New Coke is a terrible analogy, as that was just a product marketed by a commercial firm. Nothing political about that. As for people voting politicians out of office about getting rid of the $1 bill, I’m skeptical. As if someone opposed to abortion who has an incumbent representative who is against abortion and who also voted to get rid of the $1 bill will say: “I wish I could vote for him, but because his opponent wants to bring the $1 bill back, even though that opponent is pro-choice, this dollar bill issue is so big it is the clincher for my vote”?
There is my objection. I hate coins. I hate jingling when I walk. I hate how, when I put my feet up on my desk and sleep Dagwood-style, they fall out of my pocket. I keep change jars at work and at home to handle the darn things. I never put more than the cost of a paper in my pocket, and I empty any accumulated change as soon as possible. The only thing I find mildly utalitarian is the quarter, and only because I need it for parking meters, and I store those in my car.
I do NOT want dollar coins exclusively. I will lobby AGAINST any effort to do away with the dollar bill.
Anyway, isn’t pulling out a wad of ones wrapped in a twenty much more impressive looking? Can’t do that with coins!
Every product is marketed by a commercial firm. You remember the talking head of George Washington ads promoting the Sackie? New Coke was produced by a private corporation.
I never said that New Coke was political. It is, however, a great example of the American public being opposed to change.
I never saw it happening that way. More " Senator Hypothetical agrees with all my political views, but he voted out the dollar bill. I don’t want that bastard Mr Example from the other party in office. But, I want the bill back. Hmm I see that city councilman Madeup agrees with all my political views and wants to bring back the bill. I think I’ll vote for him in the primary, thus ensuring my views are represented, we get the bill back, and Hypothetical is out on his ass."
Based on the above, it makes me wonder if it is a matter of people not wanting to use Sackies, but instead they’ve never really had a chance? I had never even seen one in circulation, and my first encounter was when I got a roll from the bank by specifically asking for them.
Yeah, great idea. Make yourself a target for a mugging. After the robber whacks you on the head and takes that bankroll of yours, when you regain consciousness you’ll at least have the satisfaction of knowing all he got was a single $20 bill and a bunch of ones. :smack:
Nope. I’ve scarcely watched television in the last 5 years. Mind you, before that I was a veritable boob tube addict. I kicked that jones. I somehow doubted that watching “Wheel of Fortune” a lot made me a better person. Let’s not even mention all those Gilligan’s Island reruns. 
It was a great example of the stupidity of a major corporation after building a strong brand identity for a popular product not leaving well enough alone. It isn’t like people can switch over to a different currency if the Treasury changes it. Canada was able to get rid of their $1 bill. I’ve been to Canada many times, and the people there don’t seem all that different than in the US. I guess it could be that the closer people are to the equator the more stupid they are. However, I doubt that this is true.
All kinds of unlikely for an issue this trivial. Routinely incumbents for national office in the US win the primary handily with far greater black marks against them. It has to do with the fact incumbents find it far more easy to get financial backing from moneyed special interest groups who the candidate has voted favorably for in the past. There just isn’t any special interest group with lots of money with a priority of keeping the dollar bill around.
[hijack] It’s gone up since I was last in PA, I see. [/hijack]
Galatica
What a nice thing to say. :wally:
Do you have the same opinion of the European Union? They have initiated a new currency in the last few years called the Euro, as opposed to the American currency that has been around for several decades. There is a 1 Euro bill as well as a 1 cent coin and lo and behold a 2 cent coin. Since this is all new I don’t imagine the Europeans are being stubborn. Do you think they are being stupid, rfgdxm?
Errrr, except that the smallest note is €5. The largest coin is €2.
I hope your remark was as joking as mine. I had on my mind as I wrote that the scene from My Cousin Vinny. If not, as a NYC native, I’m well aware of how to avoid presenting oneself as a mugging target and have avoided being mugged in my 4 decades here. Also, I work in the financial industry, and get the opportunity to work with many people who think nothing of carrying around large wads of cash (not my proverbial wad of ones inside a twenty, but a wad of twenties and hundreds) who also have avoided said muggings, despite flamboyantly showing off their excess in public places (while poor D_Odds nurses his $4.00 seltzer water all night long).
After living in Germany for 2 years I can say I hate having so many coins in my pocket. Besides I couldn’t do my other web obsession.
