Push for $1 coin not changing minds here
Arizona Coin Collector
On the story below, did the U.S. Mint stop production
in 2002 on the Sacagawea Dollar coin? I don't think
they ever did.
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FROM:
http://www.mlive.com/chronicle/news/index.ssf/2008/11/saturdaypush_for_1_coin_not_ch.html
THE MUSKEGON CHRONICLE: NEWS
Latest updates, photos and video in West Michigan
Push for $1 coin not changing minds here
by Brian McVicar
The Muskegon Chronicle
Saturday November 15, 2008, 12:44 AM
Carl Brown would trade a pocket full of coins for
a wad of $1 bills any day of the week.
Even $1 coins -- which the U.S. Mint is trying to
make popular with the hope of one day replacing
the paper $1 bill -- rub Brown the wrong way.
"The thing about coins is they just weigh you
down," said Brown, a Muskegon resident who works
at Alcoa Howmet in Whitehall. "Eventually you
get used to it, but there is always that bulge
in your pocket from all that change."
The U.S. -- which has made several unsuccessful
attempts in past decades to introduce a $1
coin -- is one of the few developed nations
without a $1 coin in widespread circulation. The
Sacagawea Dollar, for example, was discontinued
in 2002 because supply far exceeded demand.
In Europe, many nations use one and two euro
coins, with five euros serving as the lowest
bill available.
The U.S. wants to follow suit.
On Thursday, the U.S. Mint officially began
circulating the Martin Van Buren $1 presidential
coin, the eighth coin in the series which
depicts former U.S. presidents.
Its release comes in the midst of a four-city
marketing campaign that's attempting to gauge
the public's response to the gold-colored $1
presidential coins. Grand Rapids is one of
the four test cities. The others are
Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and
Austin, Texas.
In Grand Rapids, the program includes stores
that make a point of letting customers know
they carry the coins, as well as distributing
information about the coins. Vehicles that
distribute the coins in exchange for paper
money also are scheduled to make stops around
the city this weekend.
Part of the push boils down to savings. Coins
last about 30 years; bills about 21 months.
Dropping $1 bills and switching to coins
could save U.S. taxpayers $522.2 million per
year, according to the U.S. Government
Accounting Office.
"When each of us spends the $1 coin, we make
a difference for our country, because the $1
coin is durable and using it saves the
nation money," said U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy.
While federal officials say the pilot programs
taking place in the four cities have been
successful -- the Mint says 300,000
presidential coins are in circulation in West
Michigan -- few Muskegon residents reported
seeing more coins.
And few seemed responsive to the idea.
"It seems like I always try to get rid of my
coins," said Deb Horrell, a Grand Rapids
resident who was eating lunch in Muskegon on
Thursday. "They're always falling out of my
pockets."
On Friday afternoon, a few Muskegon-area
banks and stores reported having the coins
in stock.
At the Marathon station on Hackley Avenue,
cashier Jenna Woods pulled out a small
stack of the coins.
No customers had asked for them, she said.
"I didn't even know we had them yet," said
Woods, referring to the coins. "I would
rather have a bill. It seems like change is
heavier."
Weight wasn't the only complaint about the coin.
Brown said he remembers how some people often
mistook the 1979 coin depicting Susan B.
Anthony for a quarter.
"You would go to buy something and you think
you're handing the cashier a couple of
quarters, but you're actually handing them
a couple of dollars," he said.
Such mistakes seem less likely, given that
the presidential $1 coins, which entered
circulation in early 2007, are gold-colored.
At least one resident didn't mind the
prospect of a pocket full of change.
Judy Johnson said the switch is a good idea
if it saves taxpayers money.
"It's easier to save money because you can
start a coin collection," she said. "If
it's going to save money, I'll do it."
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