Poll Question: Do you think the U.S. should switch to a circulating 1-dollar coin instead of the bank note? Why or why not?

I tried to spend one in a gas station for some gum, and the guy didn't think it was real money.

Frank Campanella, Via Facebook

We already have circulating U.S. $1 coins in the Susan B Anthony, presidential dollars, and Sacagawea dollars.

Susan Fahrmeier, Via Facebook

There are 2 factors to consider:

Joseph Lederer, Via Facebook

We already have $1 coins in circulation now. They are mostly used as change for vending machines because they take up less space than quarters. But besides that, they will probably never be used. Simply because they are much heavier than dollar bills, making them harder to transport.

Logan Glidden, Via Facebook

Yes. Ending the zinc cent was long overdue, and so is ending the paper single. Circulating Brass Bucks would relieve the demand for circulating quarters in the vending machine economy, and so is ending the paper single and ramping up printing deuces.

If they can do so at a profit, the mints should probably continue to coin useless exotics like cents and halves for numismatic collectors.

Liz Brow, Via Facebook

Soooo, strippers will have to wear a fanny pack?

Lee Fowler, Via Facebook

Absolutely. They got rid of the penny because of cost. Coin dollars and 5-dollar coins would save millions per year. It's a waste of money printing low denominations.

Mike Kessler, Via Facebook

The U.S. could save a lot of money by withdrawing all $1 bills to encourage the use of the $1 coin.

Mike Scheetz, Via Facebook

No, I typically carry about $10/15 in ones! But I don’t want that many coins in my pocket.

Ken Coverstone, Via Facebook

Yes, I am all for switching to $1 coins and retiring the $1 bill forever.

Tim Stroud, Via Facebook

They don't fit well in a wallet.

Tom Anderson, Via Facebook

I can imagine the cartels laundering metal coins.

Lee Larson, Via Facebook

We already have this coin, the Suzy coin, and the B Anthony coin.

Steven Hartley, Via Facebook

Next question. Is it more cost-effective to produce a CD drive or a floppy disk drive?

Scott Boudreau, Via Facebook

It would increase consumer spending, cut back on waste, and save the reserve money. Coins last 30 years, as opposed to 18 months for a bill. Btw, get rid of the nickel too. Maybe some of Trump's executive orders will actually help.

Chad Fogelberg, Via Facebook

I would be fine with that. I use $1 coins pretty regularly anyway, but I wouldn't mind seeing a larger $1 coin if we remove bills from circulation.

Anthony Cosenza II, Via Facebook

Good way to move everyone to credit cards and debit cards.

Fab Richardson, Via Facebook

I believe we should use a $1 coin, but the $1 bill must be fully withdrawn from circulation. Just as the cent has been. Which is why IMO the $1 coin hasn’t worked. Looks like it will take about 18 months for the changeover to take effect. If the banks can’t give merchants $1 bills, then the $1 coin will work.

Dan Ralston, Via Facebook

Strippers would really hate that. Make it hail!

Jeremy Coolidge, Via Facebook

Yes, discontinue it! Canada works fine without a dollar bill.

Ken Potter, Via Facebook

The big question is, which is cheaper for the mint to produce?

Mike Green, Via Facebook

The U.S. tried several times. Always failed.

Kurt Kladivko, Via Facebook

No...it will weigh too much in cash registers. Try having 50 of those in your register drawer instead of 50 pieces of paper.

Adria Trader, Via Facebook

No one wants a pocket full of heavy coins. That's why dollar coins are consigned to the novelty category.

John Schulien, Via Facebook

Already been done multiple times, including the $1 Presidential coins, which were a complete bust.

Cris Anthony, Via Facebook

People, Canada stopped making $1 bills over 35 years ago. I have seen no reports of people falling over sideways because of so many coins in their pockets or heart attacks from carrying so much extra weight. Get over it, it's a completely lame excuse.

Bobby Minnich, Via Facebook

Nope! With all the cash I carry, I wouldn't be able to keep my pants up!

Chip Sterling, Via Facebook

The dollar coin must replace the bill. It will save billions over the years.

Jerry Guinta, Via Facebook

There was a counterfeit made of this coin. The metal it was made of is shoddy, though.

Jordan Zweifler, Via Facebook

NO! It has been tried 3 times in the past that I can remember! People do not want all the weight of coins in their pockets! As some have said, we already have the Anthony, the Indian woman. At 1 time we had the Ike dollar. Three strikes and you're OUT!

