Talk:Dollar (United States coin)

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Contents

[edit] Heading just to put this under the TOC

It appears that the coin might replace the $1 bill almost completely that soon the $1 bill might get out of circulation. As a result of this combined with the fact that Alexander Hamilton is no longer as well-remembered as he was back in 1928, the year that follows whatever year this happens (I believe it might be sometime around 2020) might be a time to change the portraits on the bills as follows:

The $2 bill changes from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington

The $5 bill changes from Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Jefferson

The $10 bill changes from Alexander Hamilton to Abraham Lincoln

The $20, $50, and $100 bills, however, will not change portraits.

What are your votes??

Washington on the dollar coin and the $5 bill (thus, keeping the pattern of Washington on the highest generally circulating coin and the smallest generally circulating bill). Lincoln bumped up to the $10 and the quarter (dropping the penny), Hamilton bumped up to the $20 (or Lincoln bumped up to the $20, Hamilton staying on the $10). The $50 and $100 stay the same. Another idea - Washington on the $20 bill, Lincoln on the $1 coin, again, killing the penny Nik42 06:27, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Oh, and while we're at it, let's add a $500 bill. And make our bills prettier Nik42 06:29, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I think it's quite a demotion for Washington to go from the one-dollar bill to the two-dollar bill. --Bkell 18:31, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Surely being on a higher denomination (curculating) bill is more desirable? otherwise why not put old George on the cent coin MrWeeble 23:16, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Why would anyone want to put George Washington on the cent coin?? He is already on the quarter coin and it is silly for there to be 2 coins with the same portrait.
MrWeeble, no one in the United States ever uses two-dollar bills. They are considered rarities. --Bkell 21:17, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I use the two-dollar bill, they also aren't rarities, evidenced by the printing figures if you would look at this article: United States two-dollar bill.-MBK004 14:37, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
Get rid of the $2 bill, and switch to a $2 coin, similar to the Toonie. And put MLK on it. -Traal 09:02, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
My vote is that they kill the Sacajawea dollar. I hate coins so much. -Branddobbe 09:18, Mar 5, 2004 (UTC)
Branddobbe, please don't say such a naughty thing. Please say instead, "I don't like coins because..." with a detailed explanation.
Would you rather use bills for everything, even cents? Nik42 06:17, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I like how Brasil has it. R$1 and R$2 bills, as well as a R$1 coin. I absolutly hate the british/euro system of 5 being the lowest bill.Jamesinclair 06:40, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Law enforcement (DEA, FBI, IRS, etc.) won't allow the creation of any more portable form of cash, Nik42; it makes it too easy to carry. If your business is legitimate, they argue, you don't need big bills: just use cards, checks, etc. that leave nice paper trails. --Orange Mike 04:57, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Seeing how this argument is so unencyclopedic, why don't you guys take it elsewhere? There's a forum for two dollar bills at [1], or you could go to the Wheres George Forums. BirdValiant 18:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] True or false??

True or false: The next kind of dollar coin after Sacagawea will enter circulation in 2005. 66.245.7.175 20:07, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

What I'm hearing indicates something to that effect. A nice rotating design to sucker in the coin collectors, the only market dollar coins seem to have right now. Why can't they just stop printing the bills? --Alexwcovington 16:32, 21 May 2004 (UTC)
See Save the Greenback. There are entrenched special interests against getting rid of the dollar bill. — Nathanlarson32767 (Talk) 03:21, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)
You mean, all of U.S. currency should be just coins?? 66.245.107.192 23:57, 21 May 2004 (UTC)
I could go for that!  :-) Though, I seriously doubt it'd ever happen. Nor did it seem to me that Alexcovington was suggesting that, just for the $1 (which is a rather low denomination to have a bill for, IMHO - especially when you consider that, with the exception of the fractional currency of the Civil War era, the $1 has consistently been our smallest bill, despite significant inflation) Nik42 06:17, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] I can't find it

I want to check for a look to the Presidential act of 2004 that talks about a proposed plan for future dollar coins. 66.32.246.73 01:40, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Fiscal impact

I wasn't sure where the best place in the article would be for fiscal impact info, but it seems like an important thing to mention, since that was a major rationale for reintroducing the coin. — Nathanlarson32767 | (Talk) 07:30, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Trade dollars

We need a section on Trade dollars. Though no longer legal tender (I think -- need to double-check my history there) they are a significant element of U.S. coinage history and definitely deserve a mention on this page. Because they saw fairly little American circulation, they've largely been forgotten by collectors. —chris.lawson (talk) 00:20, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Section Headers

Please leave the format of the section headers in the form:

Coin series (date begun–date discontinued)

It's this way in every single other U.S. coin article because that's the accepted numismatic convention, and consistency in this regard is important.

