# Who here hates the Sacagawea Dollar? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761 "2001-04-29T21:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/41 "2001-04-30T20:06:02Z")
I guess they aren’t popular because they aren’t plentiful in Iowa. As a new coin comes out my Father in Law gives each Kid and Grand Kid new one.Thats the only time I’ve seen one. I don’t frequent the Riverboat Casinos but I suppose they are a favorite there. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/42 "2001-04-30T22:20:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*they say to just get a wallet with a COINPURSE!!! \*\* :eek: THEMS IS FOR WIMMINS!!! ---
**Author:** ![donnie\_rotten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@donnie\_rotten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_rotten)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/43 "2001-05-01T00:43:14Z")
As much as I hated the loonie and the toonie when they entered circulation, I’ve discovered a little side benefit of the filthy little things, and I hope that some of my American friends will soon discover this little joy. A night out with friends, and when I wake up, the only paper sticking out my my wallet is one lonely, sad-looking five-dollar-bill. As it’s between paydays, I curse my spending habits, and mentally make a note to tighten my belt a little when it comes to spending for the next week. On laundry day, I pull a handful of loose change out of my front pocket, and suddenly find my financial picture brightened to the tune of about fifty dollars, all in toonies and loonies. Yes, I know, I’m really no richer or poorer, as this doesn’t really count as found money, but psychologically at least, it feels pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/44 "2001-05-01T00:44:03Z")
i have them, i use them, i like them. i have a special coin holder that a friend gave me from china to hold them. sackies or baby backs, they are great. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/45 "2001-05-01T01:01:55Z")
Whenever I have to go to a teller at the bank (depositing a check or the like), I draw some cash in sackies–usually a roll or two–and spend them in the place of ones for the next couple of weeks. I don’t quite get the complaints about their weight/bulk/noise–do you people actually try to carry them in your wallet? I carry about 10 sackies (although 5 would probably be a more sensible number) in the watchpocket of my jeans all the time without any problems. I find it particularly convenient at drive-throughs, since it means I don’t have to dig my wallet out. \ I like sackies. ---
**Author:** ![Kakkerlak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@Kakkerlak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kakkerlak)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/46 "2001-05-01T01:03:49Z")
I love that the Mint put Sacajawea on the new $1; it gives me an opportunity to exercise my journeyman’s knowledge of the 1805 expedition for my knuckle-dragging friends here in the lawless West. The way the Mint put them into circulation cracks me up, though; the started using them in the Post Office, sure, and selling them to banks, but most of them entered circulation via a big currency deal between the Mint and WAL-MART ! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/47 "2001-05-01T01:10:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xtnjohnson \* > \*\* it won’t really catch on until it can be used in taxis, newsstands and food carts. It’s gotta be all or nothing - otherwise, why fuss with it? \*\* The other day I was in a taxi and it had a credit/debit card swiper mounted on the partition. FTR I love the idea of a dollar coin. I think anyone who works or has worked in an industry where you count lots of money every night would love to see the end of the dollar bill and the penny. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/48 "2001-05-01T01:18:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*FTR I love the idea of a dollar coin. I think anyone who works or has worked in an industry where you count lots of money every night would love to see the end of the dollar bill and the penny. > \*\* You couldn’t be more wrong about me. I’ve been a bus boy. I’ve been a parking lot attendant. Both jobs end up accumulating a veritable ASSLOAD of ones. I can’t imagine getting paid at the end of the night by the waitresses with 40 sackies, or collecting $300 in the middle of a parking lot in coins, and then having to run down to the other end of the lot to yell at the asshole who parked in about 8 spaces simulataneously. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/49 "2001-05-01T01:21:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flymaster \* > For some reason, the vending industry has convinced the government that we need to go to coins, because it will make their money counting easier. And another comment on this statement - where did you hear this? All the articles I’ve read on the subject says that vending machine makers are one of the principal opponents of new coins, because they don’t want to have to retool their machines. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/50 "2001-05-01T04:42:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\* All the articles I’ve read on the subject says that vending machine makers are one of the principal opponents of new coins, because they don’t want to have to retool their machines. \*\* Don’t personally know about that, but all of our vending machines at work take them, and the bill changers dispense them. I find them handy for food/drink purchases at work. I can change a $20 for them, and carry them in a belt/fanny pack type thing. Vending change for a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/51 "2001-05-01T06:08:14Z")
