| Author |
 Replies: 28 / Views: 2,449 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2600 Posts |
Interesting what you learn if you just ask enough dumb questions. I was down at the beach yesterday and saw a guy working on vending machines at one of the big hotels. I asked him what he thought of the idea of going to a $1 coin in lieu of the paper currency. He had two comments. First, weight, they apparently move thousands of bills out of vending machines everyday in the resort towns and handling them will be a big problem. Surprisingly, number two was what it was going to cost the vending industry to modify the vending machines already in the field. He believed it would increase the avg cost of merchandise in vending machines by 10%. Just more food for thought.
Jim
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
Yeah...I've heard that before.  To be honest, and I'm sure not attacking you, that sounds a lot like an excuse and little like a real reason. The vending machine industry will have to upgrade their machines. So? Other countries have done it without wrecking their economies. And, we could point out the the "weight of all those dollar coins" probably isn't anywhere close to the weight of all the bottles of pop they haul around to load into the machines. I would have to hear a lot more explanation to buy that particular excuse, because the Canadians, Aussies and others have managed to find solutions. I can't believe American ingenuity has fallen to such a low point that we couldn't somehow survive!  Edited by hunter20ga
04/06/2007 10:38 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
651 Posts |
Weight is questionable. Most vending machine operators carry bags of small change anyway for restocking machines to dispense change from bills so how much more weight would it really add? 10% increase for retrofitting or supplying new machines doesn't sound that bad (I believe it could be less) but heck, they could use it as an excuse to push prices even higher.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Almost all the newer vending machines(less than 2 years old) that I have seen are already capable of accepting dollar coins. the older versions would have to be retrofitted, but as they get older, they will just be replaced by the newest machines that already accept them.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1203 Posts |
You will never hear all the reasons that a metalic dollar won't work in the vending machines.
It's kind of like the gasoline stations around this nation, who will need to charge more for the fuel because of one thing or another. Where there is a will there is a way of raising the cost of a product, and the American selling a product will come up with something....no matter how silly it may sound to the individual.
Kind of like this global warming thing that Gore has invented. What is that going to cost you?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
Keep in mind that a dollar coin will eventually eliminate the need for change from a vending machine!
The soda that is now .75 will be 1.00 once the coins are the primary currency.
if I have my math right that is a 25% increase not 10% just try and get your postage stamps to work out to 1.00 ? the rise in prices will extend across the board while the mints profits soar to all time highs ,, for the issueance of the dollar coin .
every type of service will increase in price ,,not just vending machines ,,and if all holds true the cost will rise while the results of the service drop in quality .
now I'm no economist nor am I an ivestment banker!! but if I could increase my savings by 25% across the board I would be standing in high cotton !!
Metalman
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1327 Posts |
I am not buying the weight argument since there is really not that much difference in weight between a few quarters and a dollar and I have not heard them complain that there are two main quarters in the machine. I don't remember what I read about the exact amount difference I believe it is like 2 half quarter per dollar or somewhere around there. I think it is just people not wanting to change plus I know a lot of pop machine I see already are set up to take the Sacs. so don't think it would cost as much as they say to change over. but they will not have much choice when the Federal reserve changes things
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1295 Posts |
quote:
Keep in mind that a dollar coin will eventually eliminate the need for change from a vending machine!
The soda that is now .75 will be 1.00 once the coins are the primary currency.
if I have my math right that is a 25% increase not 10% just try and get your postage stamps to work out to 1.00 ? the rise in prices will extend across the board while the mints profits soar to all time highs ,, for the issueance of the dollar coin .
every type of service will increase in price ,,not just vending machines ,,and if all holds true the cost will rise while the results of the service drop in quality .
now I'm no economist nor am I an ivestment banker!! but if I could increase my savings by 25% across the board I would be standing in high cotton !!
Rubbish, unutterable rubbish. Do you have such little faith in your govt that they would let this happen? It didn't happen here, it didn't happen in Canada, it didn't happen in Europe, it didn't happen in the UK. Why would it happen there? This is just resisting change for the sake of resisting change and reasons like this have been proven wrong in countries that have made the switch. I wont even bother addressing the vending machine guys comments. When was the last time a business owner when confronted with change said that prices would drop? Never. Retailers 'condition' the public to accept price rises and will use any reason to do so. Most of the time price rises dont eventuate however. They are a miserable lot. |
|
Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
I just got back from vacation in Europe and they have 1 and 2 euro coins. I thought it worked well. I only saw one penny the whole time I was there. I found it on the street. I would think it would cost more than a penny to make a penny?
