# Why are there two versions of $1? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423 "2000-05-24T17:30:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Geenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Geenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geenius)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/21 "2000-05-26T14:45:15Z")
Well, the big mistake with the Susie was making it virtually indistinguishable from a quarter – same color, same reeded edge, similar size, similar portrait on the obverse. The Socky is a different color and has a smooth edge and a totally different obverse portrait. No one’s gonna mistake a Socky for anything else. Somehow, I don’t see being unable to choose between a coin and a bill at every monetary denomination as a crippling limitation on my personal freedom. brad\_d: Where do you get your pants? Every pair I own has a coin pocket, either just above the right front pocket or sewed inside it. Only time I ever have a problem is when I’m wearing my khakis, in which the coin pocket is a little bit smaller than optimal, making it difficult to reach into. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/22 "2000-05-26T18:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Ah the choice argument… > > Choice = freedom. You’ve got your Sackies, you got your Suzies, use’m. But to me they’re both Yugos. > \*\* This is NOT a freedom of choice argument. You have no right to choose the medium of your currency. Check the books, it’s up to the boys in Washington. If it were a choice matter I’d like to have $5 and $10 dollar coins please. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/23 "2000-05-26T18:46:15Z")
Whatever factual issues the OP raised were answered long ago. For a disussion of which is “better,” I’m going to move this thread to our new forum, **In My Humble Opinion**. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/24 "2000-05-27T04:26:31Z")
Can we agree that everyone might be right, but just from their own perspective. BratMan, the **OP** , said > [@](#): > > The coins make loud jingling sounds in your pocket and most vending machines won’t accept them. [ You may be right about vending machines in your town that you use, but vending machines in major cities, and machines that take money in large cities for Metro transit take them just fine. Better than bills even. **Gazoo** said > [@](#): > > I can’t wait for the dollar coin to be more accepted and used Er, uh, hope longevity runs in your family. If I lived in Washington, DC, and rode the Metro every day, I would love using these suckers and would assume everyone else in the US would also. But I live in Akron, OH and we have little use for them here. The average person in an average town doesn’t want/need them. Only if the government got rid of paper dollars would we use them. **Geenius** What can I say. You are a F\*\*\*\*\*\* genius! Your comments are on the mark. P.S. Canada has quit their $2 bill. The British pound is currently worth about $1.48 US, the German DM about 46 cents US. **moriah** see “geenius” above **Geenius** you said > [@](#): > > Several Asian countries, including China, also “mint” coins made of metallic-colored plastic!) I think they are aluminum, unless you know something I don’t. **Gazoo** Your benefits list for the coins is correct **Nixon** You said > [@](#): > > Dollar coins never went away folks, the Suzies fill many a government warehouse Wrong. They have finally been used up and are now in circulation, mostly in major cities connected with transit systems, post office machines, vending machines. None left in warehouses(as they were up until 5 years ago or so). you further said > [@](#): > > Yes, to some, we are morons who could be corrected by a government dictate that all dollar bills must be replaced by Sackies or Suzies or whatever. But I wouldn’t want to be the Congressman who supports such a noble improvement. Are you saying that everyone in Canada, Great Britain, and many other countries who have no “dollar bill” any longer are _MORONS_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Phosgene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Al\_Phosgene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Phosgene)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/25 "2000-06-14T01:49:19Z")
I finally got to see one of the coins, and I have to agree, we don’t need paper $1’s any more as well. Plenty of countries give up denominations every year, and have since the 1920’s. We are simply the last one with old presidents that are treated like saints. Now that there’s a non-heroic image, all the coins and bills should honor non-presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Alphonse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Alphonse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphonse)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/26 "2000-06-14T02:21:46Z")
Some poor countries use only bills, even for amounts like a nickle. So how come they don’t use coins, if it’s so much cheaper in the long run? They aren’t apt to have the horders and collectors that make the $1 coin scarce. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/27 "2000-06-19T16:48:26Z")
they typically have hyperinflated currencies which used to be worth a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![HomeSlice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9d8465/32.png) [@HomeSlice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HomeSlice)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/28 "2000-06-19T17:10:46Z")
But if 1s, 5s, and 10s were all in coin form, us manly men would have to carry _gasp_ change purses!!! 😃 I basically count money for a living and I’d say coins are much easier to count than both new and old dollar bills. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/29 "2000-06-19T17:16:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > From the posts I’ve seen, I gather I’m in the minority. However, I _like_ dollar bills and am not at all anxious to see them replaced by coins. > > Coins, to me, are kind of annoying to carry around. Bills go nicely into the main pocket of my wallet, while the change has to be stuck…someplace (I keep mine in one of the little card slots.). Too many coins make my wallet lumpy and annoying to sit on - this can also be done with bills, but it takes far more. I could keep my coins in another pocket, but after trying it for a while I found it yet more bothersome. > \*\* Pardon my asking, but are you male or female? I ask because I (male) can’t imagine keeping coins in the typical man’s wallet. As for dollar bills, don’t you ever find that they very annoyingly bulk up your wallet? How about when you pay a $4 parking tab and get 16 singles in change? I hate it when that happens. I think that’s worse than carrying coins, but that’s just my HO. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/30 "2000-06-19T17:31:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Ah the choice argument… > > Meaning, IMHO, freedom and liberty. > > Dollar coins never went away folks, the Suzies fill many a government warehouse, saving the taxpayers tons of money no doubt. At the rate they’re used, they might outlast spent plutonium. > \*\* From what I’ve heard one of the chief reasons the Sackie was introduced at this time was that the “warehouse full of Suzies” is almost exhausted, mostly through stamp and transit vending machines. You might not like like getting Sackies or Suzies in change from a vending machine, but with paper change not an option, how else would you have them do it? With quarters? Say you buy a book of twenty $0.33 stamps costing $6.60 --would you rather the machine give you 13 Sackies, 1 quarter, one dime, and one nickel; or 53 quarters, one dime, and one nickel? Wake up, Bucko, and smell the coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423/31 "2000-06-20T20:36:20Z")
Could the trend of guys wearing pants below the butt be a factor here? I guess you really can’t put any coins in your pocket because they’d fall out. But your wallet with its paper money would be safe on its chain. I hope to God that isn’t it. It’s a fairly stupid reason why we have to go on using paper 20-cent bills, which is what dollars are like in 1960’s money. On a broader issue I’ve noticed that there’s a gender difference in people’s attitudes on currency. Women don’t seem to mind hauling around a lot of quarters presumably because they usually have purses or those big wide wallets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-two-versions-of-1/20423.md?page=1)