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Is the Circulating dollar coin DOA??
ambro51
Posts: 13,609 ✭✭✭✭✭
Yes I know there are folks here who get a kick out of spending them.....and also those who Do follow, collect and adore them.....But.......is it safe to say these have left the pockets and cash register drawers, out of sight out of mind??
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I believe they have seen very active circulation in Ecuador, which uses the US dollar. They may be used in some US cities for transit fares.
Yes, it’s DOA until the vending industry supports it and retrofits existing machine while the $1 note is removed from circulation.
It’s worth noting that dollar coins have never been popular in US history. People have always preferred notes.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
I'd say yes ... DOA.
People are using cc for everyday purchases like fast food. Coins are still legal tender but bulky. Elimination of minting cent nickel, dime would improve cash commerce (rounding transactions to 50c or a dollar). Our monetary system based more on 1934 than now. The reality is our currency buys much less than then.
What’s needed is complete redesign of coins and currency and dropping presidents from our money.
I don't think sticking to $1 notes in the US is a bad idea. Since more and more people are using electronic forms of payment, the $1 note sees a longer lifespan. Not only that, there are banks reluctant to accept coins and if you want to exchange currency outside the US, they won't take or give out $1 coins but will take and give out $1 bills. The calculus is different in Ecuador where cash is king and it is hard to get change so people heavily use the lowest denominations possible.
Just keep quarters and have all purchases rounded to the nearest quarter. Quarters have truly been the workhorse denomination in recent decades. No one even cares about pennies, nickels and dimes anymore. Perhaps we can nickname the mint "the quarter factory" at that point.
Seems that given the current state of affairs and the value of the dollar, it seems a 2 1/2 and 5 dollar coin would make more sense along with a dollar coin if a dollar coin is going to be used. Seems there is a stockpile of one dollar coins waiting to be utilized
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
It has niche uses in vending (mostly transit) and in other countries that use US currency, as @291fifth said.
It will not be widely used unless the dollar bill is eliminated, and even then I wonder if people will start using twos.
That said, I usually never leave home without a few — great for small purchases and tip jars!
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
The government could do more to encourage the use of the $2 bill. I would also bring back the Monticello reverse on the $2 bill. In fact, that may even help get political buy in to help abolish the nickel (an alternate proposal would be to perhaps bring back the half dime in a clad composition to have a cheaper 5 cent coin), as it was Congressmembers in Virginia that initially opposed the Westward Journey nickels because they opposed Monticello being removed from the nickel. But if Monticello gets put back on a more widely used $2 bill, then there's more buy in to removing nickels or replacing nickels with clad half dimes that can reduce costs, but won't have room for a Monticello design.
I’m sorry but Jefferson has been put on probation by the cancel culture.
It will become popular when they stop printing the dollar bill.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Use $20 bills to buy stamps in a vending machine and you will get all the $1 coins you need. I have never received one in any other change. When I spend them it is very confusing for the cashiers.
It would be nice to get a $2.5 and $5 coin again. Back to the early 1900's.
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$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
works over in Europe [€2, €5] - dont see why it wouldn't work here, and how cool would that be; to have some modern $2/$2.5 & $5 us coins
As long as a paper dollar bill is in circulation, the dollar coin will not circulate.
The only way that the dollar coin will circulate, would be to eliminate the dollar bill.
Then, people would have no choice but to use it.
I believe Canada eliminated the dollar bill, and replaced it with the loony dollar.
Count me among the $1, $2.5 and $5 coin group. …and bring back some classical designs for these coins! I don't think that Lady Liberty can be considered controversial as some of the past presidents have...or can she?
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I remember buying a token at the Jersey City PATH station 7+ years ago and inserting a $20 bill in the machine since the turnstiles only accepted $1 bills. Got back like 17 Sacagewea coins & change and was so pissed. Wanted to get rid of them so bad. Whenever I used them at the store even the clerk looked mad at me. One guy thought it was a quarter.
We are the only first world nation left that still uses a dollar bill. It doesn't seem to be that hard for people in Canada, UK, Europe, etc to adopt the coin, why are we being obtuse? In fact, I can't think of a single country that uses a dollar bill equivalent except South Korea (1000 Won).
Probably the same reason the U.S. is hanging on to fractions.
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When I was a kid in the 60s, a quarter bought more than a dollar does today. If a coin was good enough for that amount of purchasing power back then, why not now? Conversely, a cent back then bought about what a nickel does today (which isn't much) - we didn't have circulating 1/5 cent pieces back then, why do we insist on keeping them today? The zinc and banknote lobby are the reason. The Congress people from the states involved won't allow the change to happen. And the vast majority of people don't understand the purchasing power angle. The inertia to overcome is tremendous...
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
Lady liberty certainly can be controversial. Saint Gaudens and Weinman have skeletons in their closets.
I've never been a fan of their use.
Handy at the card table, no where else.
For those advocating for higher denomination coins, why not remind the Feds the kind of loan they get from all the collectors and hoarders that will save them! I wonder how much money is sitting around in state quarters and the Bicentennial quarters + Halves, in fact it is surprising how many people save all the halves they get!
Besides the US government contract for cent planchets is nothing compared to the revenue from the zinc company's other businesses.
If we are going to avoid all controversy we could do something like the last franc before the French euro. Not a whole lot for people to argue about here but I’m sure some would say it should also have the number in braille and in other number systems.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
My understanding is they are used extensively in some South American countries. I forget which one but I read somewhere that some country down there uses our coins exclusively and we send a lot there.
