? How did we get by without it?
People still use physical currency to buy things?
Hell, even the washing machines at my laundromat take debit cards now.
Paper money? Coins? Physical cash is so 20th Century-ish. If I can swipe an iphone at Starbucks, what do I need with either?
That’s kind of the funny part. People will go totally cashless before giving up the penny and the dollar bill and not even realize the irony of it.
Oh, noes! It would seriously impact Where’s George aficionados.
It is essential public policy that we cave in to the nagging of the vocal coin-fanboys that make up about 1% of the population rather than the whining coin-haters that make up about 99% of the population.
Dollar coins have been available for use for decades now. Given a free choice, the public has summarily rejected them. But the fanboys are not happy. Take away the public choice.
Why do you hate freedom?
Isn’t it about time strippers got a raise?
Two dollar bills should be used for strippers.
Won’t somebody think of the strippers?
How much demand is there for quarter-dollar coins today? Not much, given how little you can buy with one. And you can buy far less with a penny, nickel or dime. One of the standard complaints about dollar coins is that people find the coins they already carry around to be a hassle. Well, that’s because their face value is so small that they’re not worth carrying or spending.
So is that an argument for higher-valued coins or against?
I don’t get this. Not even a little.
The ONLY thing stupid about the dollar coin is “I don’t want anything to change in my life, and I like the old days when everyone wore an onion on their belt.”
I really can’t get the passion behind this sentiment.