The dollar bill..

[superbot]

Having been in the U.S a while back,I kinda thought that having a note for such a low doniminational amount would be better served in coinage.
The switch to a £ sterling coin has worked so well for us....makes sense,doesn't it ??

 

[deleted44365]

they keep trying doing that here, but it does not catch on.they have put out serval dollar coins ( the Susan B. Anthony and serval gold coins. But the public will not use them

 

[223790]

Canada has had the "loonie" ($1 coin) since 1987, and the "toonie" ($2 coin) since 1995. Those denominations have not been available in paper since then. There is talk about a $5 coin. I wonder if it will be nicknamed the "foonie"? Just recently, we eliminated the penny, and are now printing our bills on polymer instead of paper.

 

[long_uncut]

I hope not. Half-dollars are hardly ever seen. I hate getting change and loading up my pockets with quarters, etc. If we go to coinage for larger denominations, then I can see a trend toward more men being forced to carry some sort of "manbag." I actually own a couple of over the shoulder bags which I very occasionally take with me out of the car, and one goes with me everywhere but it stays in the trunk of the car. I could adapt to carrying such a thing with me but since it isn't a current American custom for men to carry bags I am not the one to start the trend.

 

[dude_007]

I basically use debit card for everything now, rare for me to have cash

 

[nudeyorker]

Dollar bills come in handy for tipping doormen, valet car park people, curbside luggage check etc. I think at the end of the day paper money is viewed as more valuable to most people in the US.

 

[798686]

If it works in the US, keep it!

I'm not sure if pound coins have worked better or not - they're certainly heavier.

 

[Jason]

The UK coin I don't understand is the £2 coin - basically twice the size and twice the weight of the £1 coin, so all in all pretty pointless.

The £1 coin has been around for a while. Something like one in every twenty pound coins are forgeries, which leads to the frequent experience of coins that look fine not working in coin machines.

UK small change is up the creek - the 2p coin is enormous! 10p is bigger than 20p.

Curiously I think a return to a £1 note may well be popular - though I don't see it happening.

 

[CUBE]

I simply dont carry coins. They go in a jar that get changed in once a year. Hope we stick to that crisp dollar bill

 

[798686]

Go with what works for you, Yanks! It makes holidaying in the States more of a novelty, anyway.

 

[vince]

Go with what works for you, Yanks! It makes holidaying in the States more of a novelty, anyway.

I agree ^

In the States I hate getting stacks of $1 bills piling up in my wallet. And the money is all the same color. Once you get used to colored money, you'll never want to go back.

On the other hand, in Canada and Europe, you can wind up witha pocketful of heavy $1 or 1€ coins.

I think the US should just stick with bills and save the expense of converting to coins.

Anyhow... I use plastic.

 

[223790]

The beauty of $1 and $2 coins is that if you throw them in a jar like I do, you amass a small fortune in no time! Just the other week I looked in there and found I had an extra $30 in mad money. Just throwing pennies, nickels, dimes and qaurters in a jar doesn't amount to much in a short period of time.

The Canadian gov't got rid of the $1 and $2 bills because they didn't last as long as coins do which saves money. The 1 cent coin actually cost 1.5 cents to make, so it was a worthless coin, and everyone hated getting them. There was a fear that prices would rise once the penny was gone because retailers would be rounding up to the nearest nickel all of the time, but the opposite has happened. With retail being so cut throat competitive in Canada nowadays, a majority of retailers are rounding down to the nearest nickel to keep customers happy. It's not worth losing a customer over a few pennies. The polymer notes are also supposed to last longer than the paper notes. They are a little weird to the touch, and tend to stick together easily, but again are supposed to save money by lasting longer. When I lived in Australia back in 1995, they were doing all of this already. Australia was way ahead of other countries in this regard. For the most part, I also use plastic (debit and credit cards) when shopping.

 

[cliftoncock]

I agree (as usual) with Jason.

In England and Wales we switched to a £1 coin in 1983. (Christ was it THAT long ago!) Scotland (which prints its own money) much later.

I've always thought that changing from a note (bill) to a coin devalues a currency, at least psychologically.

 

[Jason]

I agree (as usual) with Jason.

:hug:

 

[cliftoncock]

Jason, what a sweetie you are. We may have disagreed (slightly) over Mrs Thatcher but I still fancy the pants off you.

Bring back your old bulge avatar!

 

[ggsitc]

If the US was really serious about going to a dollar coin they'd do like Canada did when it introduced the Loonie: pull the paper currency from circulation. The US also needs to design a dollar coin that looks different enough in size and appearance to bring attention to the fact that it's a dollar which would maybe help acceptance of the coin. The Susan B. Anthony dollar looks and feels like a quarter. Other attempts since have gotten a little better, but they still are missing the mark. Canada did it right with their dollar Loonie being a different color, oops "colour," and size.

I do agree, though, with other posters about the weight of the change piling up. I spend about half the summer in Canada each year and always end up with a big, heavy pocketful of change. Dunno what's worse, a stack of ones in the wallet or a pile of Loonies and Toonies in the pocket, lol.

And those new Canadian polymer notes ... they are freaky with their clear windows and weird feel. I overheard the clerk at a gas station in Canada earlier this week complaining about how those new notes stick together.