Generic Synthetic

Presidential dollar coin unveiled to mixed reviews. - Feb. 15, 2007

Chase Curtis picked up some coins for his son George’s collection. Curtis, who had lived in Hong Kong where coins had replaced all small denomination bills, believes coins can do a much better job than paper money. “But the government would need to phase-back paper first,” he said.Others were cautious in their praise. Zak Walker of Brooklyn said the $1 Presidential coin was “very interesting and a good idea.” But, he added, “I don’t think it will catch on.”

Neither the Sacagawea dollar coin released in 2000 nor the Susan B. Anthony dollar first minted in 1979 have enjoyed wide use in circulation.

Yup, it’s time for another shot at giving us a dollar coin. Most countries that I’ve been to don’t use paper bills for amounts equivalent to $1. Coins for that amount makes so much more sense, but for some reason 1) people don’t like them, and 2) the government doesn’t push them. If they would just phase out dollar bills and start issuing banks more dollar coins, then the stores would get them, and then people would get them, and eventually there would be a critical mass.

Do me a favor. Next time you’re at the bank, or you pass by a bank, buy a roll of these new dollar coins (which, BTW, are the same size as the Sacagawea coins so they’ll work in machines). Then spend them at places where someone else will get them as change. Trust me on this, you’ll thank me later.

More from the AP:

“I don’t know of any country that has successfully introduced the equivalent of a dollar coin without getting rid of the corresponding paper unit,” said Douglas Mudd, author of a new book on the history of money, “All the Money in the World.”

Moy said Congress made the decision to keep the dollar bill as part of its consideration and passage of the new dollar coin legislation in 2005.

That explains a lot.