SecurityTransition

Most likely, you imagine a paper dollar if you think about a dollar. A dollar, like all paper money, fits in your pocket with other dollars without being cumbersome. What if we didn’t have paper currency? What if there was a one dollar coin instead of the paper dollar? How do you think people will like the one dollar coin? The public has not accepted it 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

Although the one dollar coin is very attractive looking, this is perhaps its sole attractive feature. 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. It is rare to find a silver dollar coin these days since the majority of them are held in collections or were melted down for the value of the silver. 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. This coin probably didn’t gain acceptance for the same reason that the silver dollar coin never caught 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

When a new coin begins to circulate in Europe, like the one dollar coin, paper currency is removed, and the people don’t have a choice. If the United States government wants people to use the one dollar coin, they are going to have to stop giving people a choice. People are going to want the less cumbersome, foldable version of the dollar, the paper dollar, leaving the one dollar coin to the collectors.