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Another Dollar Coin
Sunday, February 11, 2007
The U.S. Mint is coming out with yet another one dollar coin and George Washington is pissed! See for yourself - not a happy camper.
According to this AP report, this is the first in a new series of "Presidential Coins" to be placed into circulation this year - one for each president, every four months. This new mini-series will actually be a continuation of the much longer running series of failed dollar coins going back to the 18th century - people just don't seem to go for them. You have to wonder why they keep trying.Maybe Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea should not take public rejection personally. It's not easy overcoming people's indifference to dollar coins, even those honoring such historic figures.
Oh dear, we don't want to increase inflation.
An AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of people surveyed oppose replacing the dollar bill, featuring George Washington, with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a dollar coin.
A new version of the coin, paying tribute to American presidents, goes into general circulation Thursday. Even though doing away with the bill could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs, there is no plan to scrap the bill in favor of the more durable coin.
"I really don't see any use for it," Larry Ashbaugh, a retiree from Bristolville, Ohio, said of the dollar coin. "We tried it before. It didn't fly."
...
People have strong feelings about their money, even the penny.
A congressional effort to reduce the need for the cent piece failed even though it costs more to produce the copper-colored coin than the coin is worth.
When people were asked whether the penny should be eliminated, 71 percent said no, according to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted Nov, 28-30. Some fear that getting rid of the penny will cause product prices to be rounded up, perhaps increasing inflation.
There's a pretty cool animation at the U.S. Mint that shows the new features of the new dollar and the Coinflation website pegs its melt value at just under a nickel.
... make that just under $0.05 since the current nickel (75 percent copper/25 percent nickel) is worth closer to $0.07 (when melted).
The new dollar coin is mostly copper with some zinc to make it look like it's really gold - all very confusing.
This week's cartoon from The Economist:
8 comments:
They're doing all the collectors' coin series since they can sell the collections at a premium and make up the money they're losing on minting pennies and nickels.
I think this game is going to wear thin on the populace.
It would be nice if the The Mint would grow a backbone and do what needs to be done to improve this nation's currency, regardless of what the polls say. People will always be sentimentally attached their currency, especially if the losses are buried in a huge Federal budget (cf. people loving employer-centric insurance, where the obscene cost increases are buried in their benefits "compensation" despite rapidly wearing away at their take-home pay).
The sentiments regarding inflation are irrational indeed. Retailers would likely drop prices, because of the psychological effect of staying just under the next whole dollar amount. You'd see a lot more moves from $1.99 to $1.95 than from $1.99 to $2.00.
Not that this is a meaningful concern in the scheme of things, anyway.
Interesting that they're dropping the word "Liberty" from the coin.
I guess you'd call that a Freudian Omission?
It's a Freudian Clip.
I think the idea is to make past presidents look as scary as possible in hopes of improving The Usurper's standing in the "worst president ever" polls.
It simply won't work. Inflation has made coins (valued @ $1 or less) worthless. Gone are the days when a nickel could buy you a meal. Thusly, the average American has gotten use to carrying around quiet and foldable currency. They won't go back to noisy and clunky coins. The use of debit and credit cards has even challenged cotton currency’s (it’s not made of paper) usefulness. Money serves as a medium of exchange, and not a political gimmick.
we don't need anything else with out GODS HELP! IN GOD WE TRUST or do not make it!!
Where's "In God We Trust" ?
Make the dollar coin no bigger than a quarter or smaller and it will be carried and used!
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