When I went to a strip club in Japan, I asked one of the dancers if they would take 100 or 500 yen coins (approx $1/$5). She said no, they’d be insulted if you tried. It sucked having to give them 1000 yen bills, but they put on a good show for it and most times took it with their body parts from your face.
I imagine the Canadian strippers don’t like coins either. Plus the obvious “where does it go” problem.
I think if we got rid of the dollar bill, suddenly the $2 bill would be used a hell of a lot more, especially for strippers.
It should also be noted that, IIRC, not every Euro country uses the “penny”, but even for those that do it may not be as “stubborn” as it first seems. Now, I don’t like pennies, and think we could probably do without them (see my block of sandstone analogy above in this thread). However, the problem with pennies in the U.S. is twofold. Firstly, they’re worth too little to be useful. Secondly, and more importantly, there exist no coins in everyday circulation that make it practical to use coins at all. It’s not practicable to buy your lunch with quarters, for example. Since nearly every purchase requires paper money, and most people keep their paper money separately from their coins, most people use paper for every thing, and accumulate more and more coins. What the 1- and 2-Euro coins provide is the means to conveniently buy many more things with coins than is the case in America, and that makes it easier to use your smaller coins as you go. If a European buys something that costs 3.85 in their currency, it’s easier to pull 3.86 in coins from the pocket, meaning that not only the one- and two-euro coins get spent, but also some of the smaller change that he has. But for Americans, there’s just no way you’re going to dig out $3.86 in coin when you need 15 quarters to make $3.75. Instead, you just break another fin and accumulate yet another little clump of change.
(In response to my assertion that the government forcing Americans to switch to a dollar coin by ceasing production of the bill would result in very many politicians being voted out of office)
Then why hasn’t the government done it? Changing from a bill to a coin would save the government money. Any corporation which either makes vending machines, or a product that is routinely sold in vending machines would support such a change. Either a lot of politicians are against a dollar coin for the same stubborn reasons I am, or they know that their constituents are against a dollar coin and would react very negatively.
If the issue was really so trivial, then it wouldn’t be necessary to stop making dollar bills in order to get people to use dollar coins.
I haven’t tested this out, but I’d guess if I stuffed $2 Jeffeson notes in a stripper’s g-string they wouldn’t throw it in my face.
I don’t see the problem with substitutiong the $1 note with the $1 coin so long as the $1 note is dropped completely and the production and circulation of the $2 note is increased.
Instead of having $4 as 4 ones or 4 coins, you would have simply have 2 x $2.
Instead of $3 as 3 ones or 3 coins, you would simply have 1 x $2 plus a $1 coin.
I don’t see how converting to $1 coins would lead people to have a bunch of cumbersome coins in this situation.
I also believe that, even with the increased production of $2 notes, the Treasury would still save money because the $2 notes probably would not be circulated quite so much as $1 notes are today. [My guess; No cite].
As far as cashier tills go, put the $2 notes where the $1 notes used to go. Put the $1 coins in the “extra” slot at the far left of the drawer … or kill the penny and use the nickel as the smallest coin, and sort the cash drawer accordingly.
Besides public stubbornness, there are a couple of factors I’ve heard cited. One is that the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, which prints paper money, has successfully lobbied against eliminating the dollar bill, which would drastically cut down on their workload. Then, as for the new dollar coins, I was also told that the major armored transportation companies were reluctant to retool in order to be able to handle them. This was from someone who emailed me from the Coin Coalition’s website. That organization did indeed advocate the dollar coin, but their website is now defunct, so I can’t link to it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I believe the government has the right to dictate in this area. We didn’t vote in the monetary system in 1783, it was established by legislative fiat. Nor did we vote to go off the gold standard, or to implement the Federal Reserve System, or to take silver out of our coins in 1965. These acts were done by governmental fiat, because of economic necessity. When someone in Washington finally realizes how preposterous it is to be using coins and denominations designed around 1800 and earlier in light of 21st century prices, the dollar bill will go the way of the dodo whether the majority wants it or not. If we’re really lucky, the fractional coins will get resized downwards, too, and perhaps the penny and nickel eliminated.
I think it is necessary to eliminate the dollar bill for the special reason that the public’s concept of coins has become so skewed to the idea that coins aren’t money, really, they’re just a nuisance factor in your daily life. They’re just something you get back and have to lug around, because you usually don’t use them to buy stuff.
IMO even $2 is too small a denomination for a bill.