Mike Bryant, Via Facebook

The American public has made it very clear throughout history that it doesn't want a dollar coin. Dollar coins have been constantly proposed by various special interests for their own benefit, whether it was the silver miners or suppliers of the metals currently used, or coin collectors who want dollars to collect, and those who want to sell them. The government has done what it could to address the objections that people have raised about dollar coins. When the public complained they were too big, the government reduced their size. When the smaller size was confused with the quarter, they changed the metal to give it a "golden" color, yet the dollar coin still doesn't circulate. The public is used to having paper money in their billfolds for denominations of one dollar and up. It's lighter and flatter than any coin could be.  The American public doesn't have the patience to fish through their pockets or change compartments in their wallets. That is why many people, when paying in cash, just hand over paper money and don't bother going through their change compartments to come up with exact change. They stuff the change they get in return in their wallets and pockets and dump them at home until they have enough to bring to their bank or a Coinstar machine. A dollar coin would suffer the same fate.

There are those who say that the one and two Euro coins work well in Europe and therefore a dollar coin would work well here. Having been in Europe and seen their Euro coins in all their denominations, I know that Americans' pockets and wallets would be bulging and very heavy with coins if we had the same coin denominations in the U.S.

I've also seen collectors suggest that the U.S. stop printing the dollar bill in order to "force" the American consumer to use the dollar coin. Force??? In a free country, it's not up to the government to force a dollar coin on the public. If a dollar coin served any purpose in commerce, it would be circulating today without the government trying to "force" it on us. The USPS has tried giving dollar coins in change, and it still doesn't circulate. The general public doesn't want it!

There are also those who say that a dollar coin would last longer in circulation than a paper dollar. However, other countries have found other materials, such as polymers, to extend the lives of their "paper" currency, and the U.S. would be better off taking that approach.

As coin collectors, we have to accept the fact that inflation is making coinage obsolete and that someday we will only need paper currency for the few cash transactions that will be conducted in the future.

Louis Ludiciani, Cumberland, R.I.

I’ve been a collector for more than 40 years. We’ve seen this before (if I remember correctly)! History speaks for itself. Seeing how most transactions are done with plastic or electronically, a 1$ coin will be right next to the other 1$ coins of the past, in a jar or just put in a drawer.

Name and Address withheld

Think about how many times this has been tried in the past. Vending machines aren’t set up to take a one-dollar coin. How many times is this going to be tried before our government understands this is not going to work! Most transactions are done with plastic or electronically. Yes, the coin will last longer than a note because they will be right next to the other one-dollar coins in jars or folders, not in circulation!!

Bill, Wisconsin

I remember working at a volleyball tournament and needing some small change. I took a $5 bill and inserted it into the change machine. Expecting quarters, I received the similarly sized Susan B Anthony dollars instead.  I did it 5 more times and made as much money for the team as we did selling food. If they do it, they need to change the size of the coin. But the digital dollar is coming sooner than you might think, and they'll try to make coins disappear except for collectors. 

Name and Address withheld

We should junk the paper $ in favor of $ coin. It would be more economical.

Name and Address withheld

A BIG YES. Coins last almost forever, paper currency wears out much faster. Still using cents to half dollars from 1960s and up. When’s the last time you spent paper money from the 60s? Now, if you spend 5's, 10's, 20's, 50's, or 100's from 60's, the police may get called on you. Bills look fake to what bills look like now.

First off, we also need to do the two-dollar bill. 2nd need to change the make of the coins. No edge lettering or dates, next make it a 5-sided coin so it will be different. At least it will not roll away from you. Last, make it out of aluminum and plated zinc/copper.

No more round coins. 

Name and Address withheld

I believe replacing $1 bank notes with coins makes much more sense than producing a $2.50 coin.

Name and Address withheld

Given a choice, a paper dollar will always be preferred over a coin.  As I type this message, I have seven one-dollar bills in my wallet that fit nicely with the fives, tens, and twenties. I have zero coins of any denomination in my pocket. I can't imagine starting my day with seven one-dollar coins in my pocket. Some will argue about the cost savings. The bottom line for me is convenience. If we take this question in a different direction, I could envision 25-cent banknotes in my wallet instead of a pocket full of quarters.

Richard Bumpus, Marion, Mass.

Yes. It would save our government a lot of money, as the $1 coin will last for years, as currency does not last long at all.  

Dave Burdis, Charleroi, Pa.

