Con: A coin would be a little heavier to carry around.
Pro: It would save a small fortune in not having to
replace damaged bills.
What are your reasons?
No! Absolutely not, As you pointed out the coins are heavy, and I always end up with a lot of ones. My local post office was giving those Susan B Anthony dollars as change from their stamp machine, and I can tell you they were a real pain, really hard to distinguish from a quarter. If there was a dollar coin it would have to look and feel far different from any existing coin.
Actually I think it would be a better plan to get rid of pennies.
I have dollar coins. The gold ones. They are NOT widely accepted at vending machines.
And the US paper money, being made of cotton/linen, not paper, is much more durable than similar "paper bills" in other countries.
So the savings are much less than you think. Indeed, this was discussed on NPR not long ago.
Keep the paper bill. The cost of producing it is nothing compared to the inconvenience of carrying around coins. In Canada they have dollar and two dollar coins. Most transaction are paperless anyway. And the argument about the cost is extremely weak. How many TRILLIONS have been wasted, and continue to be wasted, on all kinds of stupid wars - drugs, on non-existent WMDs, the war to crush al-Quieda (America and NATO are now quietly talking peace with them). Keep the dollar bill.
So if we're wasting money in one area, that gives us permission to waste money everywhere else as well? That's not a logical argument.
I don't know the relative costs, but it's so common for countries to convert their low-value bills to coins, I'd say the savings must be significant. As bankscottage says, it's not about the cost to produce - it's about the lifespan. If it costs $1 to produce a dollar coin which will last 20 years, then a dollar bill would have to cost less than 5c to compete.
Absolutely, replace the paper bill. The coin would last a lot longer than a paper bill. The loonie and toonie seem to have worked well for Canada. The US wouldn't have to mint more dollar coins. They already have them. They minted too many presidential dollars and they never ended up in circulation. After collectors, almost no one else uses them.
I guess the biggest issue preventing the conversion is vending machines. Almost all will take a paper bill, but few take a dollar coin. It could be expensive to convert all of these machines.
While we are at it, lets get rid of the penny. It costs more than a penny to make one
bank - You are right about vending machines or public transportation. Abraham Lincoln is on the penny - and - maybe that is why we hang on to it.
Just read an article in the WSJ from 5/18 about an "underground" paper currency in Canada. Seems Canadian Tire stores give "paper money" as little refunds on your purchases the next time you shop. They range in value from 5 cents to $2 I believe. They are made so that they can't make counterfit copies. In addition to using them, people like to collect them, particularly the older ones. Guess paper money may never really go away.
The U.S. has tried to get a "dollar coin" to catch on several times over the years but has never had much luck. Any children of the '80s here remember all the whoop-de-doo over those shiny new Susan B. Anthony dollars? Where have you seen any of them lately?
All the US has to do is what Canada did. Quit printing dollar bills and collect all of those still out. They could make it happen if they wanted to.
I think my Susan B. Anthonys are next to my Sacaguwea dollars. My Peace and Morgans are in the safe.
Yes! After living in Japan for 10 years, where the smallest paper bill is 1000 yen, or about 10$, I find the US 1$ bill annoying. Plus the government wastes a lot of money replacing the paper bills every 2 years or so I believe. It would be a tough thing for Americans to get used to, but it could work. Japan also has a 5$ equivalent coin. Imagine getting rid of the 5$ bill as well?
At one time the US had a $20 gold coin. If anyone doesn't want theirs, I'll give you a nice crisp $20 bill for each that you want to get rid of
Australia has $1 and $2 coins, and our smallest coin is the 5 cent piece.
As Bankscottage says, all the government has to do is start minting coins. Then as the $1 notes are returned to the banks in the normal course of business, don't reissue them.
If you can't bear to part with the note, why not make your notes out of plastic instead of paper, like us? You can even put them through the washing machine.
Marisa - Australia is similar to Canada with the $1 & $2 coins. You don't use the plastic money - do you - is it only for a keepsake?
Yes, our $1 and $2 coins are similar to Canada, and to the pound coins in the UK - although they made the pound coin in the UK really, really thick and heavy for some reason.
It's our notes that are made out of a special polymer (plastic). They cost more to make than paper notes, but they last a LOT longer than paper (like I say, you can even put them through the washing machine and they'll survive). So in the end, they're saving the country a lot of money in printing costs.
http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cle … notes.html
It's a very soft plastic and you can fold it just like paper money.
The number one reason I'm down with dollar coins is because I'll get to feel like a pirate... I'd keep a treasure chest full of them!
As a Canadian I can say our loonies and toonies have been a success. I'm all for saving our tax money!
I was a cashier when the loonies first came out and there was a great deal of moaning and whining - especially by the older set - in the beginning. People forgot to use them and their pockets and purses became too heavy. Eventually we all got used to spending them and they became part of our lives. I think we are getting rid of the penny next.
We live in Arizona for the winter months. We try to be good "tourists" when there but we do find American money to be a bit of a pain. Because each denomination is the same colour it's easy to mix them up. I understand that the "greenback" is an honoured tradition but sometimes change is good!
I hope not for your sake, they did thid to the pound note in UK when we went decimal and they certainly bulge your purse out.
They add a lot more weight for you to carry around as well.
No, making the coin would cost too much. I think we should reduce our use of paper money and work towards total electronic money. Many people pay their bills online and buy groceries with their credit or debit card anyway.
No it will not. Mint coins costs more than printing dollar bills. If the government is considering not minting any more pennies because it is so expensive (thank you Federal Reserve for debasing our currency!) then why would the US Mint start making coins that cost more than bills? No, the dollar bill is here to stay. There would be no logical reason to replace it with coins.
A coin will last far longer than a dollar. While a coin would cost far more to mint than a paper dollar to print, the cost of every dollar bill printed and replaced over the life of the coin would have to calculated. I believe a dollar bill last about 2 years. A coin would easily last 20 if not many more. So for every coin minted at least 10 dollars would have to be printed. We would have to know the cost of minting versus printing times 10 to see which is the most cost effective.
Yes, because making the coins actually costs a hell of a lot less overall, they last pretty much forever when the paper bills make it barely a year on average. We still have paper dollars mainly due to lobbying from the paper industry. Also paper bills should move to a longer lasting plastic based model like in other countries.
by Julie Grimes 13 years ago
Will paper money be replaced and the current banking system changed?Write a hub on the how the banking system in the Western hemisphere might change and how that will effect today's paper money system.
by Ken Kline 14 years ago
Has anyone used Coinstar at Walmart? Did you see a price before using the machine? I hunted and hunted but to no avail - please help - is it just me - did I miss the price of changing money from coin to currency?
by TheHoleStory 8 years ago
How many cars can you find pictured on the back of a ten dollar bill?
by Randy Godwin 6 years ago
Despite yesterday's warning from Robert Mueller about the Russian meddling, Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators blocked a voter securitybill from coming to the floor. They're afraid of Trump so much they believe passing such a needed bill will make Trump angry. So much for the integrity...
by Mrs Campbell 7 years ago
Should you give your boyfriend/girlfriend money for their bills, if they need it?If you're in a committed relationship, but not married, should you financially support your partner if they need it, especially if there are plans on marriage?
by ptosis 15 years ago
You & I are walking down the sidewalk and you spot a hundred dollar bill and pick it up before...me, do you - give some of that money to me? Or keep it all to yourself?
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |