Every couple of years, some members of Congress get a sudden urge to replace the dollar bill with a dollar coin. The whims usually just lead to a few days or weeks or protest that fades away when people realize again nothing will be done because, well, so many people would be against it. Every time they try to shove a dollar coin down our pockets, we resist. Americans are no more ready for that, um, change than they are the metric system.
Now, somebody has a bright idea. Let's just take away the bills and make them use the coins, that'll learn 'em!
In the United States today, the $1 coin is often associated with the change received when buying stamps at a post office or paying for parking in an automated garage. But supporters of the bill and even the GAO argue that public acceptance of the coin will come once there is no other choice but to use it.
Yeah, sure, we'll come to accept anything if we have no choice, but that doesn't mean we'll like it. Sometimes when I'm standing in front of the vending machine looking for something to snack on, I won't like anything I see the first time around, and often I'll have to twirl the compartments around three or four times, lowering my expectations each time, until I finally find something I can tolerate. In many ways, we've become a society of lowererd expectations, and too often government is the culprit.
Speaking of those machines. One predictable result of the dollar coin will be vending machines built to take the dollar coins. And since coins seem less like real money, we'll be less likely to notice as prices creep up to take advantage of the new reality. Just another contributor to the inflationary pressures that started with going off the gold standard. Thanks again, gubmint!
OK, yes, by most accounts, going to the $1 coin would save money. After higher costs for the first couple of years, the GAO estimates, the federal government would save $5.5 billion over 30 years, because the coins won't wear out and need destroying and replacing like the $1 bills. That's not quite what it used to be when it comes to federal dollars, but it ain't chicken feed. That's one reason to make the switch, but this is one case where I wouldn't make the savings the only issue.
Probably a moot question anyway. We are so quickly moving to digital in our financial dealings that having any physical money will soon be thought of as oddly old-fashioned. Why mess with all that (consider the icky germs on that paper, and the cocaine dust!) when we can just transfer a bunch of numbers from one place in cyberspace to another. After I finally decided to get a debit card after years of resisting it, I started using it for everything, finally giving up my need to always have at least $100 in cash in order not to feel helpless. One day my card lost the magic on its magnetic strip, and there I was without cash or a card. I went to the bank and immediately took $100 out, then walked around feeling paradoid all day about the robbers i could sense lurking around every corner.