[hijack] Just for comparison, in the Philippines they have coin demoninations that go as low as the equivilent of 1/8 cent US (5 centimo) up to about $.13 (5 peso). Their bills start at 10 peso (about a quarter) and go up to 1000 ($25). It wasn’t unusual for me to be carrying aroung a couple of thousands and several hundreds at one time. Wait, here’s something relevant. The cool thing about Filipino money, especially the bills, is that no two look anything alike. You can tell what denomination a bill is just by looking at the color. The five centimo coins are about half the diameter of a dime, and have a hole in the middle. Cool! Sakkies are at least more interesting than the same old boring black and green bills. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/52 "2001-05-01T06:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*And another comment on this statement - where did you hear this? All the articles I’ve read on the subject says that vending machine makers are one of the principal opponents of new coins, because they don’t want to have to retool their machines. \*\* Virtually every article I’ve read has said that the vending industry has been pushing for an accepted dollar coin since before the SBA was introduced, because dollar bills are less than ideal for vending machines due to optical recognition difficulties and counting difficulties. On the flip side, all the research cited in these articles has indicated that the average person hesitates to put more than 2 coins into a vending machine, so having the ability to charge $1 with only one coin was a major sales advantage. I don’t have any specific cites on this, but I’ll do some research and see what I can find. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/53 "2001-05-01T06:40:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*And another comment on this statement - where did you hear this? All the articles I’ve read on the subject says that vending machine makers are one of the principal opponents of new coins, because they don’t want to have to retool their machines. \*\* Gah…I just managed to delete an entire page long post during preview. Let’s try that again. From the US Mint: > [@](#): > > The new alloy has been designed to produce an attractive coin that is golden in color while matching the electro-magnetic signature and physical specifications (size and weight) of the Susan B. Anthony dollar (SBA), which the Golden Dollar replaces. By matching the specifications of the SBA, the Mint has created a new dollar coin that will be accepted immediately by thousands of vending and mass transit machines that now accept SBAs. No reprogramming or refitting of these machines will be required, Director Diehl explained. This development is even more significant for the millions of coin-operated machines that are capable of accepting the dollar coin but are not currently configured to do so. > > “This was a tough challenge,” Diehl said in his remarks. “On the one hand, we wanted to create a new dollar coin that ‘works’ like the SBA in the thousands of vending machines now accepting the SBA. On the other hand, we had to produce a coin that looked very different to consumers and would not be confused with the quarter. It was a tall order, but we pulled it off.” [http://www.usmint.gov/Mint\_Programs/Golden\_Dollar\_coin/index.cfm?action=alloy](http://www.usmint.gov/Mint_Programs/Golden_Dollar_coin/index.cfm?action=alloy) From the Conservative News Service (? Are they biased on this issue? I dunno. I’m a liberal though, so I’m not doing this on purpose.) > [@](#): > > Replacing the “greenback” with a buck that doesn’t crumple when inserted into a vending machine, or come back like a stuck-out tongue, is an issue with lobbying groups on both sides. > > The Coin Coalition represents more than two dozen organizations, including the American Council of the Blind, the American Public Transit Association, and the National Automatic Merchandising Association, and is pushing hard for the use of a one dollar coin regardless of the effect on paper dollars. > > The coalition’s self-stated goals are “to cause the new $1 coin to circulate in sufficient quantities to enable coin-operated industries and mass transit to operate more efficiently.” > > According to National Automatic Merchandising Association associate director, Bill Hurley, the Canadian vending machine industry has seen about a 30 percent increase in revenue since the introduction of its $1 coin. > > “Not to mention a very real savings in vending machine maintenance,” Hurley told CNS. “The majority of repairs we see in the U.S. are for the machines’ dollar bill receptors.” [http://www.cnsnews.com/InDepth/archive/199905/IND19990511b.html](http://www.cnsnews.com/InDepth/archive/199905/IND19990511b.html) From the USAToday: > [@](#): > > Tom McMahon of the National Automatic Merchandising Association says many of the country’s 6 million food and beverage machines accept the coins. McMahon’s industry likes them because they’re easier for machines to read than paper bills and are more durable. [http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds024.