The new dollar coins will be distributed February, 2007; one will feature Nixon.
Remember the Eisenhower Dollar? Now that was a dollar’s dollar. It was twice as big as a quarter and felt heavier than it really was and when you had one in your pocket, you knew it was there. One of the reasons that later dollar-coin attempts failed was that their size shrank to smaller than a 50-cent piece. This caused the Susan B. Anthony coin to be nicknamed the “Carter Quarter” because so many people were spending them as 25-cent pieces by mistake.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Ray Ellis
The truth of the matter is that it just isn't that newsworthy. Except collectors, we Americans just don't like coins. They don't fit into our lifestyle--hell, we even pay to turn them into paper money. To think it's a conspiracy is absolutely ludicrous.
27 - Matthew T. Sussman
MINTED COINS IS TEH GOV3RNM3NT CONSPEERACY TO READ MY TH0UGHTZ!!!1!1!1!oneoneone
28 - Lumpy
I always liked the sacajewaya. I thought the tarnishing was so appropriate for a coin showing a woman who had an affair with a man whi then killed her husband. I think the little papoose on the coin was a bastard too.
29 - Jet in Columbus
All I said was that the timing was suspect for something that was settled last year. sheesh and I didn't imply some vast conspiracy. Jeez
30 - Jet in Columbus
Matthew, time to get your foil helmet refitted
31 - Jet in Columbus
I liked it too Lumpy, I rant into the same problem I mentioned in the article though. ten of those things in your pocket can be bothersome and after a while you'd sound like Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer walking around.
Jingle Jingle.
32 - Jet in Columbus
I still say "In God We Trust" has no business on our money.
33 - Aaron
As a practicing catholic (and a moderate democrat) I fail to see the relevance of having "In God We Trust" printed on the side of a coin as opposed to the face. I'm glad for our sake we remembered to include Him, but I really don't think God cares either way. After all, "render to Caeser what is Caeser's and to God what is God's".
34 - Jet in Columbus
For all intents and purposes it might as well read "In Christ We trust" because we all know that even if Jews believe in our god, they're not really included in that motto, nor were they intended to be by the zealous Southern Baptists that put it there in 1959. Up until that time, "God" was not mentioned in our money, nor was Christianity a state-sanctioned religion.
Just as Christ did not advocate putting a religious motto on Caeser's money, we shouldn't either Aaron.
35 - Jet in Columbus
So... no one has a problem with Richard Watergate Nixon on a U.S. Coin.......interesting
36 - STM
We phased out the dollar note years ago in Oz ... and how I miss them. The dollar coins are actually bigger than the $2 coins (we phased out the two-buck note as well, the lowest note denomination now being the fiver and all notes are now of different colours and sizes for easy identification and made of a plastic material that is hard to destroy and can't be counterfeited - but they tend to spring out of your pocket).
Both coins are now heavily represented in beer change and serve mainly as fodder for parking meters (very bloody expensive in Sydney during daylight hours) or public-transport ticket machines.
The good thing is that both are gold, and can't therefore be mistaken for 5c or 10c coins. I stick all mine in a small bowl at home with the rest of my change and my $5 notes, which my family raids at regular intervals so. Since they tend only to pick out the notes and the gold coins, it's a lose-lose situation for me.
This is your future, America .... get used to it
37 - Brian
What amazes me is those on the left getting worked up about Nixon being on a coin. Personally, I'm disgusted at the thought that Bill & Hillary Clinton will be featured at some point.
38 - Baronius
Whoa, Jet. I think it's terrible. A good third of that list doesn't belong on our currency. Adams, Grant, either Johnson, Arthur... I mean, I like Chester Arthur, but come on.
But Nixon is uniquely unqualified. There are no illusions about what kind of a leader he was, and there's no fading of memory that would excuse his inclusion. If someone doesn't get upset about the Alien and Sedition Acts, fine. But Nixon's disgrace was during our lifetimes.
I posted earlier to a) complain about currency changes in general, and b) pick on you. I'm proud of both. Just so we're clear, Nixon doesn't belong in any place of national honor. Nixon doesn't (dramatic pause) belong (dramatic pause) in any place of national honor.
39 - STM
What about Andrew Jackson, the first president to launch an exapnsionist war of aggression??
40 - Dave Nalle
What war would that be, STM? Jackson didn't actually preside over any wars.
You're thinking of Jefferson's war with Tripoli - our first foreign war and our first war against terrorists and our first war against moslems. How interesting that our first war as a nation should be against hostage-taking moslem terrorists and here we are over 200 years later still fighting them.
The Tripolitan war didn't really involve seizing territory - of course neither does the Iraq war. For our first war with that objective you'd need to move ahead a few years to Madison's invasion of Canada in the War of 1812. Jackson did have a role in that war as a general, and he was instrumental in the annexation of Florida, so maybe that's what you were thinking about.
Dave
41 - Phillip Winn
Jet, I've never collected coins in my life, but I knew about this a year ago. I saw it on CNN. Sorry, buddy, but you're flat wrong on this one! You may not have known about it, but I just asked around, and my wife knew about it in vague terms, as did one of the two other people I asked.
By the way, if Ford and Carter die in the next seven years, there's plenty of opportunity for Congress to pass another bill extending the series through Reagan, but as I recall the articles talking about this a year ago, it will require another bill.
42 - Dave Nalle
Both England and the EU dealt with the coin size problem by making the diameter smaller - about the size of the nickel and making the coin thicker so it feels distinctly different. The EU also makes their coins out of two different metals, one in a ring around the other. It's rather cool. No mistaking them for anything else.
Dave
43 - STM
Sorry Dave, you are right ... sigh ... always get that one mixed up off the top of my head because of Jackson's involvement as a general and his later presidency ... I meant James Madison, who was too weak to stand up to the War Hawks.
44 - STM
And Phillip, this isn't about minting coins for collectors. It's a precursor to phasing out the paper note, in line with most other countries. It is costing the a fortune at the moment to keep the $1 note in circulation.
You get used to it ... trust me. It's not really that big a deal, and means you have plenty of convenient coin for parking meters and vending machines.
Despite all the hoo-ha here over the $1 and $2 notes being taken out of circulation, hardly anyone really noticed.
As long as they are very different-looking (gold colour is the key) and distinctive, it's not a drama.
45 - George B King III
Looks like Chuck E. Cheese money to me.
46 - RedTard
Will this take some of the fun out of tipping girls at the stipclub? Will I be forced to upgrade to using 5's? That'll eat a chunk out of my budget.
Just say no to dollar coins!
47 - STM
Just wait till you've seen five dances and cover them all in one go. Stay at the back of the room too, pretending not to notice, until it's time to pay up.
48 - Jet in Columbus
STM 36, one of the many arguments for the coin was for vending machines and parking meters.
Actually I think it's an excuse to charge a full dollar for things they used to charge .75 or .80 for.
Until they change the size of the coins, I don't see it happening.
For one thing businesses don't want to revamp vending machines to take the dollar coin, I know of very few around here that took any of their predecessors. In fact I see more machines taking paper money now instead.
The U.S. could save half a billion a year if they could change over though.
49 - Jet in Columbus
Brian, by the same token (forgive the pun) I don't think Reagan deserves to have his name on Washington National Airport either.
It's a matter of political ideologies.
50 - Jet in Columbus
Baronius, when I know that you're goodnaturedly "picking on me" I know to take it easy and there's no mallace involved.
Back atcha.
The point is it's supposed to be an act of honoring someone to be on a coin of the rhelm. I mean we've had preidents that didn't even survive their innaugural addresses and others that led the country into disaster.
It's supposed to be an honor, but they've somehow cheapened it.
51 - Jet in Columbus
Okay now it's my policy to validate and welcome everyone's opinion, I'm probably getting up to my 70% mark Suss... sorry
52 - Jet in Columbus
STM #39: and what a proud tradition he started didn't he?
53 - Jet in Columbus
Dave, ahhh yes, the war of 1812, the war we don't talk about, they burned down the White House and sacked Washington in that one.
...and what a proud tradition.
54 - Jet in Columbus
Phillip, I just wrote a nice little article about them announcing some new coins last monday, and it's turned into a pissing contest over who can say the loudest that it's old news and that I'm a fool for writing about it.
I just thought people would be interested to know what they looked like and generate a little traffic for this magazine.
I wonder why no one wrote about it last year?
I've been told on the writers page a few weeks back that I never write about anything of interest... I guess they're right.
sigh
55 - Jet in Columbus
Dave #42... alas if it makes sense it's against U.S. policy. well maybe for a few years anyway.
