Would you support the move toward the dollar coin?

[CTownIntegra]

I posted this over at Reddit also just wanting to hear everyone's opinion. REDDIT LINK

At work I usually keep a roll of $1 coins in my desk to use in the vending machine. A co-worker saw me using them one day and wanted to buy them off of me (for face value) because they were "rare". Also, I used to tip with $2 bills, the waiter/waitress usually would say something along the lines of they were going to save them (despite being very common, just not widely used).

Given that the $1 coin would save the US quite a bit of money, why do you not use them? I've asked some family and friends and they say they do not want to carry around a huge pocket full of coins. However, I believe if the $2 bill replaced the $1 bill in the cash register slots and the $1 coin occupied the empty slot on the left (normally used for rolled change) that it wouldn't be so bad.

So why do you support or not support the move? Too heavy? Hard to pay "tips"? Afraid people will think you are an alien? Didn't know it was readily available at most banks? People fear change? (No pun intended)

 

[RamFan]

I just hate coins in general. Sure for women it isn't so bad because for the most time they are carrying a purse which has a coin area, for myself though, a guy who always wears jeans, coins in a pocket aren't exactly comfortable plus the chatter is just annoying. Get rid of pennies and dimes. I'd be happy just having $1.25/.50/.75 as the only variations within a whole dollar.

 

[Garak]

They've worked well up here. I was against it at first, but realistically, they're extremely convenient for vending machines and parking. Trying to wash a car with quarters at the coin up these days would be extremely frustrating. These days, I'd be more annoyed with a bunch of $1 or $2 bills clogging my wallet than I would be with a few $1 and $2 coins being too heavy.

The only issue we've had up here is that the $1 and $2 coins were recently changed a bit, and they're giving vending machines a hard time.

As for your take on what would happen in till drawers in retail, you're exactly right - that's what I experienced in my years of retail.

 

[stranger706]

Not really. Nothing against the new coin, I just very rarely use cash.

The only thing I use cash for is a haircut about once a month at my local barbershop, only because thats all they accept.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
I just very rarely use cash.

+1
it's just dumb to have a pocket full of money when all you need is that tiny debit card. Plus I get points for every $2 I spend so at years end I can redeem for a nice gift card. Last year I got $100 gift card to Mobil gas stations. Nice.

 

[CTownIntegra]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
Not really. Nothing against the new coin, I just very rarely use cash.

The only thing I use cash for is a haircut about once a month at my local barbershop, only because thats all they accept.


I seldom do too, we have one vending machine at work that accepts Google Wallet and I can pay via my phone. However the one that is in my building only accepts coins and bills, and you know as well as I do bills can give a machine fits sometimes, where as a coin works nearly 100% of the time.

Sure me putting the coins into a vending machine isn't going to help get them into circulation, but it is handy for me.

 

[GearheadTool]

We have dollar coins that go untouched in my drawer, every night I am a cashier.

Nothing feels like paper cash.




No, I wouldn't support it.

 

[bepperb]

I'd get rid of the penny and use one and five dollar coins with the lowest bill being 10 bucks. This is roughly how Japan is. At the very least get rid of the dollar bill and go all coin like every other industrialized nation. It's ridiculous to carry a "bill" that can't be used to buy anything (not even a soda anymore).

I find it more odd we use pennies than that we have the dollar bill. Took me a week to get a euro cent in Ireland, they have a two cent piece they round to, or to the nickel. Seriously save your pennies for the year and see if they cover your gas/bus fare to the bank.

On the other hand I use cash maybe once a week at the most so I really don't care. Cash is going to be like writing a check in a year or two, if it isn't already.

 

[eljefino]

I'm from a generation where you could still get something with change, and if you bought gas for cash you could at most top off to the nearest 25 cents. So carrying change is not foreign to me, though it usually stays in the car.

I don't "build up" change; there are a few uses of cash even though I usually mostly spend plastic for its rewards. I get a gallon of milk for state minimum pricing, about $3.50, and I could spend six quarters if I had too many.

I don't get people who use those coinstar machines and lose 9 cents on the dollar for the privilege. If they'd remember to pack their change in the morning before they left they'd have ample opportunities to wither it down at face value. Shoot, if you have 63 cents buy $XX and 63 cents worth of gasoline!