My wife and I would not like a change to the 1-dollar coin instead of a paper bank note.  Around six years ago, I stopped carrying change in my pocket and started using the credit card more.  Then I realized how much I liked only carrying a wallet with money and a credit card.  When I do use cash, the change goes in my pocket and then into a container on my dresser.  Once a year, I cash it in after checking for silver and collector coins.  

Neither one of us wants to deal with a 1-dollar coin instead of a bank note. We both like having cash when we need it and use the credit card a whole lot more than before.

Name and Address withheld

No. Fifty dollars in ones weighs nothing compared to fifty coins.

Name and Address withheld

That’s a tough one. One of the most iconic currencies in the world is the U.S. one-dollar bill. From a traditional standpoint, it would be hard to lose, but from a practical viewpoint, switching to a dollar coin makes a great deal of sense. First, the U.S. has already collectively minted approximately three billion Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and Presidential dollar coins – so there is very little in the way of transitional start-up costs.  Secondly, circulation coins lasts decades, whereas paper bills – especially the single – typically last just months before they require removal and replacement. Canada seems to have gotten along just fine, replacing their one and two-dollar bills with the ‘Loonie’ and the ‘Toonie’.  I can see the justification for the change, but if it happens, I will miss the old ‘single’.

Dale W. Maple, Address withheld

Yes, put me down as a yes for circulating a dollar coin instead of a bank note. I support eliminating the $1 paper notes and starting to use the large inventory of dollar coins.

Coins last much longer than paper notes, resulting in long-term cost savings. 

Rich Armandi, Address withheld

I think the USA should do away with the paper $1 bill and replace it with a distinctive one-dollar coin that can’t be mistaken for another coin denomination.

Name and Address withheld

NO, we now have millions of coin dollars sitting in government warehouses. Nobody wants them.

Tony S, Address withheld

Paper money, especially the one-dollar note, lasts about 6 months.  Coins, when used properly, are indefinite. I favor a coin over paper.  

While in Australia for 17 days, I learned the smallest currency they had was a $5 note, which was made significantly stronger than our paper money.  Each denomination was a different color and had a transparent panel in the middle.  They used $1 and $2 coins.  The problem was that my pocket remained heavy all the time with coins!  

But if the government is going to complain about the high cost of making money, then they better just get rid of the $1 note and push the dollar coin.  Eventually, they'll want to get rid of all money and have a cashless society so they can track everything we do and spend. They're halfway there already, with everyone ordering online and with their cell phones.    

Larry, Louisville

I think a five-dollar coin would be much better. What costs a dollar or less anymore?

Name and Address withheld

I would be willing to try it (again), but the past attempts ended in rejection. The good news is, there are millions of past dollar issues, Sacagawea and Presidential, in storage. They last longer as well.

Name and Address withheld

I hope not. Would be too bulky in my pockets. I didn't like it when they tried to bring it out before. At that time, people didn't like it.

Tk, Mech, Pa.

It is easier to say yes, but there are good arguments to say, 'No.'  Cost advantages argue yes. The lifetime of the metal coin versus paper says yes.  

Then there are the practicalities that get in the way. The size of the coin for one.  No telling how many times the SBA dollar was confused with the quarter.  A larger planchet would confound the vending industry, and four-dollar coins in the pocket are heavier and more space-consuming than 4 paper notes. That does not take into account that 'Greenies' would fear that mining the metals is more earth-harmful than cutting a tree and then replanting one.

For a dollar coin to succeed (or usage forced as in Canada), it is obvious that the paper note must be discontinued.

Gary Burhop, Address withheld

Obviously, we should switch to the dollar coin for several reasons: The dollar coin costs 30 cents to produce, has a life expectancy of 50 - 80 years. Paper dollar life expectancy 9 - 14 months.

The U.S. has built several warehouses for presidential dollars rather than circulating them.

Past proposal from Colorado Senators to eliminate paper dollar & use Presidential coin failed. John Kerry & his Massachusetts senator partner introduced legislation to eliminate the Presidential dollar in circulation in order to keep the paper dollar. Guess where the paper comes from for the Bureau of Engraving?  YOU GOT IT?!  Massachusetts. Why can't other companies bid on the paper for U.S. Currency? The spec on the paper is a secret due to security & prevention of counterfeiting. MONOPOLY.

Kevin Nold, Ottertail, Minn.

It makes eminent economic sense to replace the dollar bill with a coin. Studies have shown that the U.S. government would take hundreds of millions of dollars, and experience in the Euro zone and Canada reveal that consumers accept the coins once the paper dollar is discontinued.

Name and Address withheld

Why not both?

David Nederostek, Meadowbrook, Pa.