Thanks.—chris.lawson (talk) 23:06, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Where should be place the debate about phasing out the paper dollar and replacing it with the dollar coin? This issue is important. 24.54.208.177 01:38, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 1996/1997 silver dollar coins??

I have a couple of supposed silver dollar coins, one has 1996 and the other has 1997 on them. But according to this article, none were minted between 1981 and 1999. What gives? --69.234.185.170 20:07, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Are they Silver Eagles? I guess you can say they are technically coins since they have a denomination and you could spend them for a dollar if the unreal happened and Silver dropped below the face value, but they are more like certified buillion tokens. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 23:08, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)
They are actual, real US coins, legal tender for $1. However...as we all know, they're worth quite a bit more than $1, and one would be throwing away money to spend them for $1. It'd be kinda cool to see someone's reaction, though. ;) Timber72 05:04, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Historical Dollar stats

Since the dollar coin has changed in size and composition so much during its history, I think it would be interesting for each older dollar to have its size, weight, and metal composition listed.

Also, does anyone know why the Mogan and Peace dollar had more silver per face value than the halves, quarters, and dimes of the same period (which were all the same as each other)?

[edit] Intro

The intro definitely needs rephrasing, but to make "silver dollar" the bold phrase in the first sentence is definitely not how to do it (since this article is "United States dollar coin", not "Silver dollar"). I have my own ideas, but I'd like to see some suggestions here from others before I taint anyone's opinion with my own. ;) --chris.lawson 01:46, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Sloppy of me, I was redirected from Silver dollar and wasn't thinking. The second paragraph does follow the manual of style, though, in that it says "Sub-Foo is a thing of type Foo, class Foo2." The current first pararaph doesn't do that. Happy to do some back and forth on the main page until we get one we like, or do you prefer do do it here? - brenneman(t)(c) 02:15, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Presidential Dollar Coin Program

The next coins after Sacagawea will enter circulation in 2007. Sacagawea will continue to be minted. All Susan B. Anthony dollar coins and any older (if left) will be removed from circulation. Because the bill is now law, you legally can't get a dollar bill at any place that gets a penny of federal money from 2007 onward throughout the program. though I do not want to venture outside the topic, I'm going to discussion a little. The Feds have pretty much decided to get rid of the $2 bill and half dollar. These ideas are not very popular, but virtual reality. However, the idea of removing the penny and dollar bill is very popular. The dollar bill is dead man walking with this bill. It is gone. The penny will probably be gone after 2009 because the bill says that the penny has to be redesigned after 2009 IF it is to be minted at all. So the penny is gone too. BTW, the portraits won't be moved. This is in order to avoid another Reagan discussion.

(a) No dollar coins will be removed from circulation as a result of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.
(b) No one will be prohibited by the Act from dispensing dollar bills. The Act requires entities receiving federal money to be able to receive and dispense dollar coins by January 1, 2008, and to display that they have that capability. This explicitly includes vending machines. But requiring them to accept and dispense coins does not prohibit them from accepting and dispensing bills.
(c) Nothing in the Act mentions the $2 bill or the fifty-cent coin.
(d) The Act does not call into question the minting of the penny after 2009. The Act gives direction as to the design of the penny after 2009.
Jwolfe 06:02, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sacagaweas in casinos?

I've never seen a dollar slot machine that uses Sacagaweas (or Susan B. Anthonys or old-school dollar coins, for that matter) - all the casinos I've ever been to seem to use large, heavy gold-colored tokens (see casino token) instead.

However, casinos are the only place I've ever seen half-dollars in circulation, both for the slots and to payoff blackjacks on $5 tables (instead of using $2.50 tokens). Lordsutch 05:50, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] More pictures needed?

Does anyone agree that it would be useful to have more pictures in this article? A great many different dollar coins are mentioned, and some of them have links to articles about those coins, but only a few have pictures on this page. I think this article needs more pictures. Perhaps if some were copied from the other articles?

I see someone has added some pictures. Thanks.


[edit] Infobox

Is there anyway we can edit the infobox to be more informative about the general denomination of the Dollar than being strictly exclusive to the Sackie??--293.xx.xxx.xx 22:54, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I just think the infobox needs more info about dollars besides the new ones, at least include the other current dollar, the Sacagawea. -YB3 (talk • contribs • Kitten Huffing) 05:56, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
Sacagawea dollar has an infobox itself. But I'm guessing that you'd like to see the infobox on this page shows information about both coins. Perhaps I get work something out with the template. But I need input from you. What exactly would you like to see in the box (and we should make a general style guide for coins that have multiple designs that circulate concurrently, like the 50 State Quarters or 2 German mark). --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 01:54, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dollar coins in vending machines and parking meters

In the past week I've found that the dollar coin is accepted in parking meters (Atlanta) and in a soda vending machine distributing Coca-Cola products in the ground floor of my building. I think that it's worth including a sentence stating that vending machines and parking meters now accept the dollar coin, since many people seem to think that the coin cannot be used. I tried to amend the entry yesterday but I see that it's been deleted, presumably by the person at Wikipedia that is responsible for maintaining this article.

