Yet another attempt at getting us to carry dollar coins...

[Haggis@wk]

Everyone recognizes George Washington. Now that his face is on the dollar, there's no way anyone will mix it up with the quarter....oh..wait

[barfle]

The problem with the Susan B and the Sacajawea dollar coins is that they were so close to the same size as a quarter, people couldn't tell them apart easily. From the description of the new buck, it sounds like the US Mint hasn't learned a damned thing from their past mistakes, and we'll get one more boondoggle. But then, I'm used to government boondoggles, being an active professional boondoggler myself.

I have no problem with a change from paper to metal, although I wonder what the use of it is. I also wonder why we still have cents when it costs 1.4 cents to make them.

As the old saying goes, a penny saved is ridiculous.

[BigJon]

Here is another case of the Haggis' "despicable panderers." If we had real leadership, they would be looking out for the bottom line and pennies and dollar bills would already be quaint memories. Unless, of course, we refactored them.

BTW, the Mint has already announced that if they get to a living president in the sequence, they would pause the program until he died. Kinda morbid, eh? A numismatic death watch.

[Serenity]

I thought we were going to plastic cards that would credit & debit our transactions from specific accounts linked to our identification.

[BigJon]

You mean the bar code on our forehead?

[Serenity]

I thought it was linked to our fingerprints. Do you think we will eventually be "branded" at birth?

[dai bread]

We & the Aussies have had $1 & $2 coins for several years now. The Aussie $1 coin is bigger than their $2 coin, but the same colour. Most confusing to us, who have things in the proper order. Our $1 & $2 notes wore out very quickly and were pretty scruffy most of the time, so the Reserve Bank went to coins. Our lowest denomination of coin is now 10c.

BTW, our $5 note features Sir Edmund Hillary. I believe it's the only note anywhere that features a living person other than HM QEII.

Once, someone who knew the right people (it's an offence to deface a banknote) got Sir Ed. to autograph several and sold them to raise funds for a charity.

[Trumpetmaster]

I thought we were going to plastic cards that would credit & debit our transactions from specific accounts linked to our identification.

This would be great but I think there are still too many
open security issues.....

[piqaboo]

The distinctiveness issue could be solved by making the coin a polygon instead of a circle. "Furrin" coins often are, and work jes fine in vending machines. SusanB wasnt close (:sad:) but Sacajawea was printed with a polygon, it was just too fine to do the job.

[Shapley]

European coinage has a variety of tactics to remedy the problem: The French 10 Franc coin was about twice as thick as conventional coins, and some of the Euros are 'two-tone' - silver outer coin with a copper center. I've seen polygonal coins, too, and they seem to work.

When I was in Australia years ago they were fussing about their dollar coin, which was smaller than some of the lower-denomination coins, but was gold-coloured instead of the usual silver (the same idea used on the Wal-Mart dollar).

I think the idea is to produce a coin that a person can identify without looking at it, while not being too bulky to carry. Whether by weight or feel, it needs to be easily identified. The Ike dollar was easy to identify, but too big to want to carry many around. The Susan B. and the Wal-Mart Dollar were too close to the quarter in size, although the colour of the Wal-Mart dollar at least made it easier to identify with a quick glance. I received a Susan B. recently with change for a dollar, so people still haven't stopped confusing them.

I'm sure vending machine manufacturers don't want to have to re-tool to accept odd sized coins, but they were perfectly willing to re-tool to allow acceptance of dollar bills once that technology became available. I also recall that, when I was in Japan years ago, the beer machines were able to accept all range of coins, including some that were as big as our Ike dollar. I really don't think it's that big of an issue.

I think switching to the coin would be a great savings booster, too. Think how much money would accumulate at the end of the day for those who empty the change from their pockets if $1 coins were included in the mix.

V/R
Shapley

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I thought we were going to plastic cards that would credit & debit our transactions from specific accounts linked to our identification.

I already have that. In fact, I have two of that; one with my bank and one with my credit union. Had to provide all kinds of identification, SSAN, place of birth, mother's maiden name, etc. to open the accounts.

I love this. It was way far out science fiction in my youth, back when the crust was still cooling, and now I have two of it. Don't get a paycheck anymore, just an account credit. Don't write but maybe two checks a month anymore. I don't even bother to keep my check register anymore, just check my account balances and activity online.

[jamiebk]

I'm sure vending machine manufacturers don't want to have to re-tool to accept odd sized coins, but they were perfectly willing to re-tool to allow acceptance of dollar bills once that technology became available. I also recall that, when I was in Japan years ago, the beer machines were able to accept all range of coins, including some that were as big as our Ike dollar. I really don't think it's that big of an issue.

