# The newest Dollar coin **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374 "2024-05-10T18:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/221 "2024-09-04T14:09:31Z")
You know, you could just carry around about a dollar’s worth of coins at a time and gradually spend them down. It’s come up in other threads. I make a point of having a wallet with a coin pouch, pay with coins when I need to, and it’s really easy. But for reasons that seem primarily cultural, people just _ **won’t** _. (Which, fine; you do you; I just find human cultural behavior really interesting.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/222 "2024-09-04T14:32:29Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I read a twitter thread by a guy who unsuccessfully tried to promote the one dollar coin in the US around the turn of the century. According to him, the major point of resistance was Walmart and other big retailers. The one dollar coin is heavier than the one dollar bill. The big boxes preferred the lighter bills over the heavier coins. That’s funny because Walmart was the first big promoter of the first new dollar coins (after the Susan B.) > **[Sacagawea dollar a hit at Wal-Mart; Limited introduction of popular new coin...](https://www.baltimoresun.com/2000/02/08/sacagawea-dollar-a-hit-at-wal-mart-limited-introduction-of-popular-new-coin-irks-smaller-retailers-currency/)** > > It never happened this way with the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Consumers are clamoring for the U.S. Mint’s newest currency — the Sacagawea dollar — thanks to a unique promotion that… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/223 "2024-09-04T14:39:31Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It’s come up in other threads. I make a point of having a wallet with a coin pouch, pay with coins when I need to, and it’s really easy. But for reasons that seem primarily cultural, people just _ **won’t** _. (Which, fine; you do you; I just find human cultural behavior really interesting.) I won’t because I don’t have any. I refuse to participate. On the very rare occasion that I get change I leave everything except the quarters in the little change thing or just on the counter. The quarters go in my car to use in parking meters every once in a while but even that’s going away. More and more those are using an app. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/224 "2024-09-04T14:39:46Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > My credit union doesn’t taken coins and I’m not about to pay whatever outrageous fee Coinstar wants, so they amass. I have probably $10 in half dollars, $10 in Eisenhower dollars, and maybe $150 in the various other coins. Spending them seems like a bigger PITA than it’s worth. FYI, Coinstar offers the option of giving you a gift card to Amazon and other retailers, without the transaction fee. That’s what I did the last time I used a Coinstar machine. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/225 "2024-09-04T15:39:59Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I am hardly the first person to suggest this but we will never see successful usage of a dollar coin in the US until the mint stops making dollar bills. That’s whaty they did here in Canada. Many, many Canadians HATED switching to dollar coins. It was an unpopular move. But within a few years, you had no choice, because dollar bills die quickly. (They are also easily distinguished from quarters.) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/226 "2024-09-04T15:59:03Z")
actually, I dont know if it’s still true but the postal supplies vending machines in the post office lobby used to give the dollar coins out as change I had a 5 dollar bill and only needed 2 stamps and the 3 something back I got in change was 2 “sackies” and a “suzy” …and the normal change a security guard told me Collectors were "buying " the sackies by putting in bills and then hitting the return button which gave you your money back but in dollar coins… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/227 "2024-09-04T16:26:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > > > I am hardly the first person to suggest this but we will never see successful usage of a dollar coin in the US until the mint stops making dollar bills. > > That’s whaty they did here in Canada. > > Many, many Canadians HATED switching to dollar coins. It was an unpopular move. But within a few years, you had no choice, because dollar bills die quickly. (They are also easily distinguished from quarters.) A major or minor currency reform may turn out to be successful or turn out a disaster of epic proportions, but in no case is anything decided by asking random dudes what they like or hate. Also goes for interest rate cuts and so on. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/228 "2024-09-04T18:17:22Z")
Isn’t this a problem that will solve itself? 4.5B pennies minted in 2023 or about ~1.6% of the total circulation. This is down from the most recent peak of 9.4B in 2015. In fairness minting was even lower in 2009-2010 in the wake of the financial crisis; it may be premature to assume the a permanent downward trend. However one difference is that total coin production dropped during the crisis unlike today where minting higher denominations is increasing. Aside from the financial crisis, penny production is at the same levels at the late 60’s and early 70’s. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/dnweYC3.png?