Thank goodness the parking meter accepted the dollar coin last week, because I certainly couldn't have put paper money in the meter, and I didn't have enough smaller coins to pay for more than 5 - 10 minutes. Try it yourself and see if it works for you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.140.191.128 (talk • contribs)

While there may indeed be some parking meters and vending machines that accept dollar coins, any claim implying that many or most of them accept the coins -- which is precisely what your edit stated -- absolutely needs a citation from a reliable source. Once you (or anyone else) can provide that, I'll be happy to have it returned to the article.--chris.lawson 21:38, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
If a veteran wikipedian writes down what he/she observes from there he/she lives, does that count? --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 05:08, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
Merely because one metropolitan area in the US has converted some (or even most) of its vending machines to accept dollar coins doesn't mean that the dollar coin is generally accepted in the US. Furthermore, that sure sounds like original research to me. I'd prefer to see a citation of an external source on this.--chris.lawson 07:07, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

I have seen many vending machines that accept Sacajawea dollar coins. They always have a sticker next to the coin/bill slot that says it accepts them. These are food/beverage vending machines, not just ticket or stamp machines. I think it is at least worth noting that some vending machines do accept them, and not just dispense them. PhorkPhace 03:18, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Does anybody really claim that most machines don't take them nowadays? In Milwaukee and other cities I visit, at least 80% of machines that sell anything for over 25 cents take them. (The only exception is coin laundries, which are on a quarters-only system.) --Orange Mike 14:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Paper supplier rumor

Anybody ever hear the allegation that the real reason we haven't already dumped the $1 bill and printed large quantities of $2s instead, is that a paper supplier in Edward Kennedy's home district was the U.S. Mint's supplier for $1 bills only? --Orange Mike 04:55, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

All the notes are printed on the same paper from the same supplier. I forget where they are tho. Joe I 04:59, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
If the paper supplier has been lobbying, then they would print more $2. I think it's because of the irrational psychology of the American public wanting to keep the dollar bill. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 08:08, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the death of ford

can we change "The program will run until at least 2016 with the coin commemorating Ronald Reagan, but may continue longer depending on the longevity of the currently living former presidents, and potentially even the longevity of the current president or presidents yet to be elected." to account for President Ford's death?--Rocketrye12 17:41, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

It's not necessary. Ford served before Reagan, so the sentence is still accurate as written. Jwolfe 04:57, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which coin to show

In an attempt to avoid a revert war, I'd like to discuss here which coin should be shown on the page. There will be more presidential coins produced, but more Sacagawea coins will be produced than any one presidential design. With the 1/3 requirement, at least 2 out of every 6 coins produced each year will be Sacagawea, while approximately 1 out of every 6 coins produced will be one of the four presidential designs. Seems to me that for this reason we should maintain the Sacagawea coin as the representative coin for the page. Jwolfe 21:11, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

This is being discusses at Talk:United States dollar#$1 image in infobox --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 21:43, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Presidental coins - only dead presidents

The reason why only dead presidents (and only those dead for at least two years) will be featured on the new Presidental coin series is due to an existing federal law that creates this restriction. However, I could not find the actual text of the law. As such, I've simply placed a "citation needed" reference. If anyone has a link to the actual law, please cite it. Thanks. --CPAScott 22:19, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

It appears the change has been made. Thanks. --CPAScott 16:10, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Glad to help. --Orange Mike 16:27, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recognition In the U.S.

Should it also be noted that it seems as though many people do not see dollar coins as real currency in the US? I went to a driving range, which cost 4 dollars for a bucket of balls. My mom gave me dollar coins (she had just gone to the post office which always gives them out) to use to pay. Keep in mind that I was 13 and the person at the cash register was somewhere around 25. I gave him the four coins and he said "This is not enough money for even a small bucket. You need 3 more dollars for a medium bucket." At this point, I was struggling not to laugh. Apparently, he had never seen or even HEARD of a Susan B. Anthony dollar. I had to show him the part where it says one dollar, and then even worse, I had to explain that it was not a collectors item but true currency. Has anybody else had similar experiences? PhorkPhace 03:18, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Absolutely. I went to deposit 25 Susan B. Anthony dollars. The teller counted them 4 by 4. I reminded him that they're dollar coins so there was no trouble there. But I don't blame him. The SBA dollar is indeed too similar to the quarter. This problem is alleviated now.
See also [2]. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 08:55, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] false statement removed (re: tarnish on Sacs/Prexibux)

Hi all,

I've removed this sentence:

This was corrected in 2007, when Sacagawea dollars started receiving the same treatments to prevent tarnish that were applied to the presidential dollar coins (see below).

