Report: Switching to $1 Coins Could Save Gov. $5.5 Billion

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They should look like women from the FSU. And do everything we say.

Sure!

[TBoneTX 45,914]

I'm un-crazy about dollar coins, perhaps from bad memories of having the Susan B. Anthony coins crammed down our throats for political reasons (and their too-close resemblance to quarters), and from the almost-similar flop of the Sacagawea Indian coins. The Presidential series are quite cool in comparison, however -- they make sense, and they're classy. I don't use them, except as follows.

Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. Interestingly, dollar coins are used there all the time, almost exclusively -- my $1 bills are accepted, but they're not common. The newest coins (the Presidential series) can be looked at askance, because people are afraid that anything that looks unfamiliar is phony.

In Mrs. T-B.'s hometown 2 or 3 years ago, I tried to pay for a session in an Internet cafe with a couple of John Tyler presidential dollars. The clerkette fiercely shook her head "no" and took a worn Sacagawea coin to show me what a dollar coin should look like. On the other hand, Mrs. T-B.'s sister, who owns a cell-phone shop, gave me a huge hug when I brought her 6 rolls of Franklin Pierce coins last year. Change is hard to come by in that town, which is somewhat off the beaten financial track -- one real bank, but it's not particularly connected to any others.

In the two big cities (Quito & Guayaquil), no one blinked at the new coins. In Mrs. T-B.'s hometown this last time, a taxi-driver beamed like a child at Christmas when I paid him with a Franklin Pierce dollar and said "Nuevo, de los Estados Unidos" ("new, from the U.S."). I was in a terrible hurry, and I still regret not offering him another, for himself.

People there are really paranoid about money; apparently there's a lot of counterfeit stuff floating around. I had an ice-cream clerk in a big-city mall refuse a $10 bill that I offered because the bill had a little tape covering a small tear. People dab their fingers in water (or, worse, lick their fingers) to test $10 or $20 bills to see if the ink runs. Some places will absolutely not accept a $50 bill.

People there who know what $2 bills are love them -- they're considered to be good luck. On our last night in Guayaquil, Mrs. T-B. said, "I want crabs!" Resisting the temptation to refer her to someone seedier than I, I went with her to a crab-house. "Waiter, do you serve crabs here?" I asked. "Why, si man -- we serve anybody," he replied. (I digress.) I paid part of the whopping $13 tab (for something like 5 crabs, all devoured by Mrs. T-B.) with a $2 bill. The waiter stared at it, grinned, and took it to the owner, who was counting the night's receipts. He too grinned and looked at me expectantly. I summoned my entire Spanish vocabulary and said, "Un otro?" ("Another?") Amazingly, he did NOT look alarmed and point me to the nearest bathroom, as all other Ecuadorians promptly do whenever I try to speak Spanish. He approached, handed me two crab-greased dollar coins, took my last $2 bill, and grinned like a ####### the rest of the time we stayed.

Mrs. T-B.'s mother has been here to help with the new baby (Mini-Bone, 7 weeks old at this writing). When she goes home, I'll give her some rolls of dollar coins for herself and for Mrs. T-B.'s sister, si man.

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So you don't like Susan B Anthony?

[TBoneTX 45,914]

So you don't like Susan B Anthony?

Looking at her is the best contribution toward self-imposed celibacy since Birkenstocks, gag man.

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Looking at her is the best contribution toward self-imposed celibacy since Birkenstocks, gag man.

You realize why she is memorialized that way? It has nothing to do with the effect she has on your libido

[TBoneTX 45,914]

You realize why she is memorialized that way? It has nothing to do with the effect she has on your libido

I wish that she were me-less-ialized rather than memorialized, gag man.

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I wish that she were me-less-ialized rather than memorialized, gag man.

What does that even mean.

[TBoneTX 45,914]

What does that even mean.

It means "put Bo Derek on a dollar coin and now we're talking, whee man." Edited March 8, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I use the $1 coins all the time. I get rolls at the bank and keep them at work and my car. I'll pay for lunch or stuff at work with them and EVERYONE says.... OOOH I'll keep these because they think they're special.

That's when I point out that the bank has lots more...... $2 bills too (they're not rare either).

[TBoneTX 45,914]

I use the $1 coins all the time. I get rolls at the bank and keep them at work and my car. I'll pay for lunch or stuff at work with them and EVERYONE says.... OOOH I'll keep these because they think they're special.

That's when I point out that the bank has lots more...... $2 bills too (they're not rare either).

Perhaps the best way to get money circulating is by word of mouth... and by showing how much we enjoy passing out this "weird" stuff, and by encouraging others who express positive reactions toward our weird money.

I personally think that $2 bills are very handy. However, store cashiers tend to hesitate as they try to figure out which cash-register slot to put them in. I usually say, "Hand it out in change to the next customer!" Typically, though, the cashier stashes it under the cash drawer, amidst the $50 & $100 bills, sigh man...