Once in a while I head to the laundromat with a couple week's my laundry (wife refuses to empty her stuff out of our washer/dryer...perhaps this should be on the "Pet Peeves" thread). I would welcome a $1 coin! As it is, I load up each machine with no less than 10 quarters...what a pain. (yeah...I know...the laundromat could put in bill readers, but they are too cheap. Besides, I doubt that there is much profit margin on a laundromat to allow for such capital expenditures. )

[Haggis@wk]

The problem with the Susan B and the Sacajawea dollar coins is that they were so close to the same size as a quarter, people couldn't tell them apart easily. From the description of the new buck, it sounds like the US Mint hasn't learned a damned thing from their past mistakes, and we'll get one more boondoggle. But then, I'm used to government boondoggles, being an active professional boondoggler myself.

I have no problem with a change from paper to metal, although I wonder what the use of it is. I also wonder why we still have cents when it costs 1.4 cents to make them.

As the old saying goes, a penny saved is ridiculous.

They can't change the size that was the standard when the SBA was designed and all vending machine that take dollar coins build them to take that standard...stupid tho I agree

[Haggis@wk]

The distinctiveness issue could be solved by making the coin a polygon instead of a circle. "Furrin" coins often are, and work jes fine in vending machines. SusanB wasnt close (:sad:) but Sacajawea was printed with a polygon, it was just too fine to do the job.

just perception, both coins are the exact same size, weight and dimensions

[piqaboo]

The distinctiveness issue could be solved by making the coin a polygon instead of a circle. "Furrin" coins often are, and work jes fine in vending machines. SusanB wasnt close (:sad:) but Sacajawea was printed with a polygon, it was just too fine to do the job.

just perception, both coins are the exact same size, weight and dimensions

Haggis, my point was the EDGE could have a number of flat sides, instead of being arc'd. Then it would be distinctive regardless of other dimensions, color or weight. Susan was just plain circular. Poor ol' Sac has this ever-so-barely raised polygon as part of the design. Would have been better to mold the coin that shape instead of impressing it on the circle.

I've used polygonal coins in a couple countries, in vending machines, buses, phones, etc. and they work fine. I've carried Euros etc, and it also works fine to have the large denomination coin.

[Shapley]

Susan was just plain circular. Poor ol' Sac has this ever-so-barely raised polygon as part of the design.

I think you have those two reversed.

[treebeau]

... I also wonder why we still have cents when it costs 1.4 cents to make them.

Apparently we MORE than make up for it with the "twenty five cent dollar bill" mentioned earlier.

Piq: I remember when the SBA coin came out there was talk about a raised polygon shape inside the outer arc (so that the blind could easily tell the difference between it and a quarter). I don't have one in front of me and am too lazy to look it up.

WalMart dollar? ???? Is WalMart issuing their own currency? If so then that is akin to video arcades issuing tokens. Guarantees they will get your whole dollar sooner or later. More evidence of their wanting to take over the world...making their own currency. Time to resurrect the WalMart is Evil thread.

Personally, I like the idea of a dollar coin. It will last a LOT longer than it's paper counterpart. Vending machines spit back bills because of a wrinkle, tear, or folded corner. Can't tell ya how many times I have traded a dollar bill with someone at a vending machine or automated checkout line. But, current vending machines won't accept a new coin. Owners of machines certainly won't convert their current machines nor will they replace them just because of a new coin design.

We're stuck. Any new coin is going to be a novelty. Credit and debit cards are the way to go and more establishments accept them now. The checkout person doesn't have to be able to do math and you never fiddle with change.

Regards,
Tim B.

P.S. In my younger days I used to have a big collection of pennies. I would get paper sleeves from the bank, roll up the pennies, and stack the rolls. Then one day I decided that was dumb. I wanted to get rid of all the pennies. I lived in Miami and would sometimes need to travel on a toll road. I started using the rolls to pay the toll, at the booth with a live person inside. Some would balk saying they couldn't take them. I countered with "This is America and that is American currency." They would counter with "We don't know there's really 50 cents in the roll". So I would counter with "I'll wait for you to count them." Usually they would wave me on.

But then I talked with a bank teller about pennies. She said they have a machine that counts them and would exchange them for me, just not in massive amounts at one time. SO I started bringing a couple dollars worth each time I would go there. That worked great and now I rarely ever have more than FOUR pennies in my posession. Four is all you ever need.

[Shapley]

The Sacajewea dollar was known as the "Wal-Mart Dollar" for a time. When the coin was first issued, Wal-Mart had large quantities of them, and the only place you could obatin them was through Wal-Mart.

[treebeau]

Hmmm, doesn't ring a bell.

Just thought of a way that vending machine owners don't have to retool. Provide a relatively small machine that will convert the new dollar into quarters.

Regards,
Tim B.

[Shapley]

The Buck Starts Here Science News 2000 article

Now, 21 years after its introduction, the Susan B. Anthony is about to retire. On Jan. 27, the United States Mint shipped new golden dollar coins simultaneously to Federal Reserve Banks and the discount megastore Wal-Mart. Last month, the mint began an advertising campaign to introduce the coin to the public.

Promoting the Golden Sacagawea Dollar

The Mint also joined with businesses to promote and distribute the new dollars. Wal-Mart and Sams Club began distributing the dollars nationwide on January 30, 2000, this being before they were available anywhere else.

V/R
Shapley