

US could save $4.4B by dumping paper $1 bill for coin - coondoggie
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/us-could-save-44b-dumping-paper-1-bill-coin

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jdietrich
Britain, Australia, Japan and Switzerland each have four coins in circulation
with greater value than the US quarter. The Eurozone has three. It's hard to
find a highly developed country that doesn't have at least one higher-value
coin.

It seems weird that the interests of cotton growers, bill printers and strip
clubs seem to outweigh the interests of the rest of the US.

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waqf
I only count three Australian coins: the 20¢ isn't yet worth more than a US
quarter though it's getting disturbingly close.

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motoford
I love the dollar coins. I used to take all my change to the post office, put
it all in the stamp machine at once, buy a single stamp and get my change back
in $1 coins.

A lot of people must have done that because the software was changed at some
point to not allow it.

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anigbrowl
...if only public could be convinced to use $1 coins. I personally like them,
but there are literally a billion of the things sitting unused in US Mint
warehouses because most people prefer folding money:
[http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137394348/-1-billion-that-
nobo...](http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137394348/-1-billion-that-nobody-wants)

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dalke
Convincing is easy. Don't make it be an option. So long as it remains an
option, what's the reason for people to change?

(Also, the tarnished "golden" look feels dirty.)

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anigbrowl
"End times - DC pols plot to destroy American currency! Washington rolls in
grave as treason stalks the nation, etc. etc. etc."

~~~
dalke
American currency is already destroyed - what's with the whack colors and big
heads? It's getting to be like furrin money! Besides, pennies should have
pictures of wheat on the back, and nickels should contain silver.

We can't even get rid of the penny, which is a worthless coin. Worse since its
intrinsic metal value is worth more than a penny.

But the special interest groups of the cotton industry and the Crane Paper
Company, and employees of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and their
influence in Congress, keeps change at bay.

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cafard
When I moved to Washington, the Metro farecard machines were not nearly as
good they later became. If you tried to feed in a dollar that was not all but
starched and ironed, you could find yourself holding up the line, missing the
train, trying to crease it longways, etc. I'd have loved the option of feeding
in Susan B. Anthony (or Sacajawea, or etc.) coins.

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xtrimsky_
I just use my debit card everywhere. And just get pissed off when I need coins
for parkmeter and laundromat. Everywhere else -> _slide_!

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jacques_chester
Australia dumped notes for coins some time ago -- we also have a $2 coin that
is fairly convenient. We also use polymer notes, which last much longer and
can survive being put through the laundry.

