I was in the Minneapolis area for work - the first of several trips this year - and with some unexpected time to kill at the airport, I decided to indulge my other hobby which is "anything about trains." The light rail that runs from downtown Minneapolis through the airport to the Mall of America was close enough. I went over to the automated ticket machine and noticed that it provides change in dollar coins. So I decided to use a $5 bill even though I had the two singles I'd need for the light rail fare. Who knows, I thought, maybe I'd get a Presidental Dollar! Yeah, right, maybe some beat up Sacs in that lovely shade of brown that they become. I was quite surprised to see that two of the three dollars were what looked like brand new 2001-D Sacajaweas. I wonder where they've been hiding? Perhaps in the "use these up already" pile. So they came back with me for Thalia Elizabeth's collection-- she really likes these "Mommy/Baby Dollars" as she calls them. (Plus, they started in 2000, which is when she was born.) Later, at the airport, I needed to get a bottle of water for the trip and I broke a $20 in a change machine in the airport to get the dollar coins needed for the vending machines. No, not 20 coins, please! But a $20 for three $5s (which I needed later for the cab home!) and five dollar coins. This time, they were more like I expected, although one was a pretty clean 2001-P. The key messages: First, it looks like we're still going through our collective stash of unused Sac dollars from near the start of production; second, at least there are still some machines that will use these coins!
All the machines at my work take dollar coins. The problem is they don't give them out. If I buy a Pop with a $5 bill I get to lug 16 quarters around. I got a roll at the bank last week to use at work. It included,17 2000P,4 2000D,3 2001P and 1 2002D.
