Well I am one of the "uneducated" I guess.
I lived only 80 miles south of the Canadian border when they implemented their Loonies (1 dollar coin). I spent enough time in Canada that it is like a second home to me. I know what a flashing green light means; know which words to spell "properly;" can think in metric without needing to convert; and even know what a Canadian means when they say I have an American accent (and no, they are not talking about things like Boston, NY, NC, etc.) so I can hide it and blend in with the locals.
I feel I have a little bit of a handle on what happens when a government forces people to use dollar coins, b/c this is what Canada did with their Loonies in 1987. They introduced them and phased the dollar bill out within 2 years.
I'd like to remind everyone that Canadians were always different than the US b/c they readily used two dollar bills all the time. They seemed a bit more tolerant of things like this.
Anyway - when the government of Canada forced their people to use the coins, there WAS an initial increase in price on everything (hint - guess what will happen in the US) as the concept of a dollar only being pocket change was forced upon them.
I guess b/c I don't want to see an initial price raise in everything here, I'm not thinking straight?! I also do not see this price raise factoid touted anywhere on websites which list how much the government will "save." I'd also like to see the government's increase in tax money collected as the price on everything goes up. Imagine them getting a little larger cut on everything that sells, everyday, from everyone.
The Canadians did not like the extra weight in their pocket which, despite what websites which are not citing history say, IS a fact of life when you have these. Why is it an issue?
B/c the Canadian banks did not like to exchange a pile of Loonies for larger bills.
Why?
B/c the bank, to get larger denominations, had to spend so much more to ship (let's say) 1,000,000 metal coins vs. 1,000,000 paper bills so they could get larger denominations in return.
BTW - this info is from my frequenting Canadian banks back then (I used to roll search Canadian coins), and the bankers telling me how stupid it was the US was following in their footsteps trying to make $1.00 coins. They said they thought we would learn from their mistake.
So the Canadians were stuck with a pocket of coins they did not want. BTW, remember this bit of knowledge is from history - not theory.
The main website I found that stands up for the dollar coin is interesting. I tried to go in with an open mind.
I thought it was interesting where they took a scale and said the dollar coins weighs less than 4 quarters and, so, it is not such a big deal. What they are missing is that, generally, people have a lot more $1 on them than they ever would carry an equivalent in quarters at one time.
At present I have $7 in ones in my wallet. I know I would not want to be carrying 7 dollar coins (I generally do not even like more than a quarter or two).
They also compare the weight of a dollar coin to a Snickers bar. This is, IMHO, a weak argument since I do not think everyone feels they need never leave home without a Snickers bar in their pocket - but almost everyone will not leave the house without money. In a way I saw this, and some other comparisons they did, as a (bad) attempt to make their point seem valid without really having much validity to the comparisons.
The next step the Canadian government took was to make a "Twoonie" - two dollar coin. I was told this was an effort to cut down on the number of Loonies a person needed in their pocket but have nothing to verify this except hearsay from Canadian friends I used to spend a lot of time with. However, the banks DID tell me that it was a way to cut down on the number of Loonies handled.
So guess what? Now Canadians have pockets of Loonies and Twoonies that were forced on them. And, also, there is a new generation of Canadian coming up who only know of the bills as collectors items and do not remember using them in daily commerce. So, of course, now that the people were forced into it and sufficient time has passed, you do not hear the people complaining. I have to wonder though what would happen if the Canadian government decided to start making $1 and $2 bills out of their new polymer?
I have a feeling (note that word) that I know.
I know I was annoyed that I started coming home with a lot more pocket change than I used to when they had bills for smaller denominations. And my bank would take Canadian currency - but not the Loonies and Twoonies b/c they had trouble getting rid of them!
BTW - On this next point, I ask someone please correct me if I am wrong - but I do not believe it costs the taxpayers anything to make currency/coins in the US since the mint (BPE) is not taxpayer funded. From what I gather, the profit the mint (BPE) makes goes back (supposedly) to pay off on the National debt (at least this is what the websites I saw claim). So another point (if what I am saying here about the funding is true) is that, in reality, the "saved" taxpayer dollars is actually not quite an accurate description. The profit margin of the mint will decrease if they do not make these coins. So there will not be as much profit to put back on the national debt. This is not taxpayer "savings" per se. The mint might be able to come up with other ways of making more $$ profit (like the 2011
ASE sets!)?
Please - I ask to be corrected on this last point if I am misreading the websites I visited.
One more thing that bothered me about the main pro-dollar-coin site. It says that Billions will be saved and then has a counter since Jan 1, 2011. The counter was up to 480M. Granted, this is close to half a billion. But the overall thought on actual "savings" is that we will "save" 5-11 billion over a 30 year period.
So what? A billion is chicken feed compared to the "stimulus" farces we have witnessed in these past few years! We could have saved so very much more by responsible leadership not allowing these ridiculous expenditures to go through!
Look at the difference between a trillion and a billion sometime. Then realize that in 30 years, a billion dollars will be worth so very much less than it is now (if things continue now like they have the last 30 years!).
I would rather see the States go into polymer bills like the Aussies and Canadians have. This way they would have a long lifetime and the majority of the US people would be happy about it.
Quote:
For example, a January 2011 poll conducted by the bipartisan pairing of the Tarrance Group with Hart Research Associates, found that Americans favor the transition to a dollar coin by a two-to-one margin (that's a big margin of support) once the potential government savings are explained.
I never know when to trust polls. I am not sure how this can be an actual, applicable poll. Why? Because such a terrific number of these coins have been returned to the banks and are stored (taxpayer expense). If the people wanted them - two to one - then I would think the coins would not end up being uselessly piled in a vault. I also think the vast majority of the SBAs would not have been rejected. Also, people are told about the taxpayer money these coins "save." Please see above - if the money is presented as an actual "savings" I can see where people's opinions would be swayed. however, I think if they were educated as to everything that has happened in Canada with this system being implemented (including the initial cost increases on daily purchases), that things might be different. I'd rather see a website doing a comparison of day to day issues such as Canada witnessed, rather than speculation.
I also am NOT a very big proponent of the typical argument I see on websites which could be paraphrased as, "Well, everyone else has done it, so why shouldn't we?" To me this is a moot point and not worthy of my time. America has always been set apart. I am proud of that. If we did what everyone else does, we would not have the nation we do.
And now for the personal part with nothing to back I up:
I personally like the looks of the Canadian Loonies and Twoonies, I like some of the US dollar coins (including the looks of a shiny new Sacagawea -I really like the Eagle on the REV also). But I hate using hem for purchases and I hate carrying a number of them with me. I learned this initially by having pockets full of Loonies and Twoonies before the US decided to do make their coins.
Truthfully, I am shocked the government listened to the majority in canceling these dollar coins.
BTW - I also hope they keep making some for collectors.
Sorry if this post is a little scattered - its late!
First Page
Posted 12/13/2011 7:33 pm
