$2 Bill Vs. $2 CoIn

Guys,

If the government ever got rid of $1 bills, what would be the best thing for me to advocate for beween a redesigned $2 bill and a bimetallic $2 coin, which would be the best to fight for? Should Americans get a chance to get used to a $1 coin/$2 bill society for a while, or should we automatically be put on a $1/$2 coin society as soon as possible? It would seem that the $1/$2 coin idea would be best, as it would save money in two ways. One, on not having to mint so many $1 coins, and two, the fact that, general circulation $2 bills would wear out about as fast as the current $1 bills, so whats the point?

I am asking this question, because I may actually pay an artist to sktech out a redesigned $2 bill with color and other NexGen features to suggest to the government, or, even though I had an idea for a "Famous Dogs Half Dollar Coin Act" Maybe I could advocate a "Famous Dogs $2 Coin Act" instead, just to start kick off a U.S. $2 coin with a new program to make it popular, then put a famous human's face on the new $2 coin as the permenant design after a 9 year collector program to get $2 coins out there and spread the word that "THE U.S. NOW HAS A $2 COIN!" :hail: I for one, think it is important for our children to be taught, not only about famous and historical people and places, but famous and historical animals that played roles in the history of man as well. And they should also be trained to respect certain animals as they would their human brothers. I'm not saying, "Treat your dog like a human" just treat your dog, cat or whatever you own, with respect.

 

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Very interesting, but I dont know how many people would go for an Animal-Rights coin series. I think not having a $2 anything would suffice. It's an odd denomination that's not necassary like it was in previous years. When you could actually buy something with 2 dollars it was great, but now is IMO a waste of time and funds.

We could use all the money saved from eliminating the 2-dollar bill to pay back all of our international loans or replace all the education budget cuts, or a tleast put it towards something useful.

 

I don't see the $2 becoming popular in either format. The $1 coin can be successful as soon as the $1 bill stops being printed, that decision will probably be made someday but I don't see a small number of collectors being the driving force behind a decision like that.

I would like to see the country go back to more attractive coins like the liberty/barber designs but the presidents are probably here to stay. I will keep my comments to myself regarding famous dogs.

 

I think a $1 coin and a $2 bimetallic coin could be successful if the smallest bill issued was a $5. I know the $1 and $2 coin has worked in Canada. I think they were fairly successful with it.

 

The US Mint can't even sell $ 1 coins for face value, LOL

http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wc...1&parent_category_rn=16238&top_category=16238

 

I also think it may cost alot of xtra money because if this happened, you would have to reprogram vending machines and anything of the sort to accept the $1 coin or $2 coin....

 

If I had the say... $1 coins would be okay ($1 note goes away). They are already making them. But keep the $2 note. I visit canada often and having both $1 and $2 coins makes the pocked heavy quickly. Print more 2's and get the 1's out of storage.

 

$1/$2 coins

We have $1 and $2 coins in NZ and they work very well.

 

IMO let's try it one step at a time.
Dump the dollar bill; redesign the dollar coin to be obvious (50¢ size maybe, and dump the half dollar also); finally dig out all those $2 bills that are moldering away in the Federal Reserves (or wherever).
About 10 years after we get that far THEN go for the $2 coin.

 

I don't like the idea of pushing one's personal agenda through circulating coins. Silver's popular, so maybe you could design some rounds or bars to be privately minted with the famous dogs.

Anyways, I don't think the designs are the major factor in holding back use of the dollar coins. Higher priority should be placed on figuring out how to get wider acceptance of the coins rather than designing more and more new ones.

 

The only real aspect of the current designs that people don't like is the small size.
And the old silver dollar size isn't any better. Too large.
That's why I suggest a 50¢ size.

As for "... figuring out how to get wider acceptance of the coins ..." my suggestion is DON'T.
Just do it.
Many other countries have done their conversion that way.
Yes, there will be grumbling for a while, but give it a few years and the dust will settle.

 

Wouldn't have to worry about re-programming vending machines or checkouts as they all tend to take the $1 coin now. I think people just don't like the $1 coin because they are not used to it. and for some it reminds them how inflation is slowly stealing their savings. Just the $1 coin and the $5 bill should be sufficient, most people use debit cards now anyway.

