Please, Please pity our poor Legislators who just don't have a clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

keets · March 29, 2007 3:40AM

A quote from the April 9th edition of Coin World by U.S. Representative Mike Castle, chief sponsor of both the Presidential Dollar and State Quarter programs: The new Presidential dollars can see widespread circulation if Susan B. Anthony dollars are removed.

Unbelieveable, absolutely unbelieveable. Please pass me the crack pipe......................

Al H.

jhusman · March 29, 2007 3:49AM

The bank that I get mine from (for spending) tells me that they are going through 1 - 2 boxes a week. Someone is buying and spending them.

On the other hand, there are still a lot of banks that refuse to order them - in fact, I had a vault teller tell me that "they were limited to one box - and there are no more to be had."

I may be a huge geek, but I do enjoy spending them.

Longacre · March 29, 2007 3:50AM

That's an odd statement, and surprising coming from Castle.

mrearlygold · March 29, 2007 3:51AM

Know why they do that?

Because they can

tmot99 · March 29, 2007 3:52AM

Just because the bank is going through them doesn't mean they are being spent.

So Castle thinks that SBAs circulate?

MoneyCollector · March 29, 2007 3:53AM

WOW - that's pretty stupid!

But - don't pity them, pity us - WE have to live with the crap they come up with!!!!

291fifth · March 29, 2007 3:55AM

A very odd statement from someone who should know better.

BobaFett72 · March 29, 2007 4:01AM

sure SBA"s circulate lol; i get them in change at the post office all the time from the stamp machines.

keets · March 29, 2007 4:06AM

he goes further to propose that they should install machines at the PO to buy the SBA's at a small premium to get them out of "circulation" and compares it to a form of motivation similar to returnable container deposits which help clean up the sidewalks!!!!! incredible......................

sumnom · March 29, 2007 4:33AM

I think this guy is right on the mark. The popularity of the SBA is undeniable and with the discontinuation of the paper dollar in 1980, there are many in the US now who only know the SBA as the "dollar." Yes, change is difficult but if the SBA is withdrawn from circulation, as a gargantuan a task as that may be, the public would be forced to us the p-dollars. Americans love their Suzies but she has done her duty, being the primary medium of exchange for small transactions for more than 25 years. It's time to usher in a new design. The only way to do that is to remove the beloved Suzie and make way for new issues.

ricko · March 29, 2007 5:28AM

Sumnom, stop... my stomach hurts from laughing... no more, please.... Cheers, RickO

CoinHunter2003 · March 29, 2007 7:43AM

Sumnom, stop... my stomach hurts from laughing... no more, please.... Cheers, RickO

I'll second that!!!

cladking · March 29, 2007 8:06AM

<< I think this guy is right on the mark. The popularity of the SBA is undeniable and with the discontinuation of the paper dollar in 1980, there are many in the US now who only know the SBA as the "dollar." Yes, change is difficult but if the SBA is withdrawn from circulation, as a gargantuan a task as that may be, the public would be forced to us the p-dollars. Americans love their Suzies but she has done her duty, being the primary medium of exchange for small transactions for more than 25 years. It's time to usher in a new design. The only way to do that is to remove the beloved Suzie and make way for new issues. >>

This is patently true. The simple fact is that the SuzyB has become a very
unattractive coin after decades of heavy wear. Who could have predicted
in 1979 that this beautiful design would wear so poorly that it is often call-
ed "the ugliest coin ever" in polls on this very site. Who could have predicted
that even after they are all worn nearly smooth that they are still often mis-
taken for quarters.

It may not be so big a task, since with the announcement that they were at
long last being retired people would hoarde most of their beloved coins.

Rep Castle has done a lot of good for the coinage system generally. There
is much more work that needs to be done but he is off base on this one. The
government needs to get off the dime on many of these issues or turn the
job over to the FED which would have things fixed up in very short order. It
would be better if the government got off the dime.

notlogical · March 29, 2007 8:07AM

Now that's dumb.

garsmith · March 30, 2007 12:02AM

I think what he means by this is if SBA's are removed from circulation. You can still get SBA's in change from most post office stamp vending machines!

But that said, it is still afoolish idea. They will still circulate just as well as a SBA or SAC. If they want the hard copies to circulate they have to get rid of the soft copies!

Sooner or later they will realize metal dollars wont circulate until the foldable versions bite the dust!

Barry · March 30, 2007 12:06AM

<< A quote from the April 9th edition of Coin World by U.S. Representative Mike Castle, chief sponsor of both the Presidential Dollar and State Quarter programs: The new Presidential dollars can see widespread circulation if Susan B. Anthony dollars are removed.

Unbelieveable, absolutely unbelieveable. Please pass me the crack pipe......................

Al H. >>

That statement is taken out of context. Originally, it was a discussion about impediments from businesses requesting rolls of dollar coins. They were told when they request them, they may get mixed rolls including SBAs and there's no way to separate them as both coins have the same magnetic signature. The fact the rolls may include SBAs, which are universally hated, is what the statement referred to.

Connecticoin · March 30, 2007 12:12AM

<< That's an odd statement, and surprising coming from Castle. >>

Not surprising at all.

This Presidential Dollar folly was Castle's pet project which he pushed ahead despite significant input from the numismatic community that it was inapporpriate (a symbol of liberty would have been better and consistent with the wishes of our founding fathers), and doomed to fail (for failing to eliminate the paper dollar).