I've done some reading into this and wrote two coin people. One was Mike Wallace, the owner of United States Small Size Dollar Coins and Related Items, a site about the SBA, Sac, and Prexibux. I asked him about the claim. He wrote back:

A friend of mine spoke to a dealer that claims that he can tell the difference between a pre-2007 Sac$ blank and a Presidential Dollar blank because a different rinse was used. But I suspect he was saying that because he was trying to sell a golden dollar blank described as a Pres$ for several hundred dollars,,,,,,,,,, as opposed to a Sac$ blank that sells for about $100. Other than this I haven't heard anything about a different rinse being used, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I also wrote to Al Herbert, a member of the ANA Board of Governors. He wrote back:

The only they could change the tarnish would be to change the coin alloy in some way and I haven't seen anything that would confirm a change.

On the basis of these things, I've removed the clause. If anyone has info to the contrary, feel free to reinsert it. - Thanks, Hoshie 06:16, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Should American Silver Eagles be on this page somewhere?

American Silver Eagle ? I don't know enough about coins to include it. --Rajah 04:56, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

inserted it in its chronological place; anybody want to put in the picture, too? --Orange Mike 14:32, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

No. They are bullion coins, not circulating coins, and as such, should be included on a bullion page. 71.136.185.225 04:03, 14 October 2007 (UTC) Timber72

They are, nonetheless, legal tender. Why exclude them? --Orange Mike 14:59, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
because they are not circulating US coinage. They are "$1" in name ONLY. The US gov't could have as easily called them "$2", or "$5" (as the Canadians did with the maple leaf.) Timber72 09:09, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fixing Morgan, Peace, and GSA sections

I am cleaning up and fixing errors in the Morgan, Peace, and GSA sections...quit reverting. Thank you. 71.136.185.225 04:04, 14 October 2007 (UTC) Timber72

Your edits removed content without an explanation and therefore looked suspicious. In the future, please consider placing Template:Inuse on the page to keep this from happening again.-MBK004 03:50, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

They looked "suspicious", because you are too quick to assume that edits are "suspicious". There's no reason to assume someone would want to vandalize a page on US Silver Dollars. If you had just waited to see what my edits WERE, you would have seen that they fixed erroneous information, fixed my own edits, and expanded on certain sections.

Previous edits were ALSO by me, and used (I assume) the same static IP.

However, I will use the "Inuse" template from now on so people don't run screaming to the conclusion that a page is being vandalised, instead of being FIXED. I thought that was the PURPOSE of Wikipedia, so that ACCURATE editing can be done by ANYBODY, without intrusion by well meaning, but quick to rush to judgement "editors." Thanks.

71.136.185.225 04:03, 14 October 2007 (UTC) Timber72


[edit] Early Dollar Coins

The final two paragraphs of the section "Early Dollar Coins" are pure nonsense. I dont know where this fud and cruft comes from. Its nonsense to imagine that the lower value US coins would be exchanged 1-1 in the caribbian, unless the Caribbian government declared the US dollar to be accepted at that rate. I am away from my resource texts at the moment, so I can not suggest a concrete reason why the author would belive this to be the case, but I will come back and add to this later.

The final paragraph is essentially rubbish stemming from a complete misunderstanding of the reason for Greshams law, and when it actually fails. Greshams law fails when legal tender laws do not enforce a nominal value of coinage. IN absence of legal tender laws, coinage will circulate based on market value, rather than assigned value. Legal tender laws are a way to assign value to (sort of fiatize) a specie currency.

A partial correction - which is not perfect but is a thousand times more accurate than what exists in the page - follows:

Once a government sets a fixed value for specie coin, if the fixed trade value of the coin is significantly below its precious metal value, it is simply melted and sold for more as bullion.

The issue is really about how governments screw up the funcion of specie currency by assigning an arbitrary nominal value to the coin. Once this is done to a specie currency, if the value of the metal itself varies - as it does - an increase of the value of the metal above the nominal specie value causes the coins to be melted for the metal since it is worth more as bullion.

Conversely, if the value of the precious metal drops compared to the nominal value of the coin that holds it, what actually happens is that usually it causes the government to print a whole lot more of the coins, since it is a revenue making exercise. If the coins have a further market actually bringing money into the country by exchange with caribbian coins of higher metal content, then that is a good thing for the US, but a bad thing for the Caribbian. It would be up to the Caribbian government to stop it to prevent the drain of their currency by lower value coin.

Sorry, ths has gone on longer than I intended, but I dont have time to edit it down. I will review this later. ---- Octothorn.