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds024.htm) From ReplayMag, a video games industry journal, that suggests that the video game industry isn’t as prepared as the vending industry, but still is very much in favor of the dollar coin (difficult to pull out a good quote from this one. Here’s the best, but just read the whole article): > [@](#): > > The next opportunity is pricing. A new denomination is a great opportunity to change the pricing of your games. Can you set a video game or jukebox that only accepts Golden Dollars? Two plays for a dollar, or maybe one game per dollar? Think of the pool tables, which can now go to $1 per play without having to line up all those quarters just right. I think the customer understands that new technology has a cost. If you’re ever going to change, now might be the time to test different options. A few operators have already made this change successfully. Revenues have increased. [http://www.replaymag.com/rchil300.htm](http://www.replaymag.com/rchil300.htm) From an SBA related site. Still based on dollar coins: > [@](#): > > In 1976, the Treasury Department commisioned a report to study expected coin usage requirements through 1990. This report recommended that the $1 coin be replaced with a smaller one - 26.5 millimeters (about one inch) in diameter: > > “A conveniently sized dollar coin would significantly broaden the capabilities of consumers for cash transactions, especially with machines. Members of the automated merchandising industry have expressed a strong interest in a smaller dollar, indicating their willingness to adapt their machinery to its use.” [http://www.dollar-coin.nu/sba.html](http://www.dollar-coin.nu/sba.html) Well, that should be enough. If you need more, I can find more. But that’s just a smattering of sources that I was able to find on a quick search. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/54 "2001-05-01T14:24:26Z")
And Cecil himself once weighed in: [What happened to 50-cent pieces?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_024.html) > [@](#): > > **The vending companies also would love a popular high-value coin, since bill-accepting technology is much more expensive and failure-prone than coin mechanisms.** ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/55 "2001-05-01T14:27:19Z")
Love them sackies. I buy a roll at the bank every week or so. Use 'em to make up differences in large amounts. “That’s $27 you say… hmm, here’s a twenty, a five and \ two ones!” Sad to say, those two usually go into the tray in the cash register that’s on the far end, with nothing else in it but paper clips. \ A friend of mine works in a school where they have a printing shop. He’s taken a stack of BRAND NEW one dollar bills, had a cardboard easel cut to the same size as the dollars to back them, and runs a strip of that rubbery adhesive across the top of the whole shebang. That way, the ones peel off like notes from a notepad. As a kicker, he slips it inside a leather checkbook cover. I watched him “peel off” several singles to leave as a tip, and the bartender didn’t think they were real “ones”. Hmm, maybe it’d work if the same way if sackies were packaged like a roll of mints! \ ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/56 "2001-05-01T14:40:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flymaster \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > > \*\*FTR I love the idea of a dollar coin. I think anyone who works or has worked in an industry where you count lots of money every night would love to see the end of the dollar bill and the penny. > > \*\* > > You couldn’t be more wrong about me. I’ve been a bus boy. I’ve been a parking lot attendant. Both jobs end up accumulating a veritable ASSLOAD of ones. I can’t imagine getting paid at the end of the night by the waitresses with 40 sackies, or collecting $300 in the middle of a parking lot in coins, and then having to run down to the other end of the lot to yell at the asshole who parked in about 8 spaces simulataneously. \*\* When I was a theatre manager I would have to count thousands of singles in a night. Torn or worn singles don’t go through a bill counting machine with ease but a 5 or 20 can sneak in with your singles and screw up your count. Using a coin counter would be much easier. Plus handing a roll of singles to a chashier would be easier than a stack of 100 bills which he or she would have to count to make sure her bank was right. Plus you could hit the asshole who didn’t park right with a sack full of sackies. That would teach 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/57 "2001-05-01T21:22:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*And all of this without even mentioning the possibility of the complete collapse of the exotic dancing industry. \*\* Munch, thank you for this unnoticed gem! Finally a practical problem to set our sights on solving! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/58 "2001-05-01T21:47:28Z")
Thanks, superdude. But I will point out that the use of two dollar bills at a strip club doesn’t cost you TOO much more, and they might mistake it for a twenty, which could get you some extra attention! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/59 "2001-05-01T23:43:17Z")
Sorry, pal, but I love 'em, and I’m delighted to see the mint go in this direction. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761/60 "2001-05-01T23:49:52Z")
I’ve been seeing it more. Paramount’s Great America is an amusement park in Santa Clara, California. When I was there last month, they were using these for change. Two months ago I was in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. Flight was cancelled and spent some of the next five hours in their arcade. All games cost a dollar and the change machine converted $1-$20 into Sackies. I’ve received them in change elsewhere. I’ve spent them a few times (if I have them in my pocket). But at the end of the day all my accumulated change goes into a Costco-sized tootsie roll jar. Sackies just mean that jar will be more valuable when I cash it in. Fiscally, I say the government should stop producing the $1 bill and force us into the coin currency. Emotionally I am completely indifferent. At one point I was walking around the airport with $20 in Sackies in my pocket. The noise was not deafening and the weight was not a problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-hates-the-sacagawea-dollar/63761.md?page=4)