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I think the big mistake was made in 1979 with the size of the SBA dollar. The original concept was for I believe, a 12 sided or octagonal coin. That path not being followed, the result was a slightly larger cousin of the Quarter. This doomed the concept from the start•••• conversely, the British Pound coin is thick, heavy and easily identified by feel. That’s what Our dollar coin should be like. Stick with Clad, it Is the most durable (though boring) material the US has ever used.
You're thinking of Ecuador. A few years ago our FBI and Secret Service spent time down there helping their law enforcement because the Sacagawea dollars were being heavily counterfeited. It was reported that these coins are popular with the citizens of Ecuador because Sacagawea looks a lot like one of their native Indians.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I absolutely agree with this. And do away with the cent and possibly the nickel and dime, too.
Is there anywhere with a circulating $5 equivalent coin? The biggest I've seen is a$2 equivalent.
I remember going to the Post Office with a few $5, $10 & $20 bills, feeding them into the stamp machine & then either selecting just a single stamp or cancelling the transaction, just to get all those dollar coins in return. They never gave back the original bill when cancelling a transaction, and it was an easier way for me to get SBA's, Sac's, & Prez $'s than thru the local banks (who didn't want to handle/distribute them).
Funny thing was that whenever I had to go to the postal counter & then tried to pay for an item (usually just a stamp or for certified for an oversized/important letter), the clerks there would be seriously annoyed to receive such a dollar coin as payment! (They sure could dish it out, but not take it!! LOL!)
In any event, not long afterwards, all nearby Post Offices removed the stamp machines from their lobbies, and my supply dried-up...............
As far as transit systems go, I believe a lot of them have transitioned away from coins to either tokens or fare cards. One can no longer drop an actual coin in a slot & get thru. In Philly, I believe, one used to have to use a token or go to the lone manned window to exchange coins/bills for tokens & then use the tokens to enter. I haven't used public transit in a while now, so maybe it's all cards by now. So another source and use for dollar coins is drying up.
The dollar coins are so much heavier & awkward to carry in bulk. The government should just realize they'll never fly here & stop producing any more. Only re-start once they run thru the billions wasting space & costing money in expanded storage facilities. Or does their accounting system & seignorage make it profitable to continue to waste valuable resources & further pollute via mining? Who knows...... maybe the incoming administration will look into the possibilities further.
.....much the same exact situations as the bags of Morgan and Peace dollars that laid in vaults for decades. Main difference is melted down clad or that Sac alloy is virtually useless, while silver, was of course, silver easily recoined.
.
This may seem like a good idea but people just do not want to bother with coins anymore at all. I brought this up years ago. The government would be best off to just mint Quarters and that is all. How many coins do you carry with you when you go places? I take none and sometimes come home with some. Making bigger denomination coins does not mean that they are going to circulate. Are you going to want the weight of a 2 1/2 or 5 dollar coin in your pocket?
Yes
Edited to add- Sometimes I suppose a short and direct answer can miss the mark- the yes is in response to Rec78's question and not the question of whether of dollar coin is DOA. Certainly a dollar coin needs some help and that has been duly noted
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I've been wondering if any contemporary counterfeit collectors collect the counterfeits.
US dollar coins have not been minted for circulation since 2011. All of them since (Presidential, Native American and AI) have only been produced for direct sale to collectors.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Yes there are a few. The first two that come to mind is a 500 yen coin from japan and 5 franc from Switzerland.
Eliminating the cent, nickel, and dime is doing nothing but rewarding the government for destroying the dollar. Who's in a hurry for hyperinflation.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
They are already pretty worthless. I don't think they are worth fighting for from a monetary perspective. My guess is people want to keep Lincoln and Jefferson on coins among other things.
I wish a dollar coin would circulate. I would not use them all the time but they would be at least sometimes useful, e.g. for vending machines, unlike the cent which is worthless. But for the coin to ever circulate: The government MUST STOP CHANGING THE DESIGN. Since they are not familiar to all, they need a consistent appearance, and all the different versions just make it confusing.
They do use these in Ecuador, and when I visited, my fellow travelers from the USA did not believe that these coins were actually spendable back home. The design MUST be consistent or the coin will never be adopted.
Dollar coins are the worst, try carrying around $15 of those and your pants will be around your ankles all the time from the weight.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Why would you carry so many? Do you commonly carry $15 in dollar bills?
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Dollar coins are to heavy, keep the Presidents. Can't remember the last time I got a dollar coin in change. We pay to much tax already and you want to round UP? We already lose when tax comes out to the 1/2 cent.
With powerful special interests the dollar bill will probably never go away, which needs to happen to get a coin to circulate.
I again state my position. Eliminate the cent and nickel. Make a minuscule dime from a small diameter copper (1850s gold dollar size). Make a quarter roughly as large as our current dime. Made a half-dollar roughly as big as a nickel. Make a dollar a little smaller than our current quarter. Make a 2-dollar coin a bit bigger than a quarter. Make a 5-dollar coin a little smaller than a Kennedy and a 10-dollar coin a bit bigger than a Kennedy, maybe a bi-metallic design. You could make an occasional 20 dollar coin roughly the size of a classic silver dollar. Eliminate the $1, $2, $5, and $10 notes. Create a circulating $500 note.
This would get us another 20-50 years, depending on the rate of government idiocy.
The vending machine industry has an army of lobbyists that would fight this proposal. Also, high denomination notes would be heavily counterfeited by North Korea, Iran, and other foreign governments that are our enemies.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
It's been DOA for a long time. 50 years ago, the Ike dollar was introduced and I recall not seeing many circulating.
The Ike Dollar circulated heavily in the gambling towns such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
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Almost no one carries that much pocket change. When was the last time you went somewhere with 60 quarters in your pocket?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.