Why the US Keeps Minting Coins People Hate 89
CeruleanDragon writes "In hidden vaults across the country, the US government is building a stockpile of $1 coins. The hoard has topped $1.1bn — imagine a stack of coins reaching almost seven times higher than the International Space Station — and the piles have grown so large the US Federal Reserve is running out of storage space."
Re:Where to get them... (Score:4, Interesting)
When I deposit paychecks, I ask for a couple rolls ($25 rolls). I've been using this latest dollar coin when going to restaurants. My reasoning is that using it as tip money will get it into more people's hands than just spending them in businesses (which I also do).
I developed an appreciation for bigger value coins after spending a month in Germany a couple years ago.
Good for (Score:3, Interesting)
With the dollar having lost more than 7X its value in the past 50 years, there's no reason now that dollar coins can't act like quarters and five dollar bills take the lowest-denomination paper spot, relative to how people used to behave. People leave pennies and sometimes nickels behind - that's an indication of value. Trouble is, a decimal system of money makes inflationary policy cumbersome.
The non-use of the coin dollar in favor of the paper dollar, might actually be a tribute to the value of the coin dollar according to Gresham's Law [wikipedia.org].
Re:Dumb coins (Score:3, Interesting)
The US Mint needs to do what the Canadian Mint did. Back when the Loonie came out, they stopped making $1 bills. I admit I hated it at the time, but it saved taxpayers loads of money as there was no alternative to the loonie as the dollar bills began to degrade. The same thing happened when the Toonie came out and replaced the $2 bill as well.
Just making coins but continuing to make paper bills of the same value is dumb.
Re:Where to get them... (Score:3, Interesting)
Americans are used to the fact that $1 and up are paper currency, and anything less than $1 is coinage.
It took me all of a whopping few seconds to become familiar with the Canadian Loonie [wikipedia.org] and toonie [wikipedia.org], even though every time I say it, I think of Looney Tunes [wikipedia.org]. :)
I think part of the American aversion to the $1 coin is the fact that they can't be used in any automated equipment. I can't say that I've seen any American vending machines that support the $1 coin. Out of habit, I'm sure most store clerks hand out the $1 paper currency, even if they may have the $1 coin in their drawer.
I ended up getting quite a few $1 coins from a few places, and found them hard to use. Not that *I* had any problem with them, but clerks (like, young kids working a cash register as their first job) would refuse the $1 coin, because it wasn't real, or they "only accept American money".
The only way the $1 coin will ever be adopted is if they stop circulating the $1 paper currency. Additionally, it will require vending machine companies to replace all their coin slots to accept $1 coins, rather than having the $1 bill slot. While it shouldn't be an impossible task, since coin slots are available in other countries, and there should be an easy migration route, it would still be an expense.
Really, that wouldn't be a bad thing. It's pretty rare to have a coin slot get confused about a coin unless it's badly damaged. It's pretty common to have a bill slot that gets stuck or confused because there's a slight wrinkle, bend, crease, or stain (etc, etc) on the bill.
it would seem to make sense to use $1 coins. Coins last a lot longer than paper currency, so they don't have to be shipped back to the mint for disposal as frequently. Since the $1 bill is the most common bill in circulation. [quazen.com]
On the other hand, how long would it take if every bank in America were to only take in $1 bills, and only give out $1 coins? Obviously, there would be a migration period, but it's reasonable to believe it could happen fairly quickly. None of us hold onto the money in our wallets very long. $1 currency comes and goes rather quickly.
There are problems though. Either it would reduce the tips in strip clubs, since you couldn't pay in $1 bills, or it would increase their revenue since you'd now be paying with $5 bills. No girl likes coins tossed at her. I knew this girl once though that could do something pretty neat with a roll of quarters. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. :)
Re:Good for (Score:3, Interesting)
I find it very difficult to use American change - as even if there was more widespread use of the dollar coin, the quarter is a bit awkward compared to having both 20c and 50c coins.
Also one wouldn't end up with so many pennies if there were 2c coins.
In general I'm a bit fan of the euro coins, even if they are a bit more regular than the old Irish pound coins (on the plus side, a small 2c rather than the gigantic 2p coin). I miss the 50p coin, which was seven-sided like the UK's.
Anyway, cash in the US is a pain, the coin problem compounded by having notes all the same size and in subdued shades (albeit they are now better than all-green). Crazy that a dollar note is the same size as $50!
Re:Where to get them... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, since the Treasury accepts credit cards, you can use reward cards to get as many free points as you'd like.
A quick internet search will show hundreds of people cycling these for cashback.