$1 Coin Can't Work-Know Why?

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His exact word were "it will not work". The reason has nothing to do with the people spending the money. He asked me if I had any idea how many $1 dollar bills just their bank handles each day to supply operations like fast food store. His exact words were, we physically do not have the space or the man power to handle the required inventory.

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Just because he manages a bank doesn't make him right. Australia got rid of the $1 note 23 years ago and none
of the banks doubled in size, they didn't employ more people, the the sky didn't fall. Our banks are *more* profitable now than they've ever been, with less staff than ever.

Biokemist has probably come closest to the real reason why your country wont change over soon. That and lethargy and resistance to change for the same sorts of ill-informed opinions the bank manager espouses.

Many times I've helped count cash after a charity event. We put the dollar bills into stacks of $50, secured with a paper band. Having bought rolls of dollar coins recently, I can pretty much compare them in my mind -- and two rolls of dollar coins is not going to take up any more room than a stack of 50 bills. The dimensions will be different, but the square footage, so to speak, will be either about the same, or the coins might even take up less physical space. The coins will certainly be neater and easier to count and roll.

The weight is an entirely different matter, of course, but I don't think lack of space is a legitimate complaint.

Jan

I say, beware of governments bearing concern for "the people." The ultimate goal of replacing paper dollars with coins is not to save us money but to cause an inconvenience that will drive the last die hards towards *trackable* digital cash.

Canada does it. Australia does it. We can do it. Just a matter of getting past the influencial Senators from Massachusetts.

I currently have about 40 Washingtons in my pocket, and am doing my tiny little bit to get them circulated.

Every clerk I have dealt with knew what they were, and most made a positive comment about them. I saw two of them immediately take the coin out of their cash register and replace it with a paper dollar. So, I think perhaps new collectors are evolving.

Elimination of the $1 note will happen, rest assured. Many world powers no longer have low denom. currency. Canada doesn't even have their $2 notes anymore. They use the $1 & $2 coins in circulation daily. The $5 is the lowest denom. note they have. Same for England. Their lowest denom note is a 5 pound note, approx $10 U.S. value. Same for Australia and several other countries. It's a matter of WHEN it will happen in the U.S...but it will happen.
tradernick

It has always taken the US awhile to accept in certain endeavors what for much of the rest of the world is good thinking. For example, it wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that the US accepted Louis Pasteur's germ theory of 1878. I am not certain why this is except maybe we're a little xenophobic or perhaps it's a sociological leftover (resistance to change of a personal nature) from our Puritan ancestors. In other fields such as computer science, we're way ahead of whoever is in second place.

I think everyone is missing the REAL reason why printing of the dollar bill has not been halted.

If you are an entity that issues currency, and the physical cost of issuing that currency is very small (compared to the face value), then you derive great financial benefit. Wars are fought over who gets the right to issue currency.

In the USA, unnoticed by most people, there is a competition for that priviledge. When you realize that the dollar bill and the dollar coin are issued by two completely different (competing) entities, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

At one time, all money in the US was issued by the US Treasury. But in 1913 Woodrow Wilson took the US Government's monopoly on the issuance of money and turned it over to banking interests (the newly-formed Federal Reserve Bank).

Today, the Federal Reserve Bank issues most of the US money supply. And the significant profits from that priviledge go to the stockholders of the major commercial banks that own the Federal Reserve Bank.

In contrast, the issuance of coinage is still done through the US Treasury.

So which money would you rather use - Federal Reserve Notes (for the benefit of major commercial banks), or dollar coins (for the benefit of the US Government) ? I've been known to spend up to $50 at a time in dollar coins.

Why does it matter who gets the priviledge of issuing the currency ? Here is an example. You are a stockholder in the Federal Reserve Bank. You can create money out of thin air by printing it on paper or issuing digital credits. You loan out this money (charging interest, of course). The borrowers have to produce goods and services to obtain money to pay the interest. You, the Federal Reserve Bank, offer to pay the borrower Federal Reserve Notes in exchange for goods and services. The borrower is happy with that deal because they need the money to pay the interest. The Federal Reserve Bank has just traded money created out of nothing in exchange for tangible goods and services. Quite a deal for them !

Last year there was a bill in Congress to turn over operation of the US Mint to the Federal Reserve Bank. Most people failed to notice this as an attempt to take away the last remaining money issuance that the US Government conducts (not to mention taking over the oversight of the gold bullion held for the US treasury by the US Mint).

dcarr, I was told by a teller that banks are required to order 2000 Prez coins at a time. Prohibitive in their eyes from both a weight and quantity stand point, according to her. Your explanation lends credence to what they see as an overly large order amount, at least right now. Is the Reserve trying to make it unattractive to inventory these at the banking level? Thx for the input.
Jim1953