Dollar bills are so ragged I'd love to see them switch to coins from a practical standpoint.

 

[bepperb]

Those coinstar machines charge and absurd amount but if you get a Home Depot or Amazon gift card they charge nothing. Hopefully that's what's going on (though sadly I doubt it).

 

[CTownIntegra]

It's also useful to note that dollar coins are debt-free currency issued directly by the government (Treasury), whereas Federal Reserve Notes (paper money) are debt-based currency issued by the same banksters that caused the mortgage crisis.

 

[Eddie]

I would support a $1 coin if the stupid Government would make one that didn't match a quarter or have a gold finish that wears off. I think if you made a $1 coin that was totally different,like had a 1/4 hole in the center so you could feel it. Ed

 

[Kestas]

In addition to having dollar coins I'd like to see the penny and nickel go away. My argument is that inflation has increased at least ten times since we've had the breakdown in currency we're presently using. There was a time one could pay for lunch with only coin.

For reference, on average, the rest of the world draws the line between coin and paper at around the $5 mark.

I used to ask for dollar and half-dollar coin at the bank to distribute in circulation when I shop.

I don't carry coin in my pocket. I don't need it at work. I keep it in my car under the mat. When I'm out and about shopping, I'll throw some in my pocket.

 

[Darren270]

When I was stationed in Japan I used to withdraw my money from the atm in yen rather than dollars as both were accepted on base but only Yen was accepted off (obviously). The lowest denomination paper bill in Japan is the 1000 yen note which is approximately $10. Everything below that was a coin. So to answer the question, yes I preferred it there and would prefer to have $1 coins here. Having a pocket full of change really wasn't a deal breaker for me as a just kept the 100 ($1) and 500 ($5) yen coins in my pocket and threw the rest of the change in a jar at home. Not much different than what I do here.

 

[morepwr]

No. I like to go to swap meets, garage sales, and stuff like that where cash is king. I dont have any desire to carry 10lbs of coins around.

 

[Garak]

Believe me, morepwr, $1 and even $2 coins will not mean you're carrying 10 lbs of coins around. I use cash regularly, and don't have that problem. Having both the $1 and $2 coin help that way. $2 bills in the U.S. have always been rare, and it was exactly the same way up here when we had $2 bills. Change over both at the same time and save a lot of grief.

We got rid of pennies up here just recently (still in the long drawn out process).

 

[JHZR2]

I dont have a real issue with it, even with widespread use of $2 bills, which I do.

I think that a real popular use of $1 coins will spur vending and parking meters to raise prices, since the quarter isnt as necessary, and a $1 coin will be the choice for payment... For stuff that is arbitrarily raised in price.

Im not a fan of lugging a pocket full of big coins around, but if the $2 bill was in wider use, it is reasonable to carry those and minimize use of $1 coins.

Are we going to discuss removing the penny next?

I use plastic far more than cash so in the end, it is of minimal consequence.

 

[spackard]

You can't buy rolls of them from the US Mint, unless it's the lame collectible ones.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011...dom-credit-card

It all started with the Presidential One Dollar Coin Act of 2005, an effort that was meant to save taxpayer money, by encouraging Americans to use dollar coins instead of paper bills. The theory was that coins have a longer circulation life, and hence, they would be the superior alternative.

Of course, that theory was flawed. Like most government programs, they forgot to address the basic question “Do people actually want a clunky pocketful of coins?” But instead of asking that, they thought it would be best to just shove ‘em down our throats and hope for the best.

Not surprisingly, this has resulted in an ever-growing stockpile of the unwanted dollar coins – presently around $1.2 billion of them, according to NPR.


My opinion: it seems rather dense to want to repeat a proven failed government policy.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Are we going to discuss removing the penny next?


Alsready happening.

http://www.dailypaul.com/264525/us-mint-...ng-january-2013

http://goldsilver.com/news/bid-farewell-to-pennies-and-nickels/

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: spackard
My opinion: it seems rather dense to want to repeat a proven failed government policy.

That means they'll probably get rid of all paper cash.