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Presidential dollar coin article in Coinage Magazine...

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In the March 2012 issue of Coinage, One of the contributors Ed Reiter talked about the presidential dollar coin program. I remeber reading another thread focused on dollar coin mintage but I could not find it so I wanted to start this one.

 

When I heard about Barack Obama canceling the program the only reason I thought of was the budget and current nat'l debt. This article had some facts and statments that I never heard on CNN, MSNBC or anywhere.

 

Ed starts out the editorial by mentioning that the reason Obama pulled the plug on minting these coins was "to save big money for the government and, by extension, the american people." It made sense to me...until I kept reading. He outlines the pros and cons of the dollar coin vs. the dollar bill and states how a dollar coin will last more than 15 times as long in circulation as a dollar bill (coin- 25 years, bill- 18 months.) That fact made me take a step back, and when the writer said "the governments cost would rise somewhat in the short term, dollar coin advocates have acknowledged, but it would save not millions but billion dollars in the long run," I started to question the presidents reasons.

 

Ed talks about the gov't trying to get americans to use small-size dollar coins three times, by the treasury not stopping the production of dollar bills it was pointless. Other countries such as Canada and Britain have made the switch from dollar bills to coins, and although many people were opposed to it, eventually the dollar coins worked out. again, knowing that Canada has been using dollar coins since the 1980's with little issues, makes me say "huh" again.

 

He talks about the previous dollar coins issued by the mint, the SBA, and Sacagawea dollar coins and how they were discontinued short after the were being released into circulation. He ends the article with statements from Congressman Michael castle, who was a huge supporter of the presidential dollar prorgram. "I fully expect that having the rotating images of presidents on the coin wll vastly increase demand for the one-dollar coin and help it find its natural place in U.S. commerce," Castle stated.

 

This article raised many questions for me. How could the president be short sighted on the program? Does he think people will dislike the weight of the coins in their pockets? The article is 100% correct in saying the main reason previous dollar coins never lasted were due to dollar bills being minted at the same time. It makes the dollar coin programs seem wothless. It does not make any sense to me. A coin will last longer than paper money, and if the presidential dollar coins have the longevity of around 25 years, when paper money lasts far less than that, what is the problem??? Our economy needs to save any funds possible, even if it is over a long period of time.

I would rather have dollar coins anyway, and maybe our next president will restart production of the $1 coins.

 

What are your feeling on dollar coins? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

-Dave

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I just wanted to point out that it was a Congressional Bill that Obama signed into law. I also think it passed by far more votes needed to override any veto by Obama. I for one did write my senator which he just said he was going to support it to save money. I reply to his form letter letting him know how it was not saving money but wasting money but he still voted against the program.

 

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I just wanted to point out that it was a Congressional Bill that Obama signed into law. I also think it passed by far more votes needed to override any veto by Obama. I for one did write my senator which he just said he was going to support it to save money. I reply to his form letter letting him know how it was not saving money but wasting money but he still voted against the program.

 

I was getting ready to point out the same thing regarding Congress passing the bill and Obama signing it into law.

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What are your feeling on dollar coins? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

-Dave

 

Eliminate the $1 bill and replace it with the dollar coins. Vending machines will soon start accepting the $1 coins and although there will be griping, people will adjust to it eventually. Also regarding the program being a waste of money, I agree that it is a waste so as long as the $1 bill is produced (because few will ever enter the mainstream channels of commerce). If the $1 bill is eliminated, then the program could lead to an enormous savings as the coins circulate. I believe that the average $1 bill is believed to last around 18 months or so and the coin's life span is likely 20-25 years.

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I hate the dollar coins and almost all coins circulating today............ They had the Ike Dollar, then the SBA Dollar, then the SAC Dollar, WTF got into the government to think the Pres dollars would be different? And besides, when it gets right down to it, WHO FREAKING GIVES A FLYING what kind of coins we have? This funny money we have is worthless and has been worthless since 1964 when Silver was taken out of coins. Who cares what pretty little propagandistic we have on the pieces of filthy base metal we call coins?

 

Just my two cents.

 

CC

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I hate the dollar coins and almost all coins circulating today............ They had the Ike Dollar, then the SBA Dollar, then the SAC Dollar, WTF got into the government to think the Pres dollars would be different? And besides, when it gets right down to it, WHO FREAKING GIVES A FLYING what kind of coins we have? This funny money we have is worthless and has been worthless since 1964 when Silver was taken out of coins. Who cares what pretty little propagandistic we have on the pieces of filthy base metal we call coins?

 

Just my two cents.

 

CC

 

If OUR countries money is worthless how do you pay your bills? Barter with farm fresh eggs and wool? I'm not trying to insult you but the US dollar is not worthless, it is just devalued. If you consider the US dollar ABSOLUTELY WORTHESS, you should fly over Colombia and dumb your life saving out the plane door. (They already have millions if not billons of US money in their banks and i'm sure they want more.)

 

And think about the pros of eliminating dollar bills and having dollar coins. Coins take up less bank vault space than bills, coins are easier to count by hand than bills, coins will stay in good enough condition to continue being circulated for years YEARS after a piece of paper money is worn and torn to the point of just being a fire starter. Coins are more practical than paper money, silver or not. Imagine if someone holds up and robs a bank, the crook hops the counter and grabs a big sack of money out of the vault but it is too heavy to pick up because it is filled with coins and not bills. You may say my example is rediculous, but a bag with $5000 worth of $1 coins in it weighs slightly over 81lbs. I don't know many people who can wind sprint while carrying a bulky 81lb bag. :makepoint:

 

And I am sure everyone here as gone shopping and got coin change back from their purchases. If the cashier hands you your receipt and .87 cents in change, all you gotta do is flip the coins in thier side with your fingers and you can easily determine that you have 3 quarters, 1 dime and 2 pennies. BUT if a cashier hands you $87 dollars in change in the form of paper money, you gotta flip through them to count them because all US bills are green and equal size. :preach:

 

Thats my three cents, and I am sure I am not the only one who understands my points.

 

-Dave

 

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Our coins and currency are worthless. The faith other nations continue to have in our nation and economy is priceless, for now. However that faith is rapidly running out.

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I just wanted to point out that it was a Congressional Bill that Obama signed into law. I also think it passed by far more votes needed to override any veto by Obama.

 

Thank you! I think it's funny that some people truly think that one person can make the laws and pass them. :popcorn:

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When it comes to $1 coins -vs- $1 bills, I'm really on the fence. For 99% of my transactions, I use my debit/credit card and for the person that cuts my hair, I write her a check. Rarely do I use actual cash for purposes. Using debit/credit/checks make balancing my accounts a breeze and I know where "every penny" has gone.

 

Now, I do 'collect' coins and paper currency - I just don't use it for my day to day purchases.

 

 

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I just wanted to point out that it was a Congressional Bill that Obama signed into law. I also think it passed by far more votes needed to override any veto by Obama.

 

Thank you! I think it's funny that some people truly think that one person can make the laws and pass them. :popcorn:

 

There is clearly some confusion about what I meant. 1st off, I can't stand the current presidential admin, nor do I believe this country will survive if he his re-elected. The Obama Administration were the ones who pulled the plug and sent the bill to Legislature. And OFCOURSE the bill passed because no politician thinks in the long-term. Our gov't is F**ked anyway. While we are trillions in debt, our oh so great leaders (sarcasm) spend more, send troops to find this scum Kony (the hunt for Osama part 2), the house or reps. can't agree on anything, and as long as they make more than 3 million a year, they will not truely care about what the rest of america is dealing with.

And then there are people out there like you and me, who think that protesting wall street was acctually going to change anything. The only thing that changed was CNN stopped covering it. Do you know how much it cost the city of NY to clean up after all that?

The gov't needs to cut spending and save money any way possible. it was proven that the dollar coin program would work over several years and save BILLIONS! But I guess Obama's cousin needed more food stamps.. And yes, you can say the US dollar is wothless, so write your senator a nice email about how inflation, Stock Market spectators, and poor judgement in Washington prevents you from buying milk this week.

 

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For myself, the dollar coins would become the new penny. There is no way I will want to carry more weight in my pockets or drop dollars at a time while working under a car. Instead they would just sit in a jar just as most pennys do.

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The article is 100% correct in saying the main reason previous dollar coins never lasted were due to dollar bills being minted at the same time. It makes the dollar coin programs seem wothless.

 

Not true.

 

The Ike dollar failed because it was too big and too heavy. The Anthony dollar failed because of its color and the diameter were too close in size to the quarter. I well remember my non collector acquaintances complaining about how they had been “cheated” when they mixed up the Anthony dollar with a quarter in 1980. The last Anthony dollar I ever used in circulation went out of my hands that way. A local street charity was looking for donations, and I gave them an Anthony dollar thinking that it was a quarter

 

As for saving government, the metalic dollar would be nothing but a mist, not even a drop in the bucket when it comes to the government's out of control spending. Americans have not liked using dollar coins for over 160 years (The Type I gold dollar was the last coin that had much success). You can force people to use the coin buy doing away with the dollar bill, but it's mostly coin collectors who are totally thrilled with these things. I'm one of those collectors who hates them both as a collector and as a consumer.

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I just wanted to point out that it was a Congressional Bill that Obama signed into law.

Excuse me but what bill was this? I'm not aware of any bill that ended the circulation strikes of the President dollars. I find two bills that were introduced last year to reduce or end the circulation strikes but neither one of them became law. My understanding was that the suspension of the circulations strike came at the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, who had the power to do this without legislation.

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I believe you are correct Condor... That's what I read too. Timothy Geithner, Sec of the Treasury took this action independent of any legislation. I just assumed that someone's wires got crossed on the definition of the action that ended the Pres dollar strikes for circulation.

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