Could the One Dollar Coin Ever Gain Acceptance?
When a dollar comes to mind, it is usually thought about as a paper dollar. The paper dollar is very handy and can be easily folded and kept inside your pocket without much difficulty along with the rest of the stack of dollars, similar to all other paper currencies. What if we didn’t have paper currency? What if there was a one dollar coin instead of the paper dollar? Is there generally a positive response to the one dollar coin or would most not want to use it as in the past? The fact is, most people love their paper currency and would rather collect the one dollar coin rather than spend it as currency.
The Silver Dollar
The one dollar coin looks great, but that may be its only good quality. There have been various versions of the dollar coin in the past. There was the silver dollar, which has been around for a long time. You rarely see the silver dollar coin any longer as most of them are in the hands of collectors or have been melted down for their silver content. When you do find a silver one dollar coin, it’s almost as if you’ve found a treasure. You can either save it as part of your collection or you can spend it, as it is worth the same as your one dollar paper notes.
The Sacagawea Dollar
More recently, they have released a gold colored one dollar coin. This coin is called the Sacagawea dollar, named after the famous Native American woman printed on it. This one dollar coin quickly fizzled out, just like the silver dollar, and today it’s very rare to see one in circulation. The Sacagawea, too, is most likely in the hands of collectors. The reason this coin didn’t catch on is likely the same reason the silver dollar didn’t catch on. It is too huge and does not even fold the way paper currency does. So, will the one dollar coin ever catch on? Maybe, but the government may be going about it the wrong way.
The Presidential Dollar
In 2005, President Bush signed the Presidential $1 Coin Act authorizing the United States Mint to strike $1 coins honoring America’s Presidents in the order in which they served. This coin is similar to the Sacagawea Dollar in size and color. These dollar coins began circulation in 2007 with the George Washington coin. The Presidential coins are seldom seen in circulation for many of the reasons that the Sacagawea Dollar wasn’t accepted by the general public.
Europeans Have It Right
Europe will abandon the paper currency if they begin to distribute coins like the one dollar coin so that people can’t have a choice. People aren’t going to use the one dollar coin unless the United States government makes that the best and only option. People will want less cumbersome money, a dollar which they can fold, while leaving dollar coins to collectors.