Writersblock · March 30, 2007 12:12AM

You do understand why he said that don't you?

One of the complaints coming from the banks centered on the fact that when they ordered dollars from the Fed they would often get mixed rolls of Sacs and SBA's and their customers might accept the Sac but they refused the SBA's because they were afraid they would confuse them with quarters. So the banks got stuck with any SBA's that came in and the customers didn't want to have to stand there and sort out the SBA's when they picked up the coins, so they just stopped getting them (at least that was the argument the banks used for why the Sacs didn't circulate.). So the banks said that if they didn't have to worry about getting SBA's they could circulate the Sacs easier. So Castle said that the Sac could have more widespread circulation if the SBA's were retired.

Pentimento · March 30, 2007 12:18AM

Writersblock wins! Great point.

BRdude · March 30, 2007 12:25AM

Fact is, the only reason we have the prez dollars is because of the popularity of the state quarters. Castle was trying to do the mint a big favor, after all they make off the quarters, he figured it would be a popular series and they could make a mint off them too. I don't really believe all the hub-bub about the ugliness of the SBA being the reason they don't circulate. What current issue do we have that is "pretty"??? NONE part of the reason is that they get confused with quarters, the other part is when someone gets one(non collector types) they hang onto it. I hear the SBA's and SAC's circulate quite freely in the northern states and are the only thing accepted by major public transit companies.
I haven't seen a SBA in circulation in years, and when I do, I take it out and put it in my change container at work.(does that mean i am a non collector type:-)) I haven't seen a sac in circulation in years either and have only seen 1 GW dollar in circulation and I bought it and put it in my change container at work.
The ONLY reason new designs are "legislated" is to make the mint $$$$ JMHO

Barry · March 30, 2007 1:02AM

<< Writersblock wins! Great point. >>

I said it first

Pentimento · March 30, 2007 1:31AM

sorry. There was a flurry of posts there, and not realizing it I only caught the one at the bottom.

MoneyCollector · March 30, 2007 2:50AM

Actually, I own coin-op car washes and I do get the occasional dollar coin - must be from people coming back from the post office!

Problem is the SBA's are hard to spot from the quarters and they will jam the changers if the chain tries to pick them up. The sac's are easy to spot and I pull them out. A sorting machine would be expensive.

Back when the banks had sacks of only Sacs (sans SBA's) some guys used them in their changers, but since you can now only get them mixed I don't think many people use them as its just a hassle. It would be interesting to see just how many walk away. Currently I'm always net positive quarters and have to take bags of them to the bank which is always fun for everyone, but with dollar coins they would most likely need to be replenished which would require getting bags from the bank and then sorting out the SBA and returning them. Too much trouble. Maybe with the pres coins it would now be possible to get boxes of uncircs to use. Problem is my customers would think they were just tokens and get pi$$ed off!!

Coxe · March 30, 2007 3:02AM

What I don't get is the bank limitations on getting them. These are not like extremely limited editions. I was able to get one roll from a bank and had to leave personal information to make sure I didn't return for a second roll. Other banks won't order them. I am not exactly crazy about them, plan to play eBay games with them, nor would I hoard them. To the contrary, I just want to get them out in commerce and do my part to wean the public off of dollar bills. Might even scuff them up a little to make them less desirable to go straight from the cash register to the cookie jar. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect the banks were in collusion with the Treasury to redirect people to buying directly from the Mint.

keets · March 30, 2007 3:31AM

if y'all believe he gets the point you're missing the point. the statement isn't necessarily taken out of context, it's the opening sentence in the CW letter and clearly displays the lack of understanding as to why these dollar coins-----and any dollar coins, for that matter-----won't circulate, because of the paper bill. polls taken aren't even close with 75% of the respondents saying they prefer paper.

these coins are almost assured of not seeing widespread circulation no matter what they do to get rid of any other dollar coins. proposing to pay people a premium to turn in SBA's so that they won't mix with the new coins, believing that this will help the new coins be more acceptable and, thus, circulate widely with the public is just plain assinine. why wasn't there a complaint by the banks when the Sac dollars were first issued??

anyone????

cladking · March 30, 2007 3:44AM

<< if y'all believe he gets the point you're missing the point. the statement isn't necessarily taken out of context, it's the opening sentence in the CW letter and clearly displays the lack of understanding as to why these dollar coins-----and any dollar coins, for that matter-----won't circulate, because of the paper bill. polls taken aren't even close with 75% of the respondents saying they prefer paper.

these coins are almost assured of not seeing widespread circulation no matter what they do to get rid of any other dollar coins. proposing to pay people a premium to turn in SBA's so that they won't mix with the new coins, believing that this will help the new coins be more acceptable and, thus, circulate widely with the public is just plain assinine. why wasn't there a complaint by the banks when the Sac dollars were first issued??

anyone???? >>

The banks have shown over and over that they will not distribute the coins.

Freeing them from the hassles and costs of the worthless penny might make
coercing them to issue the dollars a little more palatable.

The currency system is still broken.

keets · March 30, 2007 4:00AM

making the paper dollar unavailable would make the coins very palatable.

Please, Please pity our poor Legislators who just don't have a clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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