There are many reasons given to do away with the dollar bill and replace it with a coin. It’s better for the environment. It keeps us in step with the rest of the developed world. It could save billions of dollars.
But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) brought fresh attention to the cause when he suggested another incentive — economic stimulus.
Asked this summer what strippers would do without dollar bills, he responded, “I hope they can obtain larger denominations — five, tens, one-hundreds.”
Ecdysiasts everywhere climbed off their poles long enough to applaud the sentiment. But another faction took note in a more serious way. Pro-coin groups recognized the moment as one for action.
“It made people more aware that the [congressional] bill could pass and a coin could replace the dollar,” says Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Public Waste. “He got people talking.”
There have already been a few attempts to introduce $1 coins. The Susan B. Anthony flopped because it felt too much like a quarter. The more recently minted gold coin, known as the Sacagawea, has some heft to it, barely circulates and seems to be most appreciated by Tooth Fairies, mesmerized kids and groups involved with vending machines, public transportation and the like.
It also sounds a little counterintuitive. Shouldn’t dollar bills, which are paper and ink, cost less to make than metal coins?
Yes, initially. But $1 coins stay in circulation much longer, and, unlike pulped dollars, can be melted down and reused.
Citizens Against Public Waste estimates the federal government would save $13.8 billion over 30 years by switching to coins.
McCain has co-sponsored the COINS Act, introduced to the Senate June 6, which would end the use of bills no later than four years after the bill is adopted. He says the savings would be enough to restore the military budget to pre-sequester levels.
The US would be following in the footsteps of Australia, the UK, Canada and Japan — all of which have ditched their lowest denomination of paper money.
Breanna Kolada, a human-resources representative who recently made her first trip to Manhattan from Edmonton, Canada, thinks Americans would adapt.
“There were times when I had 14 $1 bills and I just stopped using them,” Kolada says, expressing a love for loonies and toonies, as Canadian $1 and $2 coins are respectively known. “You wind up with a wad of cash that gets really big. I was having a hard time keeping track of my money and didn’t like people seeing me pulling out all those bills when I had to pay for something.”