Most Americans Against Replacing Dollar Bill With Coin, Poll Says

Given the choice, Americans still prefer crisp bills to shiny coins.

A lawmaker recently introduced legislation to abandon the paper dollar bill and replace it with a dollar coin, but it looks like most Americans are happy with their currency the way it is.

A recent poll from Lincoln Park Strategies, a public opinion research firm based in Washington, D.C., finds Americans much prefer keeping the paper dollar bill over transferring over to a metal coin alternative. The poll comes after news that Arizona House Republican David Schweikert introduced of legislation to abandon the paper dollar bill altogether, replacing it with a coin.

In a rare act of bi-partisan consensus, around three quarters of Republicans, Democrats and Independents polled said they were opposed to the idea of switching to coins.

And to many, it's not just fun and games. The majority of those polled felt strongly enough about the issue they said it would influence how they voted.

The legislation that Schweikert calls the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings, or COINS Act, is largely based on a March 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office that found the switch to a dollar coin would save around $5.5 billion over the course of 30 years,The Hill reports, roughly the lifespan of a single coin. Comparatively, a paper bill lasts only two or three years.

With the federal deficit totaling around $1.1 trillion through July, switching to a dollar-coin might provide a way those desperate in Congress to cut costs.

But if history is any indication, the dollar coin still has some hurdles to cross. The Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea and presidential dollar-coins, have been criticized as a "a total flop". Others are hesitant to support the switch with a billion dollar- coins already sitting unused in Federal Reserve banks around the country due to their lack of popularity.

For the average American, though, the resistance to dollar coins may be for simpler reasons. Of those surveyed, 77 percent said the paper dollar is more convenient, and 86 percent said it's more widely accepted, while three quarters of those polled said they don't want a dollar coin or find it unnecessary.

Still, the legislation does have some supporters, including a recently-formed group known as the Dollar Coin Alliance the Los Angeles Times reports. According to The Hill, the group along with other supporters of the COINS act contend that people will grow accustomed to the coin once there is no paper alternative.

Comments

[searchingforanswers]

01:13 PM on 12/18/2011

If they were made out of gold, I would use coins only.

[SharpestJim]

09:41 PM on 10/25/2011

This story ran in USA Today (Tuesday 10/24). It occupied one-fourth of page 5A. My comments to the editor of USA Today:

According to analysts, the proposed change would result in savings of $5.6 billion over thirty years. This works out to approximately $187 million dollars per year. This year, the country's deficit was $1.3 trillion. The savings equate to approximately 0.014 percent or about a dollar-and-a-half ($1.44, actually) for every $10,000 of deficit.

In other words, it may make good press and rate a quarter-page article on page 5A. But in terms of actually reducing our nation's monumental levels of debt, it really merits a two-line ad in the classified section.

[Michael Khayan]

07:17 PM on 10/25/2011

We do not want to change the dollar bill by coins!!! How are we going to do with our "only bill" wallets!!! It is very uncomfortable to wear coins in the pockets!!! This issue should be voted!!! Please congressmen hear us and avoid this big mistake which will lead to a lot of protests!!! Thank you for listening to the PEOPLE!!!

[Stoutboy]

12:55 PM on 10/22/2011

Please, no! There are tens of thousands of currency trackers in the world (known as 'georgers') for whom this would be a catastrophe: www.wheresgeorge.com

[JPalka]

06:57 PM on 10/21/2011

Base on the title, Americans want to use the loon as their effigy? Never!

[gwinegarden]

04:58 PM on 10/21/2011

You must cut costs unless it impact me.

[ChescoRes]

02:49 PM on 10/20/2011

Just took my first international trip to Dublin and London. Among the many cultural differences I experienced was the fact that in both Euros and Pounds, the smallest paper money is a "fiver". There are 1 and 2 Euro coins as well as 1 and 2 pound coins. I was only there for 8 days so I never really got used to that. Felt like an idiot trying to pay for stuff while fumbling with coins.

One other cultural difference between US and English money that I discovered. On one side of the 10 pound note, a picture of the Queen is found. On the other side? The picture and signature of Charles Darwin. Yes, really.

Just imagine someone even suggesting such a thing here. Michelle Bachmann's head would explode; and on live TV if Fox had anything to do about it.

[bridge to somewhere]

02:13 PM on 10/20/2011

I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd rather waste $5.5B each year rather than, you know, use that tax money to improve society or rebuild schools or repair roads and bridges. Because the New America is all about personal greed and consumed by self-interest.

[demilieu]

12:59 PM on 10/20/2011

Dollar coin? Hell no!!! I want my dollars flat and soft. And so does George.

[fishinwithtom]

12:09 PM on 10/20/2011

All in all it makes sense, and you'd think the deficit hawks in this country would embrace saving the cost of printing paper dollars with their shorter shelf life. In LA they are going to become more important because all of the new parking meters will accept only dollar coins or quarters. At 1 dollar an hour to park, I have carried a roll of quarters in my car since their introduction. Truly 8 quarters for 2 hours is more burdensome than 2 dollar coins. But since the new meters also take Visa you can always charge your time.... and wind up with a bill with lots of little tiny charges to keep track of. Oh boy.

[BowlingForRevenge]

10:47 AM on 10/20/2011

Well they will now have to redesign ALL cash drawers.
That's one of the reasons the $2 bill didn't take there was no slot in the cash drawer.
I suggest the mint get together with the cash register companies and design an efficient drawer that will fit existing machines as all cash drawers are removable.

[BowlingForRevenge]

10:41 AM on 10/20/2011

If bank tellers have ANYTHING to say in this matter it will be a resounding HELL NO!
If you've EVER had to deal with coins in massive quantities you will understand.
It's been 35 years since I was a teller and when vending machine route guys came in you took a break. Geez what an ordeal.
We had a stamp machine at our post office that took $bills but gave you change in Susan B Anthony's. People complained so much they finally removed it.

[notrightorleft]

09:52 AM on 10/20/2011

I have never understood why the $2 bill is not more popular. I would rather have two $2 bills in my wallet than 4 $4 bills.

[bridge to somewhere]

02:08 PM on 10/20/2011

You'd rather have $4 than $16?

We need to sit down and play a few rounds of poker.

[notrightorleft]

03:35 PM on 10/20/2011

My post may have qualified as a complete brain fart. I meant 2 $2 bills rather than 4 $1 bills. But if you will take $4 bills, let me know what you are selling. I'll have them made up in no time.

[Grandma Koolfinger]

09:31 AM on 10/20/2011

I work in Canada quite a bit and my complaint with the loonies and twoonies is that they are large and pretty soon you list to side you carry your coins in. In Australia, they call it schrapnel.

Make them small and stop printing dollars. I know it's only five billion dollars, but watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

[stopgeorge]

11:09 AM on 10/20/2011

I have never heard of Canadians complain about this in the 20+ years that both coins have been in circulation.

In fact, you would have people up in arms if they decided to go back to paper.

[bridge to somewhere]

02:09 PM on 10/20/2011

Best personal statement in favor of loonies and twoonies: Parking Meters. Pop one in and you're good to go. Sure beats lugging around a sack of quarters.

[wjousts]

09:16 AM on 10/20/2011

I'll never understand this. So people don't like the idea of a dollar coin rather than a dollar bill. Who cares? Stop printing dollar bills and people will use the coins. I think saving $5.5 billion ought to trump some silly sentimentality for paper money.

As I child growing up in the UK, I remember when they replaced the £1 note with the coin. Everybody whined and complained for a couple of months and then got on with it.