Chicago Tribune pro-dollar-coin article

The Chicago Tribune has an article about dollar coins. They published
it on July 10 but it's appearing in other newspapers too.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...rbill--0710jul
10,0,5335050.story

It is a reasoned and factually-correct article that suggests it makes
sense to eliminate dollar bills in favor of coins.

Paul

--
Paul Anderson
OpenVMS Engineering
Hewlett-Packard Company

"Paul Anderson" wrote in message
news
The Chicago Tribune has an article about dollar coins. They published
it on July 10 but it's appearing in other newspapers too.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...rbill--0710jul
10,0,5335050.story

It is a reasoned and factually-correct article that suggests it makes
sense to eliminate dollar bills in favor of coins.

Paul

--
Paul Anderson
OpenVMS Engineering
Hewlett-Packard Company

Hello

I read the story also on the link shown below. I wonder how many
Dollar Bills are replace each year? I can see some Congressman trying
to show that he is reducing federal spending by introducing a Bill, to
limit production of the Dollar Bill.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Arizona Coin Collector"
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coins
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 5:34 AM
Subject: Switching To Coins Would Save $522 Million A Year --- Change For
The Dollar

FROM:
http://www.montereyherald.com/business/ci_9896253

CHANGE FOR THE DOLLAR

SWITCHING TO COINS WOULD SAVE $522 MILLION A YEAR

By TOM HUNDLEY
Chicago Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/16/2008 01:48:50 AM PDT

Could it be our fascination with George Washington's Mona
Lisa smile? What else keeps the dollar bill alive despite
its obvious obsolescence?

Most industrialized economies don't waste time with paper
money of such paltry purchasing power. For the 15 European
countries in the eurozone, the smallest denomination of
printed bank notes is the 5 euro, worth $7.83. In Britain,
the lightest piece of folding money is 5 pounds, worth $9.85.
In Japan, it's 1,000 yen, about $9.30.

Even the humblest Mexican bill, a 20-peso note, is worth
almost twice as much as the dollar bill. Canadians
scrapped their paper dollar and switched to coins in 1987.

The Government Accountability Office has said that if the
U.S. switched to $1 coins, it would save taxpayers about
$522 million a year in production expenses. That's mainly
because a dollar bill, which costs about 4 cents to produce,
has a life expectancy of 21 months. The $1 coin, which
costs about 20 cents to produce, lasts 30 years or more.

For me, the issue was decided earlier this year when I
returned to the U.S. after living abroad for 18 years. I
wanted to buy a candy bar from a vending machine, but I
didn't have five quarters in pocket, so I fed the machine
a $5 bill. I got my M&Ms all right - and I also got a
gusher of change that made me feel as if I had just hit
the slot machine jackpot.

So why does America cling so tenaciously to its dollar bills?

The argument in favor of paper that I heard most frequently

is that Americans don't like carrying around lot of coins.
That also was the main complaint of Italians before the 2002
introduction of the euro. This was all about la bella figura
and the supposed Italian obsession with looking good in their
clothing. A lot of coins in your pocket, it was thought,
ruined the line of your clothing. As it turned out, the euro
did not result in carrying more coins, and Italians still cut
la bella figura.

At a minimum, a $1 coin would mean four fewer quarters
jingling around in your pocket. It would mean that instead of
scrounging around for eight quarters, you could feed a
parking meter two coins for two hours of parking.

I know that previous attempts to wean Americans from their
dollar bills ended in failure. The Susan B. Anthony $1 coin,
rolled out to much fanfare by the U.S. Treasury in 1979, was
widely regarded by the public as something akin to the
Depression-era wooden nickel. The Sacagawea $1 coin,
introduced in 2000, got an equally unenthusiastic reception.

"Americans are creatures of habit. They are used to using
dollar bills, and it's hard to get them to change," said
Edmund Moy, director of the U.S. Mint.

That didn't surprise me, but what did was the news that the
U.S. Mint was in the midst of yet another effort to get
Americans to use dollar coins instead of dollar bills.

This latest bid might best be described as the stealth
approach to currency modernization. The Presidential $1
Coin Act of 2005, passed by Congress and signed by President
Bush, directs the U.S. Mint to produce a series of $1
coins carrying the portrait of past presidents. It also
directs the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to assure
"robust circulation" of the new coins.

The plan is for four presidents to be introduced each year,
starting with George Washington.

Since their debut in February 2007, more than a billion new
$1 coins have been minted. The John Quincy Adams came out in
May. But most Americans have never seen one, and outside of
collectors and other enthusiasts, very few people seem aware
of their existence. If you show people one of the shiny,
gold-colored coins, the almost universal reaction is, "It
looks fake."

A sampling at Chicago-area Walgreens, Jewel and Starbucks
outlets turned up only two $1 coins in their cash registers.
Cashiers said they never gave them as change unless people
specifically requested them.

At the Bank of America branch on Michigan Avenue, teller
Ashley Arellano had a small supply of the $1 coins.

"But the only people who ever want them are tourists from
other countries," she said.

The U.S. Mint's Moy said the new strategy is to introduce
the public to the new coins by focusing first on "coin
intensive transactions," such as vending machines and public
transport, and then try to win the support of businesses
that rely heavily on "cash intensive transactions." The main
targets here are the fast-food industry and giant retailers,
such as Wal-Mart.

Moy said that beginning next month the strategy will be
test-marketed in four cities: Charlotte, N.C., Portland
Ore., Austin, Texas, and Grand Rapids, Mich.

There's a better way. If Congress is serious about
modernizing U.S. currency, it could simply withdraw all
the $1 bills from circulation within a fairly short time,
say six months to a year. After that, dollar bills could
no longer be offered as legal tender, except at banks,
which would take them in exchange for coins.

The European Union successfully introduced the euro
virtually overnight by making it clear that old
currencies would be withdrawn quickly from circulation.
Despite the deep attachment of the French to their francs
and the Germans to their marks, everybody got used to the
new currency within days.

----------------

Dollar bill facts $522 million. Annual savings to U.S. if
we switched to $1 coins 4 cents. Cost to produce a dollar
bill 21 months. Dollar bill's life expectancy 20 cents.
Cost to produce a $1 coin 30 years. Dollar coin's life
expectancy 4.147 billion. Dollar bills printed in 2007
9.2 billion. Dollar bills currently in circulation 1.18
billion. New $1 coins minted since their debut in
February 2007 Not many. New $1 coins Americans are
actually using Sources: Government Accountability Office,
Tribune research --- (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune. Visit the
Chicago Tribune on the Internet at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Distributed by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. ----- ARCHIVE
PHOTO on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):
20030618 DOLLAR BILL.psd

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