The State Of The Dollar Coin

For many years, the dollar coin was the pinnacle of US coinage. It's 38mm stature was unmistakable. Then, in 1979, the SBA was released, this travesty of a coin soon became an afterthought, and was discontinued for years. You would think they would recognize the mistake, and give the denomination it's due justice by replacing the SBA with a coin worthy of it's $1 billing. But no, they replace it with an even more forgettable coin, the Sacagawea. This coin has been largely resigned to a fate of vending machines and subway toll change. Regardless, they have redesigned this coin in 2009! Then, the presidential coinage is released, and just like the state quarters, we will be flooded with endless, worthless varieties, sure to glut the market like baseball cards did in the late 90's and early 00's.

Question is: Will this denomination ever appear again in a 38mm format?

Even if it came back in it's current golden copper-nickel-zinc-managese alloy, that would be swell.

Thoughts?

 

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The only way $1 coins were to ever become mainstream is to get rid of the $1 paper money. I dont think thats gonna happen anytime soon. And as for myself, I dont carry change in my pocket. I always pay with paper cash or debit card, its just easier.

I myself havent collected the Sacs. or Pres. dollars. I do like the designs of them but as mentioned by you, there will be a glut and since I live in a small space, $1 coins like the two mentioned I dont want to mess with.

 

I like the Sacs. Problem is I never use them because I never get them in change. I don't go to the bank and buy change, like I'm sure 99.9% of people don't. I won't go out of my way to spend something that doesn't come to me.
Guy~

 

Like the 38's of old~
but I'm guessing the Silver~Like bullet has already left the barrel X 10 forever.

Having jumped off the cliff of Small Dollars with SBA many years ago the only way back is to try to defy a gravity not yet invented or defined & will not occur even if they were made from tinfoil.

Ain't gonna happen.

Some day, not too far in the future, folks will pass around Small Dollar Coins like they have seen them before with only a second glance to be sure it is not a gold colored quarter. (If they are still useful.)

Full Size Dollars will only come back to circulation when Full Size Cents return........IMHO.

Now a 45mm $5 might be useful to buy some coffee or a parking space.

 

I don't think we will ever have a large dollar coin again. I hear people complain that they are to large now. Go figure, they are just a bit bigger than the quarter.

As for me, a 38 mm coin would be great for collecting, but I cant see lugging a few around in my pockets. That is why they were never popular even in the time of the Morgans. Why do you think there are so many Unc silver dollars floating around.

 

I agree with all three sentences. And, like you, I actually like the design, and I tentatively like the 2010 design.

The coin is in the right place at the right time. With inflation, etc. The problem is, as you mentioned: (a) the dollar bill is too easy to carry around; and (b) too many machines don't take dollars. If the parking meters in the DC area took dollars, then a lot more people here would be using them -- instead we're forced to use eight quarters for an hour for parking downtown. Now _that's_ a hassle!

As for the original post -- I'm not sure that the public was all that enamored of those big Morgan and/or Peace Dollars either. There were intense mining interests in having these minted, but I'm not sure the public was into it so much. Just like we think the half is too heavy to carry around, those big dollars were a hassle, too -- even more so.

At least that's what I vaguely remember reading . . . can anyone confirm/deny?

 

My comments were purely from a numismatic, historical perspective, definately not from a practical perspective. Since it is clear that most interest in dollar coins is from a numismatic perspective, it would be nice if they would make a 38mm coin.

 

seriously?? $2?? parking here in cincinnati is a quarter an hour. glad i'm not in dc!

 

technically, they make the sac and pres for circulation, so as long as that's the case, the 38 is gone. a commem might be possible, however.

 

Supply and demand! Until last year, it was $1/hour, and exceedingly difficult to ever find a space. Now it's $2/hour and only somewhat difficult to find a space. For anybody who believes in fair market pricing . . . . ya' just gotta say "yeah, that pricing sounds about right"

Of course as a consumer, it hurts.

But, still, to be back on topic, whenever I do have to park, I never have enough quarters, and I wish that the meters took dollar coins, because then I'd always keep a couple in the car to use.

 

For circulation? In a word, NO. In many words, the only way a circulating dollar coin will be accepted is if the dollar bil is eliminated, and in that case then you would have to find justification for going from the 8 gram small dollar to a 25 gram 38mm dollar. Considering how people are already complaining about the weight of the coin I think that the 25 gram dollar would be an awful hard sell.

 

agreed, getting rid of the 1$ bill would mean the revival of the dollar coin.

This might, also, perhaps increase the popularity of the two dollar bill?

 

I think the 38m is just too big to lug around, and don't think we'll ever see it again. Heck, the kids pants are too droopy as it is now, without those big old heavy coins in their pockets. Great for collecting, but not for using.

If I were designing some coinage, I would like to see a $2.50 coin and a $5.00 coin. Not sure of the size, perhaps in a 32mm and a 34mm, respectively.

 

....it's true the dollar coin will not circulate as long everyone has a choice

between the rag buck and a metal coin. BUT! why doesn't the government

advertise the fact that they EXIST??? it may not help much, BUT at least

people will be aware of them! how many have tried to spend the coin only

to be stared at?? the clerks don't even know what they ARE!! they call the

manager out and ask them "is this legal tender?" i mean COME ON!! why

not just TRY ADVERTISING?? it just MIGHT HELP!! (envision hand slapping head)

 

$1 Min.

Not too long from now machines that take your money and give you something back and will have $1 Minimum.

Folks will discover they only have to cram a coin down the machines gullet one time to never see it again.

This transition will enjoy popularity after spenders realize the ease of pocket grap~slam dunk......

vs.......pocket dig, extract~open& examine denomination feed.......except back......reshape.....feed.....wait....accept back....reFlatten...re~feed......wait.....

 

how? paying for commercials on TV? Ads in the newspaper? Can you already hear people complaining that to do so would be "government waste"?

 

I agree with the consensus that the small dollar is here to stay. Can't imagine any politician going up against the USPS and the coin vending maching lobby to change the size in either direction.

 

I guarantee you it would increase the use of the two. I admit people do prefer to use paper rather than the coin, and when they find they can gets twos and just a few dollar coins they will gladly order the twos. And the greatly increased production of the two will also offset the job loss at Crane Paper that they are worried will happen if they stop the one.

They DID. Back in 2000 when the Sac came out the government spent over 60 million dollars advertising them. Just last year they spent over 12 million dollars advertising them. Sometimes the government isn't too bright. Back in 2000 they got Wal-Mart to distribute Sac dollars for ONE MONTH. Before that time the government was distributing SBA's at a rate of 60 million coins a year. Wal-Mart distributed 95 million coins in a month. The government considered that to be a failure. When they were looking at an advertising campaign for the President dollars in 2007 they specifically said they wanted to avoid a failure like the 2000 Wal-Mart campaign. The only problem witht he Wal-Mart campaign was that it was only conducted for a month, and there was poor communications about the program to the cashiers. many people wer left with either the impression that the dollar were only good at Wal-Mart, or that the coins were only going to be issued for one month and would therefore be valuable in the future. The first impression led to refusal of the coins, and the second lead to hoarding. There was also the problem that a lot of cashiers refused to let customers have more than one coin. This tended to feed the rarity theory.

If the program could have been carried out at more stores or for a longer period I think it would have worked better. But I still don't see it as a failure.

 

.....do you not think it is super wasteful to keep minting them and then STORING them

for years and years? just think about it. just another government debacle.

 

I didn't say that advertising _would_ be a government waste; I was saying that people would _complain_ it is government waste.