Per Harry K:
When I saw them on TV, I though "geeze, they seem to be another quarter-look alike".
My guess is that it's not so much stupidity as how our government makes many if not most decisions: they listen to the people with money, i.e. businesses - who, I'm guessing, wouldn't want to have to deal with another coin size.
I agree with you: it's doomed by virtue of it's size.
Per Rick Brandt:
Actually, it seems tb a problem for a *lot* of foreign visitors who can't imagine a monetary convention where all bills are not only the same size, but have identical coloring and similar graphic shapes/placement. I've been hearing stories from/about new arrivals on that subject since I was a kid.
For residents who are used to this, it's still not comparable. A U.S. bill of any denomination is over fifteen times larger than a quarter coin and all that area is occupied by bill-unique graphics. And *still* lifelong citizens complain about the lack of distinctiveness in bills - especially older ones.
The color might help the new coin. But, lacking a size diff, I'd opine that it needs at least a different shape - like hexagonal or something... anything to make a tactile distinction - in order to have a chance with us unwashed masses.
Now if they could come up with a Dolly Parton dollar..... -)
Per Toller:
I can say why I'd object to their doing it: price increases.
No retail price is going to be rounded down to the nearest denomination. They'll all be rounded up.
Since a dollar is now small change, I like using dollar coins, and the post office machines now return them as change from your $10. We just returned from Ecuador, which uses the US dollar and doesn't have there own currency. The Sacajawea coins are worn thin there, not like the pristine ones here. Haven't seen the new ones yet, but I thought the old ones were just fine.
Dave
At the risk of coining a new phrase, "It's about the money."
Dollar bills are the creation of, and owned by, the Federal Reserve System. Coins are produced by the Bureau of the Mint.
HUGE difference.
Coins are government specie - when the government mints coins, they are minting money. When the Fed prints a dollar bill, they are producing a promise to pay. Not the same thing at all.
All the coins produced by the mint are new, free, money that the government can spend without borrowing. Not so with paper.
True
The "Mint" doesn't make paper money, the Federal Reserve does. None of the paper currency produced by the Fed affects the federal budget in any way whatsoever. The Fed is a separate organization from the government. It is a government corporation, similar in structure to the Boy Scouts or the Red Cross.
The same problem as coins you can't tell by size. You have to look at them each and every time. Now you can't do much about paper bills as they will all feel the same no matter the denomination but there is no reason the dollar coin couldn't be made enough bigger than the quarter to be told by size. Say about 1/2 way between the quarter and 50cent coin. You could sort coins by denomination in your pocket by feel up until the dollar coin.
Harry K
Now _that_ I would be for. Might be a problem keeping it to a reasonable size though. ;)
Harry K
Wouldn't rounding up OR down to the nearest 5 cents be fairer? .03 and .04 UP, .01 and .02 DOWN.
I haven't heard a valid argument for the US keeping the penny coin for quite a while. From what I have heard, the mint makes more penny coins than the total of all the other denominations of coins because so many pennies go out of circulation for a variety of reasons.
Legislation to eliminate the penny is proposed every few years and doesn't pass. I'd bet it's because of strong lobbying by the mint worker's union and the metal suppliers. And maybe by some charitable organizations too, I've heard they feel many folks will toss all the pennies they have on them into a collection jar, and they feel they will get less overall donations if pennies aren't around.
Jeff
The idea has been to do away with the dollar bill ever since a dollar coin was proposed. I even saw an article somewhere prior to the release of this one pointing out that use of the coin will not be really accepted until they just quit producing a dollar bill. I guess it just goes to show more of their stupidity.
Harry K
It's pretty much an academic distinction. As long as someone is willing to accept the representation of value it matters not what backs up the perceived value. In the days when coins were made of silver and gold, they had a value distinct from the pretty pictures upon them. Now that they're all made of dross, a coin isn't much different from a piece of paper. In a few cases it actually costs more than the defined value to produce the coin (1 cent being a case in point).
There is, actually: It would then be necessary to change every vending machine in order to get it to accept the new size.
A penny and a dime are almost the same size, too, but they're easy to tell apart because a dime has a rough edge and a penny has a smooth edge. At least the new dollar coins have smooth edges.
True about the vending machines. Has no bearing on it though. Remember they had to do the same thing to get them to accept the old dollar coins.
If they ever expect the public to use the new ones, they are going to have to do away with the dollar bill.
Harry K
Per Edwin Pawlowski:
I like it...
Jeff Wisnia wrote: ..
Just leave it up to the seller. Competition will take care of it.
I have heard that some charities have complained. It seems a little bit of a stretch these days.
However I often hear people objecting because they think it will increase prices. The think all those 1.97 items will become 2.00. I say fat chance. The only reason they are now 1.97 is to make it seem cheaper.
Who cares? I can't remember the last time I used cash for anything. I'm not even sure I have ANY cash in my wallet. Do people really still use cash for anything anymore? I doubt I've handled cash in over a year. Where are you going and what are you buying for which you need cash? After all, credit cards are free, they give you cash back, and you can pay your balance in full once a month right online. Why on earth would anyone NOT use them for everything?
On my first and so far only trip to Canada, the first time I heard the dollar coin called a loony, I was looking at the side with QE2 on it. I thought the Canadians were being very disrespectful of "their" queen!
Look for information about the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a division of the Department of the Treasury.
Steve wrote in news:Xns98DBE04AF5A29184365720018436572@66.250.146.128:
Actually,most vending machines will NOT accept a dollar coin. Also,cash registers do not have a compartment for dollar coins.
"Toller" wrote in news:rKaCh.3159$ snipped-for-privacy@news02.roc.ny:
Why don't they just print dollar bills on TYVEK paper? It's a bitch to tear.A dollar TYVEK bill would last much longer than the present bill. It would feel different,though.
I believe no one is counterfeiting dollar bills,so they don't need all the fancy security measures.
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