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Americans just don't like dollar coins
A $1 coin
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TEXT OF STORY
Renita Jablonski: All right, do you have everything you need for the day... like, your dollar coins? That's what I thought. The U.S. mint is launching yet another advertising campaign to get people to start using dollar coins. This time, there's a new message. Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson reports.
Commercial: She's gone . . . she's not there!
Jeremy Hobson: The latest ad from the U.S. Mint starts off with Lady Liberty walking through New York City to buy a hot dog with $2 coins:
Commercial: They last for decades, are 100 percent recyclable, and using them now could save our country billions of dollars.
The environmental plea is the Mint's latest attempt to hawk the dollar coin to consumers. But economist Robert Whaples at Wake Forest University says regardless of the message, Americans just prefer bills.
Robert Whaples: The public right now is voting with their pocket book, and saying there are these two things in circulation, we like this other one better. We're using it. We're showing you that we like it better by using it.
Whaples says the only way to get people to switch to coins is by following in the footsteps of the Europeans and getting rid of the notes altogether.
New faces on the coins won't cut it, he says. After all, if the faces of Washington and Jefferson couldn't convince the public, what makes the Mint think William Henry Harrison and James K. Polk will?
In New York, I'm Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
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This reporter has it all wrong. Americans don't like slabs of worthless metal pretending to be our dollar coins. If these coins were made from silver or real gold, they would be impossible to get just like the US Silver Eagle coins minted by the mint are now impossible to find.
Like others who have commented, I have found that I must go out of my way to get dollar coins. In try to spend them, I've had cashiers say, "sorry, we don't take loonies."
A "loony," for those who don't know, is a Canadian dollar, nicknamed for the loon on the coin.
I agree with Mr. Whaples; the only way to ensure people use them is to stop producing the paper dollars.
The $1 and $2 coins have been in cirrculation for years in Canada. Although there were some consumer and retailer objections during the launch of these coins, most Canadians have come to terms and have overcome the "negatives".
There are lots of positives too...easy to use in vending machines, handy for the little things and just think how quicky your "change Jar" will add up!
I do think the US $1 coin needs a nickname...how about "The Libby"...after the famed statue on its shiny golden face.
I'd be happy to use dollar coins, but I don't want the U.S. Mint launching yet another such effort without making the coins widely available. This was the case with the 'Sacagawea' dollar a few years back. It was a beautiful coin, and I would've spent it gladly, but we hardly ever saw any of them in public. I wonder how many (paper) dollars that half-hearted effort cost taxpayers?
It is not the consumers who do not like dollar coins - it's the merchants.
For an entire year, I made an effort to use the dollar coins. I went to the bank and bought rolls of them to use.
However, store and banks did not have coins for change. When I asked for dollar coins instead of bills, they told me they got rid of the coins as quickly as possible and did not keep them around.
Finally, I couldn't even get rolls from banks anymore.
They should just get rid of all the bills.
Dan Barker
970-324-1254
When my ancient Toyota gave up the ghost two months ago I decided to embark on a carless experiment. An intimate knowledge of my local mass transit system has since occurred (unlike most cities in this region Fort Worth has a remarkably progressive system…light rail, good bus system, friendly to cyclists…) The self service ticket counters will accept any form of payment, but they only supply one form of refund, dollar coins. I have a fat sack of them in my backpack.
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