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Must be a location thing. Around me in the Chicago area I have not yet foud a machine that take the dollar coin. The first ones were in 1979 and they were not used much then and still not used much around here that I know of. I tried using one for a tip at a restaurant and had to tell the waitress it was a real dollar coin. The conductors on commuter trains don't like them because they have coin changers that don't have a place for halves or the new dollar coins. I can and have carried 20 or 30 paper dollars but sure wouldn't want to carry 30 dollar coins. Every one I know so far hates the things and refuses to use them. At a bank I go to they have asked me each time if I want some. I asked why pushing the things. Answer was they ordered lots of them and no one wants them. As to .75 for a can of pop? Highest I've seen so far is .60 and a jump to 1.00 would not be appreciated. Every store I go to has gum ball, candy, toy vending machines and none take the new dollar. At the auto dealer I go to there is a wall of vending machines and none take the new dollar. At work there are vending machines on almost every floor and none take the new dollar. We are a society of spoiled people and the credit/debit cards will take over long before that baby dollar is accepted.
|
|
Valued Member
Canada
195 Posts |
As has been mentioned in this and many other similar threads experience here in Canada and in other countries show that the dollar coin would be very quickly accepted once the paper dollar is eliminated.
To the comment about carrying 30 dollar coins I would say - you only have to carry one since you have a 2 dollar bill. Any more than that is your choice.We don't hace a 2 dollar bill so the most I have to carry is 2 or 3. If I have more than that it's because I deliberately broke a 5 to get more coins. I have been known to do that.
Bill
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1360 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
Markn
That is an interesting debate practice you have there !
It has nothing to do with faith or no faith in our government,, and it really has little to do at least for my part about maintaining the dollar bill.
what has occured in other countries really has little interest to me either.
My reasoning really extends from a simple belief that Government is not a business, it is not placed by the people to make money off the people.we pay our tax dollars for services,not profit !
it is our tax dollars that create the money which we use,, anything that cuts costs inevitably leads to profit making by the government,, there is no talk of falling taxes based on the expenditure savings of coins -VS- paper dollars ,, that money will go someplace ! but it certianly will not be given back to the tax payers.
If our Government wants to change and save the money lets have some really dedicated promises about where the savings will go ,, at this point the only place which stands to profit is the mint (Government)!
Metalman
I just thought I should add that my first aurguement also stands ,, there is nothing that will not show some increase with the use of the dollar coins .
|
|
Valued Member
United States
342 Posts |
All the machines around here were already converted to take the dollar coins.
Dollar for dollar, Dollar coins are lighter than quarters.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
I confess I don't know where any profits made by the US Mint go, except into the general fund, but I darn well know where the money comes from when the government LOSES money making pennies, etc. Right out of the taxpayers' pockets. So if the mint can make a buck, there is at least the potential for taking one less dollar from us, the citizens. (Not promising, of course, that anything the government might do would make sense.) I don't see how using a dollar COIN to buy items from a vending machine would raise the cost of the items (can of pop, etc.) any more than using a dollar BILL. Maybe I'm just myopic?  My experience in life is that many people resist change...then five years into the "new" way, when it has been fully implemented, the same people would raise holy hannah if anyone wanted to change it back to the "old way." It's just human nature...not a criticism of individuals but rather an observation. If we let negativity stand in the way, progress is never made. If we never accept the dollar coin for general circulation in this country the world will NOT come to an end, of course, and neither will it come to an end if we do. |
|
New Member
United States
10 Posts |
Virtually every large country has a major-denomination coin. I liked using them in Canada, Spain and the UK. I wonder, if even a few of these US objections were true, how come these other countries solved them all? The US does seem backward in many ways to many other countries, and the coinage is one of them.
|
| |
Replies: 28 / Views: 2,449 |
Posted 04/06/2007 10:57 am
