Why are we wasting our tax dollars on creating a "new" one dollar coin? Do we really need this in our lives?

Question

And all this for a "Dollar" that is only worth about 31 cents?????????

Answer 1

Because a dollar coin would be cheaper to produce than the dollar bill.


Also, I have no idea what you're trying to say when you claim that a "dollar" is worth "31 cents".
A US Dollar is worth a US Dollar.

Answer 2

Actually we don't really "need" the new $1 Presidential coins AT ALL. The Federal Reserve has minted about 1.3 Billion Sacagawea golden dollar coins, yet the American banking system only processes a net $61 million in transactions per year of the dollar coins. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve holds more than $94 million worth of dollar coins in its vaults - just sitting there!

As of May 2006, the US Treasury had approximately $762 billion in circulation, $37 billion of which was in coinage, the rest in paper bills. According to Federal Reserve Bank testimony:

"Reserve Banks distribute coins to the banking industry through two channels. First, the Reserve Banks directly accept some coin deposits and pay out some coin orders. Second, the Reserve Banks work with armored carriers, which operate coin terminals to hold, process, and distribute coin on behalf of the Federal Reserve. The 155 coin terminals store about 65 percent of the Federal Reserve’s coin inventory and are a key focus of daily distributional activity. The value of U.S. coins in circulation as of May 31, 2006, was approximately $37 billion, or about 5 percent of total currency and coin in circulation."

While at present, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors recommends that Congress allow the American Public decide if they want to accept the $1 coin, they admit that no other economy has accepted a high-value denomination while a note was simultaneously circulating. On the plus side, counterfeiting of the $1 denomination will fall dramatically, since it costs 31 cents to mint a $1 coin and very specialize equipment. Unfortunately, there will probably be a corresponding increase in higher value denomination counterfeits.

Having worked as a service employee with a large part of my earnings coming from tips, I am stoked about the coin. People will either tip you all of their coins, or realize that they don't have any, so give you a $5. It is great for anyone who works for tips.

Answer 3

I think the US Mint is trying to get rid of the smaller change.. like the pennies and the nickels (because they cost more to mint than the face value). A penny costs 1.7 cents to mint, and the nickel costs 8.3 cents to mint.

However, no matter what the face value, ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, or $100), the paper bills cost only about 4 cents per bill to produce. So, in terms of face value, the $1 bill has the highest cost to face value ratio, thus making it relatively more expensive than larger bills. Also, the $1 paper bill is used so often that it gets worn out very easily, and requires the government to replace it many times. But the coins last much longer (100+ years) than paper bills, and doesn't need to be replaced many times. So, it is possible that the US Mint will just increase the face value of the coins and get rid of smaller face value coins (like pennies and nickels), as well as eliminate the $1 paper bills/notes to save money.

Answer 4

'they' say it will be convenient because of all the things we need to pay for that cost at least a dollar - that it will make it easier to pay for things, but the problem I see is that it would take some time before vending machines are retrofitted to accept these coins (or are they the same size as the US Quarter, in that case that would bring out a whole new set of problems, similar to the Susan B Anthony dollar).

On the upside, hopefully a lot of kids will want to collect the coins and learn about US Presidents.

I think it comes down to the collectible factor. Just like the US Post Office doesn't 'need' to issue postage stamps with Disney Characters on them.

Answer 5

The new dollar coin is part of the government's unrelenting effort to negate the effects of inflation.

The U.S. Postal Service discovered this principle many years ago when they began to introduce cheaply produced stamps in a ever widening variety of styles. Their "Stamp Collecting for the Fun of it" campaign brought in zillions of dollars for stamps that would never be used. Thus the REAL cost of mailing a letter is hidden in accounting that can never be audited properly.

Now we have the same process applied to our currency. The government needs to keep issuing new dollars to stimulate business and reduce the cost of the national debt. Every time a new coin is issued, a large portion goes directly into the cigar boxes, water jugs, and safes of collectors. The same applies to the ever changing paper currency.

I shudder to think of what would happen to this nation if all those collected stamps, bills, and coins were to suddenly be put to use and into circulation. The Postal Service would go bankrupt, and we would see a round of inflation in the U.S. that would send economic shock waves around the world.

Spend those Suzie B's and use those Buggs Bunny stamps. Let them know that we aren't fooled any more.

Answer 6

No we don't, but why did we have a popularity contest for our quarters, and have a series for our nickels. We already have 2 different dollar coins in circulation not counting the Eisenhower dollar. It's pennies we should be re thinking.

Answer 7

because it would save millions in paper.