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/DJZPJYC) Data from: > **[United States Mint coin production](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Mint_coin_production)** > > This table represents the mintage figures of circulating coins produced by the United States Mint since 1887. This list does not include formerly-circulating gold coins, commemorative coins, or bullion coins. This list also does not include the three-cent nickel, which was largely winding down production by 1887 and has no modern equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/229 "2024-09-04T19:26:44Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > actually, I dont know if it’s still true but the postal supplies vending machines in the post office lobby used to give the dollar coins out as change I had a 5 dollar bill and only needed 2 stamps and the 3 something back I got in change was 2 “sackies” and a “suzy” …and the normal change > > a security guard told me Collectors were "buying " the sackies by putting in bills and then hitting the return button which gave you your money back but in dollar coins… In the (USPS) plant I work in, the hot coffee vending machine charges $1.25/serving, but the bill reader has been on the fritz forEVER. If I want to get a cuppa joe, I have to stick a couple of ones in a soda vending machine and press coin return to get Sackies or SBAs. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/230 "2024-09-05T11:34:04Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You know, you could just carry around about a dollar’s worth of coins at a time and gradually spend them down. You would think so, but in my limited experience it doesn’t work for some reason. I recently shared an AirBnB with my older siblings. My brother left his coin purse which was stuffed full, along with other change loose on the nightstand. So, now I have a coin purse (one of those ones that opens like a flower) which I carry occasionally, and I find that it somehow accumulates \>$1.00. I think it comes down to not wanting to spend the minimal time it would take to fish out exact or coin reducing change. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/231 "2024-09-05T11:58:32Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > In the (USPS) plant I work in, the hot coffee vending machine charges $1.25/serving, but the bill reader has been on the fritz forEVER. If I want to get a cuppa joe, I have to stick a couple of ones in a soda vending machine and press coin return to get Sackies or SBAs. I can’t remember the last time I saw a (Canadian) vending machine that didn’t allow tapping a credit card. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/232 "2024-09-05T12:21:28Z")
Our machines also let you do that for an extra dime, but I’ve been resisting that payment method. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/233 "2024-09-05T13:07:13Z")
Why? This is the future, man. Embrace it. We may not have flying cars, but at least we have this. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/234 "2024-09-05T13:12:34Z")
Hey, ten cents is ten cents, man. And to be candid, with what I’ve observed about human behavior during my sixty-eight years, the thought of everybody having the ability to operate several hundred pounds of machinery a couple of thousand feet into the sky that I’m walking around under gives me the willies. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/235 "2024-09-05T13:16:03Z")
Exactly. It’s basically nothing. How many cups of coffee do you estimate you buy a year? I’d say no more than 500, and probably much less. 500 cups of coffee is a $50 surcharge, per year, in return for which you save tons of time and don’t have to mess around with cash. Convenience is worth paying for. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/236 "2024-09-05T13:23:42Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > And to be candid, with what I’ve observed about human behavior during my sixty-eight years, the thought of everybody having the ability to operate several hundred pounds of machinery a couple of thousand feet into the sky that I’m walking around under gives me the willies. Well, yeah. If flying cars were actually viable in safety terms, they would have been invented by now. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/237 "2024-09-05T16:44:51Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I think it comes down to not wanting to spend the minimal time it would take to fish out exact or coin reducing change. I used to have a job where I received tips. Since the tips were settled at the end of the day, on any day the amount of change was less than a dollar. But multiply that by 5 working days and I always had quite a bit of change in my pocket when I went to the grocery store. I did try to spend that change down at the store, but first had to change my habits. I eventually trained myself to reach for the change before getting out the wallet. I found that cashiers were especially happy to get pennies; I was especially happy to get rid of pennies. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/238 "2024-09-06T04:52:59Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The one dollar coin is heavier than the one dollar bill. The big boxes preferred the lighter bills over the heavier coins. That’s my biggest issue. I love to travel light: • No wallet, just a thin card holder with two credit cards …and driver’s license and insurance cards. • Two keys (house and car… just the key, no fob). • A few bills in my front pocket. I jettison change whenever I get it, and actually get annoyed when there’s no tip jar or “Leave a Penny” dish (“No place for tips? Okay, I’m going to leave 17 cents on the counter. Pocket it, or give it to the next person. Don’t care, don’t want it.”) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/239 "2024-09-06T06:37:28Z")
> [@digs](#): > > • A few bills in my front pocket. Loose bills or attached to the card holder? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374/240 "2024-09-06T11:17:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Our machines also let you do that for an extra dime, but I’ve been resisting that payment method. The idea of a vending machine offering a cash discount is blowing my mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-dollar-coin/1001374.md?page=13)