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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."
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coins are genuine legal tender or if they're just some kind of passing fad that will be unusable in a few years, like out-of-date postage stamps (and this doubt is exacerbated by the fact that they keep changing the pictures on the front, so they seem like collector's coins).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!
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.