Why the US Keeps Minting Coins People Hate

CeruleanDragon writes "In hidden vaults across the country, the US government is building a stockpile of $1 coins. The hoard has topped $1.1bn — imagine a stack of coins reaching almost seven times higher than the International Space Station — and the piles have grown so large the US Federal Reserve is running out of storage space."

Comments

quit printing $1 notes

[Anonymous Coward]

and the problem goes away real fast.

Dumb coins

[PCM2]

One reason Americans have resisted dollar coins is because the Mint has made dumb decisions about the coins.

The Eisenhower dollar was large and heavy. Its diameter made it uncomfortable to put in a change pocket. So when they created the Susan B. Anthony dollar, they decided to make it smaller -- small enough, in fact, that it was easily mistaken for a quarter. People ended up handing out quarters when they were looking for dollars and vice versa. You couldn't easily tell which was which just by reaching into your pocket.

The new dollar coins are gold-colored instead of silver, but they retain the dimensions of the Susan B. Anthony dollar. That's smart in one sense, because it means vending machines that take the old dollar coins can still take the new ones. But it's also stupid, because almost no vending machines take Susan B. Anthony dollars, since nobody uses them (or if they do accept them, they register as quarters). So in the end, consumers see the new coins as just gold versions of the old coins, and they don't want to get burned again -- leading to the problem cited in the article, where customers and businesses alike are reluctant to accept them. Most people I know aren't even totally sure if the dollar coins are genuine legal tender or if they're just some kind of passing fad that will be unusable in a few years, like out-of-date postage stamps (and this doubt is exacerbated by the fact that they keep changing the pictures on the front, so they seem like collector's coins).

Contrast this to the UK and EU, each of which took pains to differentiate their highest-value coins from the others. Both the 1 Euro and 1 Pound coins are notably thicker than other coins, in addition to being a unique size, which makes them more easily recognizable by touch. (As an aside, European notes tend to have specific sizes for each denomination, too, while the U.S. notes are all the same size, making it difficult for blind people to choose one from the other.)

If the U.S. Mint would just smarten up, maybe it wouldn't keep wasting money like this.

Re:Dumb coins

[RobinH]

There's just a huge cultural difference between the US and Canada when it comes to change (no pun intended). When things in the US change, the populace attacks the current government for being in office at the time. In Canada, the view is just, "whatever, I guess that's progress... sure is going to wear out your pocket a bit sooner." Heck, they just pushed through the HST in Ontario and nobody batted an eyelash.

I think that in Canada we *expect* to delegate decisions like this to the government, and we go along with the choices because it's their job to research the options and make good choices. Plus it's easily verifiable: it costs less... so ok. In the US, any change imposed from above is "evil" because every political battle is based on emotion now, not logic. I think maybe the emotion in play is fear. Let's face it, the US is "on top" right now, and when you're big, you get scared because you have a lot to lose. You lose agility because everyone's afraid that any change will disrupt the delicate balance that put you where you are. Unfortunately that means you stop progressing too, and if history is any lesson, the underdog always catches up.

The US will never change to metric or to a dollar coin. Not while it's on top anyway.

Re:Good for

[sjames]

On the other hand, having all our bills the same size is hard on blind people.

Re:Where to get them...

[JWSmythe]

    It may have been because you worked in a pub. After a few too many drinks, people get confused about all kinds of things. :)

    Last night, on the way home from a bar, we saw a big piece of something blowing around in the turn lane we needed to get into. As we came up on it, it wasn't a something, it was a lady laying in the road. We stopped, blocking the road, so no one would hit her, and got her out of the road. She was confused between a bed and a highway. She wasn't hurt, she just said that she must have tripped. Hmmm, tripped and fell asleep on a major road.