Americans Not Sold on Dollar Coins

Things aren’t looking good for the new dollar coins debuting tomorrow. One strike against them is that the dollar bill will remain in use. This Denver Post article writes,

The world has moved beyond small bills to coins. Canadians have their Loonie, Australians use coins, and the smallest bill in the European Union is the 5-euro note. America is alone among developed nations with such a small denomination bank note.

The people of these countries use coins because they do not have a choice. Aussies complain of walking with a limp because of the weight of coins in their pockets. Brits call their pounds “shrapnel money,” and Canadian exotic dancers cringe at the sight of a Loonie as a tip.

But, life goes on in these countries. Why hasn’t America followed suit?

I don’t find that to be a very compelling reason. Everyone else is doing it and the citizens don’t like it, so let’s do it too to be like them!

LJ World interviewed some people to get their take on using coins vs. bills. The general consensus was that bills aren’t as convenient as bills.

Still, the introduction of the new dollar coins is certainly getting lots of press.

WASHINGTON – Maybe Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea should not take public rejection personally. It’s not easy overcoming people’s indifference to dollar coins, even those honoring such historic figures.

An AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of people surveyed oppose replacing the dollar bill, featuring George Washington, with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a dollar coin.

A new version of the coin, paying tribute to American presidents, goes into general circulation Thursday. Even though doing away with the bill could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs, there is no plan to scrap the bill in favor of the more durable coin.

“I really don’t see any use for it,” Larry Ashbaugh, a retiree from Bristolville, Ohio, said of the dollar coin. “We tried it before. It didn’t fly.”

Two recent efforts to promote wide usage of a dollar coin proved unsuccessful. A quarter-century ago, it showed feminist Susan B. Anthony on the front; then one in 2000 featuring Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Read the rest at Fox News.