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Why the US Keeps Minting Coins People Hate

Posted by samzenpus on from the how-I-learned-to-love-the-$1-coin dept.

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."

17 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Where to get them... by johndiii · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you want some dollar coins, they are commonly dispensed in vending machines in the post office. After spending some time in Canada, I think that they work well - despite my initial surprise. It would be helpful to have a two dollar coin as well, one that is clearly distinguishable from the one dollar.

    I have a few of them laying around - Monroe, Washington, and a couple of Madisons, as well as a few of the Sacagaweas, Eisenhowers, and Anthonys. I think that I'm going to start using them.

    --
    Floating face-down in a river of regret...and thoughts of you...
    1. Re:Where to get them... by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When I deposit paychecks, I ask for a couple rolls ($25 rolls). I've been using this latest dollar coin when going to restaurants. My reasoning is that using it as tip money will get it into more people's hands than just spending them in businesses (which I also do).

      I developed an appreciation for bigger value coins after spending a month in Germany a couple years ago.

    2. Re:Where to get them... by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Americans are used to the fact that $1 and up are paper currency, and anything less than $1 is coinage.

          It took me all of a whopping few seconds to become familiar with the Canadian Loonie and toonie, even though every time I say it, I think of Looney Tunes. :)

          I think part of the American aversion to the $1 coin is the fact that they can't be used in any automated equipment. I can't say that I've seen any American vending machines that support the $1 coin. Out of habit, I'm sure most store clerks hand out the $1 paper currency, even if they may have the $1 coin in their drawer.

          I ended up getting quite a few $1 coins from a few places, and found them hard to use. Not that *I* had any problem with them, but clerks (like, young kids working a cash register as their first job) would refuse the $1 coin, because it wasn't real, or they "only accept American money".

          The only way the $1 coin will ever be adopted is if they stop circulating the $1 paper currency. Additionally, it will require vending machine companies to replace all their coin slots to accept $1 coins, rather than having the $1 bill slot. While it shouldn't be an impossible task, since coin slots are available in other countries, and there should be an easy migration route, it would still be an expense.

          Really, that wouldn't be a bad thing. It's pretty rare to have a coin slot get confused about a coin unless it's badly damaged. It's pretty common to have a bill slot that gets stuck or confused because there's a slight wrinkle, bend, crease, or stain (etc, etc) on the bill.

          it would seem to make sense to use $1 coins. Coins last a lot longer than paper currency, so they don't have to be shipped back to the mint for disposal as frequently. Since the $1 bill is the most common bill in circulation.

          On the other hand, how long would it take if every bank in America were to only take in $1 bills, and only give out $1 coins? Obviously, there would be a migration period, but it's reasonable to believe it could happen fairly quickly. None of us hold onto the money in our wallets very long. $1 currency comes and goes rather quickly.

          There are problems though. Either it would reduce the tips in strip clubs, since you couldn't pay in $1 bills, or it would increase their revenue since you'd now be paying with $5 bills. No girl likes coins tossed at her. I knew this girl once though that could do something pretty neat with a roll of quarters. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. :)

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    3. Re:Where to get them... by hipp5 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The only way the $1 coin will ever be adopted is if they stop circulating the $1 paper currency. Additionally, it will require vending machine companies to replace all their coin slots to accept $1 coins, rather than having the $1 bill slot. While it shouldn't be an impossible task, since coin slots are available in other countries, and there should be an easy migration route, it would still be an expense.

      Ehh it's not too big a deal. I remember when they came out with the toonie and the vendors complained about having to update their machines. They got over it though.

      There are problems though. Either it would reduce the tips in strip clubs, since you couldn't pay in $1 bills, or it would increase their revenue since you'd now be paying with $5 bills. No girl likes coins tossed at her.

      Funny you should mention that. I've heard tell from my oil field buddies that there are strip clubs in Alberta where the girls have set up a little game. The game works like this: they tape stuff to their nipples (usually posters and such), and the audience throws loonies at them. If you knock the object off with your loonie you get to keep it as a prize.

    4. Re:Where to get them... by mythosaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, since the Treasury accepts credit cards, you can use reward cards to get as many free points as you'd like.

      A quick internet search will show hundreds of people cycling these for cashback.

    5. Re:Where to get them... by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Informative

      There were similar complaints when the "Thatcher" pound coin was introduced in England. I worked in a pub at the time and people used to confuse it with the five pence piece, despite being gold coloured and about three times as thick.

      Now the colour I can excuse - the warm lighting makes them all look yellow - but how they didn't notice the thickness is beyond me. Maybe because all the others were roughly the same, so it wasn't a factor previously?

      Before that, there were the same complaints when they phased out the ten shilling (i.e. half a pound) note. Plus ça change...

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:Where to get them... by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Insightful

          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.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  2. quit printing $1 notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and the problem goes away real fast.

  3. Railgun ammunition? by euyis · · Score: 3, Funny

    Imagine soldiers firing compact railguns with these dollars as ammo at the bad guys... extremly effective if the enemies run to pick up the coins.

  4. Dumb coins by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
    1. Re:Dumb coins by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The US Mint needs to do what the Canadian Mint did. Back when the Loonie came out, they stopped making $1 bills. I admit I hated it at the time, but it saved taxpayers loads of money as there was no alternative to the loonie as the dollar bills began to degrade. The same thing happened when the Toonie came out and replaced the $2 bill as well.

      Just making coins but continuing to make paper bills of the same value is dumb.

      --
      Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
    2. Re:Dumb coins by RobinH · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

      --
      "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
    3. Re:Dumb coins by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

      Contrast this to the UK and EU

      You were doing so well up until that point. Don't you know it's unAmerican to do what other countries do, even if it's demonstrably superior?

      I can imagine the headline if theodp saw your post in a news story: "US plans to adopt Euro!".

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. Good for by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Interesting
    • Tooth Fairy deliveries
    • Tips while travelling
    • Buy a soda
    • Feed into a vending machine (coins >>> bills).

    With the dollar having lost more than 7X its value in the past 50 years, there's no reason now that dollar coins can't act like quarters and five dollar bills take the lowest-denomination paper spot, relative to how people used to behave. People leave pennies and sometimes nickels behind - that's an indication of value. Trouble is, a decimal system of money makes inflationary policy cumbersome.

    The non-use of the coin dollar in favor of the paper dollar, might actually be a tribute to the value of the coin dollar according to Gresham's Law.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:Good for by zoney_ie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I find it very difficult to use American change - as even if there was more widespread use of the dollar coin, the quarter is a bit awkward compared to having both 20c and 50c coins.

      Also one wouldn't end up with so many pennies if there were 2c coins.

      In general I'm a bit fan of the euro coins, even if they are a bit more regular than the old Irish pound coins (on the plus side, a small 2c rather than the gigantic 2p coin). I miss the 50p coin, which was seven-sided like the UK's.

      Anyway, cash in the US is a pain, the coin problem compounded by having notes all the same size and in subdued shades (albeit they are now better than all-green). Crazy that a dollar note is the same size as $50!

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    2. Re:Good for by sjames · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

  6. It's simple, really. by djlemma · · Score: 2, Funny

    You can't easily slip a $1 coin into a stripper's g-string.