I always keep half a dozen handy for work to use in the vending machines. Paper dollars get nasty and wrinked too easily and instead of spending 30 minutes trying to iron out a grubby dollar on the corner of a desk so it might go into the machine after the 53rd time, I just put in a coin and I'm good to do. I wish the paper dollar would go away. Talk about an annoying waste. Guy
I dont think all vending machines cycle through the change. The two we have right now do however. When the change dispenser is full, the coins dump into a bin inside, but if the change dispenser is not full, each coin tops off the dispenser. The machine takes 5, 10, 25, and $1 coins. The machine is identical to the ones Dave Hester found in a storage unit on Storage Wars two seasons ago.
When the Prez coins first came out I bought several rolls. I had a lot of fun spending them as nobody around here knew what they were. Clerks would give me the "What is this" look every time. I never actually got one back in change, but once at the local General Store, I saw a bunch of dollar coins in the till when the drawer opened. I asked if I could see them and scored a Wide Rim SBA in AU for a buck.
I spend the dirty ones and keep the shiny ones. But I don't really get dollar coins as change. The only way to really get them here in NY is to go to a train fare machine as they dispense dollar coins as change.