Doth quoth the DaveM

Yet another new dollar coin

So, we're getting yet another new dollar coin here in the United States. The articles I've read say the Sacagawea dollar coin was a flop. Really, I think it flopped because they didn't try hard enough. They were hard to find after the initial period where they were pushed.

This new series of dollar coins has the collector thing going for it, at least, in that it will honor the U.S. presidents, with 4 being honored each year, starting with George Washington. But will this make for a successful dollar coin, or will people just pocket them and save them for their kids?

If we really wanted a successful dollar coin, I think we'll need to get rid of the dollar bill, first off. The article I referenced makes the point that there's no space in many existing cash registers for a dollar coin, so we'd have to get rid of the penny too. Apparently people like the dollar bill pretty well, but I suspect if Congress pushed with an explanation about efficiency and saving money, it would work. Hey, they messed with Daylight Savings Time (that's for another post, don't get me started), and people are just dealing with it.

As for getting rid of pennies, I suspect people would be more responsive to that, but I wonder how we'd transition to a system with multiples of 5 as the smallest unit. Right now an item might sell for $0.99 (hey, less than a dollar) and with my Texas state and local sales taxes adding to 8.25%, the bill comes to $1.07. So will the price drop to $0.97 to have a nice even $1.05, or rise to $1.02 to give us a nice $1.10 price? I'm sure the retailers would prefer the extra nickel, but suddenly the psychological element (under a dollar!) is gone.

Anyway, I'm skeptical that these new dollar coins will be any more successful than the Sacagawea or the $2 bill. They'll have their collector element, but doesn't that just take them out of circulation?

Posted at 11:27AM Feb 16, 2007 by Dave Marquardt in Life  |  Comments[4]