If you think about it, if we got rid of the single how many presidential cronies wouldn't get to have their signitures on all of those paper one dollar bills for all history as secretry of the treasury?
56 - Jet in Columbus
#45 If anyone would know about Chuckie Cheese money it'd be you; right George?
57 - Jet in Columbus
RedTard, the solution to your problem is simple, tear a $5 in half and tell her what she has to do to get the other half after four more dances.
Strippers with change pockets in g-strings, now there's a thought, and I'm glad you were there to think it up Red.
lol
58 - S.T.M
Jet wrote: "The point is it's supposed to be an act of honoring someone to be on a coin of the realm."
Jet ... I have the perfect solution old boy. Come back to the fold, get George to give Liz a call at Buck House and ask if the 200 years of differences can be put behind us, and voila ... problem solved.
You can then do what we do, and have The Queen on every coin and a picture of a native animal or plant on the reverse side.
Works a treat mate.
59 - Jet in Columbus
Forgive my suspicious nature, but when did you start putting periods between your inintials STM?
60 - S.T.M
When I'm on my computer at home Jet ... it won't let me use STM. And on my recent surf trip up the coast, I had to use my proper name. Bugger. Someone else seems to have used it since, as well, as the computer there remains logged on for the use of guests.
But it is me old boy ... we once had a chat about Ian Roberts, remember?
61 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"get George to give Liz a call at Buck House and..."
I thought old Tin lizzy lived at Quid House and Bush lived at Buck House.
Just shows you haow living in a dangerous county country like this one can really turn you head around...
62 - STM
Ruvy wrote: "I thought old Tin lizzy lived at Quid House and Bush lived at Buck House."
Tee-hee ... G'day, Ruvy ... how are you old mate?
Do you still celebrate Thanksgiving, being American born?
I don't know much about it, but we always try to make our American friends feel at home here by throwing a thanksgiving dinner when needed.
When we do, I must say it's nice to have turkey just before Christmas, as it's usually too hot here to really enjoy it on Christmas day (unless it's cold). I usually spend the day up to my neck in the pool trying not to be roasted alive.
63 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Stan,
Thankgiving dinners cost money, something we are not too heavy on at the moment. Besides, we have to pony up money for drinks at a pre-Hanukkah bash this Sabbath. Something we were "invited" to do by the powers that be at the village...
Fortunately, this does not appear to include alcoholic beverages.
We will just say thanks without flippin the bird into the oven this year.
I have the feeling that this pre-Hanukkah bash may be important to enjoy. We may have a case of real live Maccabbees fighting this year...the candles may not be just little lights for driving away the darkness - they may be memorial candles...
Why I am on this thing at 04:20 is something beyond me. I must be nuts...
64 - Bob Pence
"The paper U.S. dollar bill has always been a problem for the mint."
Perhaps in part because it falls under the purview of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a different agency within the Treasury Department.
65 - STM
"Why I am on this thing at 04:20 is something beyond me. I must be nuts..."
You and me both, Pilgrim. Take care and enjoy the party on the weekend.
66 - Mark
Just a quick comment about "In God We Trust". I hope I don't open a can of worms, so I'll make my best effort to scribe unbiased. I'm a little torn on this, and can see it both ways. If we were to go back to the origination of this country, the founders came to this land to escape the suppression of the freedom of religion. Much of the talk about "separation of church and state" is a little backwards. The separation was to keep the state from controlling religion, not the other way around. As some will dispute, I do feel that a good number of the founding fathers truly believed in God, evidence being the reference to "God", "Creator", etc in many of the founding documents. The documents were peppered with their belief in God. And at the time of the creation of national money (this I haven't really researched), but it appears that this phrase "In God We Trust" wasn't on the notes/coins and was added later. When added, did the church go too far? Well that will always be debated, however it seemed appropriate at the time by the leaders of our nation. Do we hide/remove it now? Well most feel it doesn't belong on money or anywhere else (along with other "religious items" such as the 10 Commandments, etc) because it "may offend someone". At the rate we are going, we'll have all references to God out of all things related to Government. Through all this debate, we're pushing out the foundation of what this country believes (or at least believed) in. Now we are literally fostering other religions that STRONGLY go against (without dispute) our core laws. And we used to be a country that spoke English, and if you didn't it was embarrassing. Now it's the other way around. Ok, sorry for the rant, I really had to get that out.
67 - Geoff Taylor
The founders of our nation would be sickened by those who are ABUSING the so-called "separation of church and state", which by the way is not a phrase used anywhere in the constitution or bill of rights.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
See that? Get over yourselves atheists. This country should respect your beliefs but it was not built on your beliefs. Our founders were God fearing men that didn't want the government telling them what to believe or not believe-- including you folks that demand God not be mentioned anywhere.
As for hiding "In God We Trust".. come on, it's right there on the coins. I don't consider it to be hidden whatsoever. The new coin designs look great.
68 - l
I love dollar coins they are a great convience. I just grab about 5 every day and use them to tip people throughout the day... coffee, newspaper, valet.
From my observations, people enjoy getting tipped a coin dolloar more than two dollar bills.
69 - Geoff Taylor
Oh and.. God is in our money in more ways than words. There is a bunch of symbolism all over our bills and has always been.. well before 1959.
70 - STM
They didn't really go to America to escape oppression, Mark. At least not in the snse we understand that today. They were protestants and as such, were not really oppressed in the true sense of the word. However, they WERE pestered as they had separated from the official Church of England (now the Episcopal Church in the US) simply because they believed it was impure.
It is true they wanted to be left alone, but paradoxically, in terms of how we view Christians today, they were basically a bunch of God-bothering fundamentalist wowsers who thought everyone else was wrong and that the only way anyone could be saved was to become a puritan (sound familiar?). They weren't being locked up for their beliefs, and many of those who travelled to the new world both before and after this group were not puritans. The place they went to, also, was under the rule of the Crown.
And although not true in the strict sense, in that the Church of England was the official church, there was already a separation of church and state in England at the time - at least in terms of how the government functioned.
One thing I am glad about is that the people who settled my country were convicts, not puritans. Which is probably why no-one bats an eyelid at full-frontal nudity on TV, or the penchant for fruity public swearing. And thank the Lord for that!
The only problem is, while I've been able to drink more beer than should be humanly possible, I only get to eat turkey at Christmas.
71 - Jet in Columbus
Well, according to Phillip this article is hitting websites all over the place and generating a lot of visits to this one.
I'm glad I finally did one right.
Old news?
72 - Jet in Columbus
You know STM, I used to wonder what it'd be like to spend Christmas in what amounted to summer, and now I'm wondering how you do it?
Do the still picture Santa covered in snow and from the North Pole or the south pole?
Jet
ps say Hi to Ian for me.
73 - Jet in Columbus
Oh... well if you're going to nit-pick Bob Pence, you're right, but I think you can assume everyone knew what I was talking about.
The new bills seem to have a tendency to have the ink wear off at the crease. I used to think they were counterfeit just from that, but the bank takes 'em.
I stand corrected.
Jet
74 - Jet in Columbus
Mark 66: I have no problem with religion being included in government, but there are some that want it to be a state-ordained religion. We're not talking Presbyterian, or Jewish, or Lutheran or Catholic (witness the uproar over Kennedy being elected) we're talking fundamentalist Southern Baptist here, where if you're not born again with the 10 commandments tattooed on your ass, you're going to hell.
I don't mind mention of God, Mark, but it must be an all inclusive God, not one who only accepts the "chosen few". Islam also worships the same God we do and even considers Christ a prophet, but do you think that "in god we trust" includes them too?
I doubt it
I see "In God We Trust" on our money as a right-wing grab for power. I see it as a statement that only "our" God blesses only "our" CHRISTIAN nation.
It's like "Under God" was not part of the original pledge of allegence to the flag. It was included later as if to say, you must now pledge to both the country and the Christian God or you're a traitor
sorry that's not right.
Jet
75 - Jet in Columbus
Geoff Taylor 67: I wonder if you'd feel that way if the official state-sanctioned religion was Judism, or that it was changed every election to whatever the president was at the time, say if a Jew were elected president? The pilgrims fled England because though England was Christian, it wasn't their "brand" of christian.
I was punnished in 2nd grade once, back when we had school prayer, because when the lord's prayer was recited before lunch I said the Presbyterian "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" instead of "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us." Suppose the government reinstituted school prayer, but specified which one was permitted to be recited.
What if the Pledge of Allegiance was ammended to "One nation under Jehovah" or "One nation under Jesus Christ"
I have no problem with religion, I have a problem with a particular religion being required, which is why they fled to the new world in the first place.
As for the motto being hidden, it's in fine print on the edge of a coin now... duh
Right?