No More Dollar Bill!?

Want to really mess with somebody? Give them $21 for a $16 item. I would expect a fin in return, but instead I get that blank stare.

But honestly, I get caught in the same trap that Metalman does. It is always faster to pull out another twenty than it is to try to efficiently use what is in my wallet, so the dollar bills accumulate through the week!

I think having a dollar coin might encourage me to avoid this situation, but more realistically they will end up in the change jar at the end of the day!

Of course, this all really just supports my increasing use of plastic. No time to think, just use it. I probably only bust one twenty a week now.

I suspect it's good old "pork barrel" politics too. This has been studied many times by comparing the initial costs of producing a $1 coin against the lifetime of that coin vs. the costs and short life of a $1 bill. Our big silver dollars of the past were hardly practical to carry in quantity (nor were our halves) , but from my travels in Canada I can say I enjoy using their $1 and $2 coins vs paper. Before the "Loonie", I don't think $1 coins were used much there--perhaps we could learn something from them?

This debate has gone on for ages. The government keeps signing new bills into act that authorize the issuance of new dollar coins and without fail, they don't circulate. Tremendous numbers of SBA's were made in 1999 in order to provide fodder for vending machines, but when all was said and done the majority were destroyed. In early times when a dollar was a significant amount of money the situation was different and the coins circulated widely. Morgans and Peace dollars found a home in the casinos and in local trade with folks that insisted on the silver standard. But today with the reliance on plastic the coins will never be used in daily life. But that's OK, as long as they keep making the proofs and mint sets, especially if they're silver . . . I'll buy em! But I won't carry them around in my pocket! I do however like the suggestion earlier in this thread about using the coins to pay government fees and taxes! ! !

in my travels around the world (china, france, russia, switzerland, hungary, belgium, brazil, etc...) I have always enjoyed their monetary system. I can't say that all had a "dollar" coin (can't remember), but I believe most did. it's just to learn their system and how to use the coins. I found that I would rather use the coinage than the paper.
here in the good ol' south though I never use cash. my card is my currency. I rarely ever get cash and use it for purchases.

I would like to see the dollar bill eliminated, if only because of the much longer lifespan of a dollar coin which should replace it. In fact, I think the physical currency in the U.S. should should be something like:

| 1¢ Penny | 10¢ Dime | 25¢ Quarter | $1 Dollar Coin | $5 Dollar Bill | $20 Dollar Bill | $100 Dollar Bill | $1,000 Bill |

One can argue and disagree about the details, but my point is that the Dollar Coin would be very beneficial compared to the Dollar Bill due to its much longer life span and other things, like how easily vending machines can deal with coins versus paper money (most vending machines I've seen accept the current Dollar Coins already).

I don't agree with getting rid of the penny, on the other hand, because I think it would disadvantage the little guy by robbing him of a lot of money and raising prices over time. The penny could be made of cheaper material so that it is not so costly. Besides, the savings from the long-lived dollar coins should offset any small additional cost from making pennies.

I don't actually think we'll ever go totally cashless. Surely, one has the option these days to go nearly cashless, and lots of people choose to do so already. But there are many reasons why physical currency still is and always will be valuable.

"Cashless" societies require much more central tracking and control of accounts. I dare say it might be great for controlling governments to oversee every single transaction and tax you for each and every one of them.

But I don't believe this would ever fly in a free society. It's too much concentrated power and makes the entire monetary system much more vulnerable to large-scale hacking and other errors, both intensional and unintentional. Credit is fine, but physical money will always be useful as long as humans continue to use a monetary system.

Coinster,

I dont like idea on leaving out the 2 dollar bill and 50 cent half dollar coins. We need those coins since I use them. Keep the dollar coins and get rid of paper dollar. Use two dollar bills to replace the 1 dollar bills.

It would nice to use an 500 dollar bill also with an 1000 dollar bill to use. It would make easy for large purchases like buying used cars or whatever.

I love spending two dollar bills and 50 cent peices . It fun and long the live the half dollar and two dollar bill.

Chevrolet454ss

In the UK there are 1 and 2 pound coins with a 5 pound note, the same with the Euro, now one dollar is worth 50 pence, we got rid of a note worth that much in 1970. The five pound note is worth 10 dollars, so there is a long way to go, but then who pays for the extra cost of having $1 notes, the tax payer, so for a country whcih is considered low tax, it is amazing that no president has changed to coins in order to reduce costs.