Do you know how long a dollar bill lives? A paper dollar’s life span is between 1.5 and two years. So who cares?
Nobody cares because the general public has no idea what the cost of printing a dollar bill. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces around 4 billion one-dollar notes per year, which is about half of all bills produced at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. And each year, more than 3 billion of these worn dollars are pulled from circulation, shredded and sent to landfills.
Although the constitution gives Congress the authority to mint coins, here is just one more instance where a federal agency has made a power grab. The Federal Reserve reports to no one. Yet they control the amount of money in circulation.
When I was young we had a silver dollar, a dollar coin. The coin does not need to be made out of silver but it is economically wise to have a metal coin rather than a paper dollar. One dollar coin lasts for 30 years — not 2 — costs less to mint and weighs less than four quarters. Some might say will that will only help the mining companies.
Yes, that is true but did you know there is only one company that produces the paper a dollar bill is printed on. At least the U.S. Mint has real competition for their metal supply.
Larry “Lucky” Chesley
Queen Creek
chatmandu002 posted at 11:39 am on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Good point Lucky....
Arizona Willie posted at 11:57 am on Fri, May 4, 2012.
They have tried dollar coins a couple of times and nobody wants them.
They weigh down your pockets till it feels like your pants are going to fall down.
If they made them from titanium or some real light metal it might work -- but silver -- no thanks.
The idea is good .... the execution is the problem. All previous dollar coins have been way to heavy.
loubator posted at 12:10 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Okay, thanks for the insight, Lucky! Now, go back to your shed and your dog-eared copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and we'll give you a call.
Dale Whiting posted at 12:18 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Larry,
Willie is correct and as usual, chatmandu002 is wrong. Yours in not a good point. I share with you a youth where I experienced Silver dollars in circulation. Back in the 60's Montana mandated that paper dollars be taken out of circulation by forbidding its bank, then under state regulation, from taking paper dollars from the Treasury. The Treasury had to mint silver dollars. Montana produced silver and that helped keep the price up.
When I visited my cousin in Missoula MT, as I opened up by wallet to pay the price of admission to a picture show, seeing my supply of dollar bills, she opened up her purse and bought my supply with silver dollars. I still have one in my possession, a 1883 minted in Philadelphia.
Willis' point is well taken. Where teenagers in Missoula sold me their silver for my paper, your idea won't work today. I still have my Sacaguwia too. [sorry for the spelling]. Only coin collectors will like your idea. I once saw a $20 gold piece. It was the size of a quarter. And $50 gold pieces were the size of silver dollars.
Sammatt posted at 12:57 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Well, Lucky, your numbers are way off. A little bit of research would help.
But you are indeed correct that the Mint does have competition for its metal supply: One American company and one Korean company. What? Really....
Viridian85 posted at 1:37 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
It's time to switch to the dollar coin. I can't believe we haven't done it yet.
Arizona Willie posted at 2:55 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Viridian85 == we HAVE done it and called it a failure.
They even converted vending machines to take the dollar coins.
The people said " No No No NO ".
The dollar coins were too heavy and, as I remember, the last ones they made were easily confused with quarters.
The idea SOUNDS good ... but it doesn't work out in practice ... like the Republican philosophy of government. Haw -- had to throw that in [smile]
Viridian85 posted at 4:50 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
Arizona Willie == we have not done it, because we never stopped production of the one dollar bill
the ones from the 70's were a failure because they looked too much like a quarter...the current ones are gold and obviously different
concernedcitizen posted at 9:50 pm on Fri, May 4, 2012.
If you do enough research, you will find that the one company that makes all the paper for dollar bills has done millions in lobbying to keep the dollar bill around. That thought that the Sacagawea coin is too heavy has in part been placed in your mind by the "powers that be." Like most agencies/companies that receive government money, they don't want to lose their slice of the pie. Viridian is right about the new dollar coins, VERY much different in look than any other coin.
If we really were money-conscious, we would go to the coins because they last longer and cost less, which means you would need to produce a lot less each year. Just like if people really realized they lived in the desert, they would shut the water off while they brush their teeth. The answer is obvious, it all hinges on people actually willing to do the right thing. Don't like the Sacagawea dollar? Well, you can get used to it, just like we've all gotten used to recycling now. It's a cultural shift that will need to come sometime if we really want to tailor down some of the governments' expenses.
Dale Whiting posted at 3:14 am on Mon, May 7, 2012.
Lucky, viridian85, concernedcitizen,
Ever been to Canada via air? When you leave, chances are you will pass by a very large clear plastic ball or similar container placed conveniently next to the main thoroughfare. It's there to collect Canadian coins. One can use US currentcy in Canada and in doing so, get Canadian change, but cannot use Canadian currentcy in the US. And the collection containers are filled with coins, not paper money, destine for charity.
When I served in Turkey 35 odd years ago, the exchange rate was one US dollar to twenty Turkish lira. And the lira was divided into 100 kurush. The smallest kurush piece in common circulation was the 25 kurush piece, worth about a penny. Yet if one paid close attention one could see 5 kurush pieces in circulation. My prize was a 1/4 kurush piece worth 1/100 of a penny. Just how the heck coins could be minted in Turkey puzzle me. Today the exchange rate is 40 to 1. Yet the Turkish economy is flourishing.
Nice point about the company that processes that 'rag' paper. In the 60's it was silver mines in Montana that got subsidized by prohibiting Montana banks from ordering paper money.
We are printing $100 bills by the pallet full and shipping them off weekly to Dubai. Surely you can find something else more important to talk about.
sockratties posted at 7:58 am on Mon, May 7, 2012.
AZW – you’re right… If anyone actually wants to use dollar coins you can get them from the teller at your bank. You can get two dollar bills, too. Unfortunately machines, including ATMs, don’t do well with the coins and most vending machines don’t recognize a $2 bill. The coin sorting machines that give you store credit also tend to count the Susan B. Anthony coins as quarters. Making the coins lighter creates a problem for vending machines as they use gravity and weight to trip the mechanical feed. More sophisticated systems also check conductivity and features, but most rely on diameter, thickness and weight.
Two current coins are the Native American dollars and the Presidential Series. They are both the size and weight of the Sacagawea gold dollar. Surveys indicate that people tend to spend the coins if they receive them as change but do not prefer them because of the convenience of paper money. Demand has been further reduced because of the tendency of casinos to use plastic cards in gambling machines and chips at tables.
If we really want the mint to save money we could have them stop minting pennies because it costs as much to make and distribute a penny as it’s worth. There would be a short inflationary spike because everyone would round the price up to the next nickel instead of down but that’s a onetime deal.
The mint actually makes a profit on most coins. In 2004 the cost to produce a penny was .93 cents, 4.56 cents for a nickel, 3.14 cents for a dime, 7.33 cents to make a quarter, 16.97 cents for a half dollar and only 21.14 cents to produce a golden dollar. By now it probably costs more than a penny to make a 1 cent coin.
sockratties posted at 8:00 am on Mon, May 7, 2012.
Dale -- your two comments were about.... well....you. To quote your last line, "Surely you can find something else more important to talk about."
Masterrogue666 posted at 9:54 pm on Mon, May 7, 2012.
Sockratties: Didn't you know! "Dale" is allowed to talk about himself, but he doesn't like it when others do the same!
DCA posted at 6:29 am on Tue, May 8, 2012.
Lucky has it right -- 7 GAO reports over 22 years have all found major savings (billions of dollars) by switching to a dollar coin. It's time for our elected officials to listen and make this common sense change, especially nowadays when deficit reduction is so critical. Get the facts here: http://dollarcoinalliance.org/endorsements/