2007
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The paper U.S. dollar bill has always been a problem for the mint. A coin is more durable and lasts longer, making it more cost effective. However since the demise of the Eisenhower Dollar coin, the public has mostly rejected all of its smaller replacements. It is speculated that replacing the dollar bill with a coin could save the U.S. $500 million annually in printing costs, not counting the periodic security redesigns. Canada and various European countries have successfully eliminated their basic currency paper notes, but resistance is strong against such a move by the United States. An additional factor in the opposition of a dollar coin replacing the paper bill is that a stack of $100 in “singles” is relatively light, compared to a pocket weighed down by the same amount of coins.
Some have speculated that the new coins were intentionally designed to go directly into collections, instead of everyday commerce, making the U.S. dollar more scarce and thus more valuable. Other studies have shown that the only way the American public would accept dollar coins is if the paper currency were completely taken out of circulation.
The timing would seem to indicate that the announcement was held up until after the November 2006 elections. The religious right wing of the Republican Party is sure to be outraged when they notice that “In God We Trust,” while still on the coin, is no longer featured prominently.
In a side announcement, there will also be a release of 24-karat $10 pieces featuring the First Ladies at the end of 2007, and also the penny will be redesigned four times in 2009 to honor Abraham Lincoln.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jet in Columbus
For those of you who don't remember it, that Eisenhower is approximately actual size!
2 - handyguy
Who knows, the world may end before they get to Nixon.
3 - Les Slater
I haven't seen a coin dollar in a while. Well maybe I have and just didn't look carefully.
I was in NYC a couple of weeks ago and had to stuff $9.00 worth of quarters into parking meter. Just about depleted my car's supply. The meter did accept $1 coins and some sort of issued card.
My guess is that coin readers are more robust than bill readers.
4 - Jet in Columbus
Handyguy, I'm still shaking my head, Richard Nixon on a U.S. Coin. I thought hell'd freeze over first.
5 - Les Slater
P.S. I’m glad the trusting in God has been relegated to the fringe where it belongs.
6 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Pathetic, Jet. Not the article, but the news. The inability of the government to eliminate the dollar bill is symptomatic of a government run by retards.
A realistic way of doing this would be to design $1, $2 and $5 coins, like they have in Jamaica, and eliminate the aces and the fives from the currency over time as they get used up. And do you guys really need a one cent coin?
At this point, Israel uses a ten shekel coin that is worth roughly $2.20 or #2.30 depending on the exchange rate. For bills, we have twenties, fifties, hundreds and two hundred shekel notes. It all looks like play money though...
7 - Jet in Columbus
Less if you'd seen the Sacajawea, trust me, you'd remember it. It was gold colored and probably tarnished and had an indian girl on it.
Can you imagine the fits that the republicans who were trying to get Reagan on the dime are having. He'll have been beaten onto a coin by Nixon!!!
8 - Jet in Columbus
Les, AMEN brother, most people don't realize that In God We Trust was something that was tacked on to our money only recently in 1959 by religious zealots and wasn't always there.
I still maintain that it doesn't belong there. I'm hoping that they reduce it to microtype on a border somewhere on the paper money too.
9 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Ruvy, Canada has switched to 1-2 dollar coins too. I'm just waiting for the reaction to the $10 first lady coins!
10 - Jet in Columbus
Come to think of it (Laugh laugh laugh) Nancy Reagan will actually beat Ronnie onto a coin!!!!!
11 - Michael
I plan on buying the proof sets when they come out.
As for this being timed to come out until after the elections, I hope the writer is joking.
The legislative bill implementing the new $1 coins was sponsored by a Republican, passed by a Republican House & Senate and signed by a Republican president. The bill, which passed well over a year ago, said the coins would begin being minted in 2007. And, yes, the bill (which I have read) said "In God We Trust" would be included on the side of the coin.
The "announcement" was made more than a year ago.
12 - Michael
In case anyone wants to read it, here is a link to the copy of the bill passed by Congress more than a year ago.
It says, in part, "The inscription of the year of minting or issuance of the coin and the inscriptions `E Pluribus Unum' and `In God We Trust' shall be edge-incused into the coin."
13 - Michael
Sorry, I failed to inclue the link. Here it is:
14 - Jet in Columbus
Be that as it may Michael, the coin wasn't announced to the general public until day before yesterday and except for a few coin collectors no one knew about it.
Even CNN only reported it only yesterday and the major news networks haven't even reported it yet.
What does that tell you that the Republicans can't even pass a coin bill unless it's in secret?