 

YES!
And if everyone went to credit and debit cards only, that would solve the panhandling problem.
At least until they got their own card readers

 

As in many other places, when a note & coin are both legal tender, people will still use the note and not the coin. Only when the note is no longer printed (or demonitised) will the coin be used -- and from then on, there isn't a problem. Case in point being the UK. The £1 coin was minted in 1983, but until the end of 1985, it was very rarely seen, because the £1 note was also circulating. The £1 note was last printed in December 1984, and demonitised at the start of 1988. It was when the existing £1 notes started to get really tatty (lifespan of about 9 months) in 1985/86 that the £1 was accepted and used - the [until then stockpiled] 1983/4/5 coins came out in force. The note was finally demonitised in Mar 1988, by which time there were very few left in circulation. So, no problem remained, and the £1 coin is one of the most popular denominations there. It has been minted every year since then in sets, with 1998/99 being the only years not minted for circulation.

Also to bear in mind: A new 20p denomination was introduced the year before (1982), but because a) there was no equivalent note and b) there was a need to fill in the large gap between 10p and 50p, it was successful from the start.

 

Just came back from Scotland (very wet; very windy).
Found out there's also a £2 coin.
Smallest note is £5.

By the time I went to England the first time (late 80's) the £1 coin had been in use for a while.
No complaints that I even encountered.

Also was in Austria when they changed from the Shilling to the Euro (1 Jan 2002).
The rule was "Just do it."
The only complaint was the conversion process. It slowed purchases down.
Stores could take Shillings, then do the conversion to Euros (LOTS of hand calculators around), and finally HAD to return change in Euros.
Everything was priced in Euros and Shillings, most likely to help the Austrians get a feeling for how the two units related to each other.
And they "just did it".
I detected only mild annoyance.
And this process was a LOT more taxing than just going from paper to coins.
But Americans ... well, nuf said.

 

Exactly. Same thing in Europe, where Euro and 2 Euro coins circulate widely.

 

Just as all the other coin denominations that are in circulation here, sure. But obviously the US is different in that regard. Since the $1 pieces do not really circulate, why even think of introducing higher value coins?

Christian

 

To those who said "Why bother with a $2 bill or coin?" and "Not having any type of $2 denomination will save money" I must ask, Why do you say this? Having a $2 bill would help lower the need to mint so many $1 coins and make the transition to $1 coins faster, and people would like only having to carry a maximum of one $1 coin at a time. A $2 COIN would be even better, because it would cut the minting of $1 coins in half AND it would also last much longer than a circulating $2 bill. Either method would actually SAVE money, not cost money. Well, it would do both actually. It would cost money to make new $2 bills/coins and save money by having to mint less $1 coins, but you get the idea, I'm sure. And to those who say "I don't think the $2 denomination will ever be popular" Thats not what public opinion polls have shown. Most, if not all public opinion polls I have seen suggest that, if the $1 bill goes, the general public will embrace the $2 bill as their new "paper aternative"

One problem is, I think a $2 coin might have a slightly hard time catching on with retailers, with only five slots in the cash register. 1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, and $1. Sorry Mr. Lincoln "junior" (cent coin), time for you to retire along with Mr. Washington "senior" ($1 bill) and Mr. Jefferson "senior" ($2 bill) and make way for "Joe $2 Coin" :devil:

 

Americans haven't like the Dollar coins since 1878. What make anyone think it will change now when better than half of all purchases are done with plastic.

 

Make that since 1862. before that there was no Federal paper money so the coins were acceptable. After 1862 paper became the preferred medium because it was more convenient. get rid of the paper note and the dollar coin will make a comeback.

I do think at first though it should be the dollar coin and $2 note. Trying to get people to accept two coins at the same time may be a bit much and would probably result in greater resistance.

As to the idea of a series of changing designs on a note, forget it. Engraving a master plate for intaglio printing isn't like creating a coin die. Do you have any idea how long it takes to engrave one of those plates? If nothing goes wrong figure a year to 18 months. So once they do that they have no intention of changing it again just a few months later.