15 - Jet in Columbus
If you re-read the article Michael, you'll see I said the announcement was timed till after the election. If the bill was passed so long ago, why wait a year to announce it until after the elections?
A. they don't want to piss off Reagan democrats who were looking forward to their hero on the dime before the election
b. they don't want to piss off Reagan democrats who would discover that their republican heroes had passed a bill that wouldn't even schedule Reagan on a coin at all (as you can see by the roll out schedule)
c. they don't want to piss off right wingers with an announcement that "In God We Trust" is now in fine print and on the EDGE of the coin instead of the face.
16 - Baronius
Jet, I think you're seeing political motives where there aren't any. Still, this is ridiculous. Government's job is to serve us, and the US has made it clear that we don't want dollar coins.
I'm sick of currency changes. I understand the security concerns, but for me at least, the opposite is happening. You could hand me a trout with "$10" in the corner, and I'd fold it up and put it in my wallet. (True story.) I don't even notice what this week's bill or coin looks like. As always, the government sets out to accomplish something, and the opposite happens instead.
17 - Michael
My point is that ALL OF THIS was known more than a year ago -- the news about God We Trust, etc. So, it was announced BEFORE the election -- more than a yearso, in fact. This news about In God We Trust isn't new news. I read about it in a coin collecting magazine and on CNN.com a year ago.
The Mint simply was showing what the new coins would look like. That wasn't known until its press conference Monday.
And Reagan WILL be on a coin. According to the bill, to be included on a coin, a president must have been dead for at least two years. By Reagan's time, he will have been dead more than a decade.
The bill says, "No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current President, or of any deceased former President during the 2-year period following the date of the death of that President."
18 - Jet in Columbus
Baronius, it works to the advantage of counterfeiters to because the public is so unfamiliar with paper currency, it's easy to get fooled.
As for politics, I'm sort of putting it out for the sake of arguement because Michael keep insisting everyone knew about this a year ago when they didn't, and that the official announcement was made only yesterday.
If you were a serious coin dealer yeah, but not the general public.
19 - Jet in Columbus
Michael, you read it in a coin collecting magazine. Why would CNN rebroadcast a news story that they did a year ago. If this was well publicized, which it wasn't the headlines would've been filled with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson having fits over "In God We Trust" being religated to the sidelines a long time ago and you know it.
As for Reagan, you obviously didn't read the article, or you'd see that that was already mentioned along with the two-year rule right there in front of your face.
The comment was that Nancy would beat him to getting his face on a coin, irking those who have tried to get Ronnie on the Dime and on the ten dollar bill.
I said Reagan wasn't on the OFFICIAL rollout schedule as quoted in the article, which he isn't. He'll be tacked on later, but he's not eligible yet.
20 - Michael
Below are two stories about the presidential coins on CNN.com from 2005. I fail to see how only coin collectors would have known about this.
I fully agree that the average conservative would not have known about this. But these conservative groups (Focus on the Family, etc.) scour the Internet daily looking for this kind of stuff. Of course they knew about it.
I also don't understand what the motive supposedly is. If the GOP is in cahoots with Christians (which I'm assuming everyone on this board believes they are), then why would Republicans pass and sign a bill that doesn't include Reagan (which we already have shown that it does)?
Every conspiracy theory on this board about these coins is factually wrong, and it took me 5 seconds doing a Google search to find the links I've included.
21 - Jet in Columbus
This is useless. Unless you are a coin collector, or some U.S. Mint junkie the GENERAL PUBLIC didn't know about it until last Monday.
We can go round and round in circles till doomsday and it's not going to change that fact.
get over it
22 - Michael
To believe Jet's conspiracy theory, we must believe that Rick Santorum, Tom DeLay and George W. Bush -- all Christian conservatives -- supported this bill but didn't want any of the "regular" Christian conservatives to know about the In God We Trust portion of it.
Santorum & DeLay voted for the bill, and Bush signed it.
On this one, I'll side with reason and common sense.
23 - Lisa
I just arrived here on the board and began reading all the posts. On this one, I've got to side with Michael. I'm not crazy about the coins, but there's nothing political about them.
24 - Baronius
Jet's right. Unless you're a coin collector, or one of the few people who has access to the internet...
25 - Michael
I've got to log off here soon, but I want to make one more point.
The announcement was yesterday. Have any of the major groups -- Focus on the Family, American Family Association, etc. -- made a big stink yet?
The answer, from what I can tell, is no.
I'm still waiting for this conspiracy to unfold ...