Chicago Tribune Editorial - Kill (the dollar) bill

Chicago Tribune Editorial - Kill (the dollar) bill
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published February 15, 2007

If the third time is the charm, the U.S. Mint finally will be able to sell the country on a $1 coin. But don't bet on it.

The Mint puts a new presidential series of $1 coins into circulation Thursday. The new series will feature a U.S. president on the head and the Statue of Liberty on the tail.

This is the third time in 30 years that the Mint has created a dollar coin. It also appears destined to be the Mint's third failure. For some reason, Americans are creatures of habit when it comes to currency.

The government created the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin in 1979, but people said they couldn't tell it apart from the quarter. It failed. The government tried again in 1999 with the Sacagawea dollar coin. A wiser Mint cast that one in the color of gold so it wouldn't be confused with the silver quarter.

Seen a Sacagawea coin lately? Probably not, unless you're a collector.

Now come the presidents, starting with a George Washington coin. Everybody loves the father of our country, but there's little reason to think they'll embrace his coin.

A $1 coin does make great practical sense. Coins last much longer than paper money does. A dollar now buys about what a quarter did in 1974. More vending machine items cost a dollar and change--but slipping a crinkled dollar bill into a machine can be an exercise in frustration. It's a sad feeling to be rejected by a soda machine.

There is a way to force the country to accept dollar coins: Kill the dollar bill.

The Government Accountability Office estimates that the dollar coin would save as much as $500 million a year in replacement and distribution costs, if we discontinued paper dollars.

Congress won't stop printing greenbacks, but that's how paper-to-coin conversions have succeeded in other countries. Canada successfully converted to a dollar coin by leaving its public with no other choice. After it met initial grumbling, the coin, affectionately known as the "loonie" for the common Canadian loon embossed on one side, has been warmly embraced. It has been joined by a two-dollar "twonie."

Washington, by contrast, has been timid. Congress has authorized dollar coins three times, but it hasn't discontinued the dollar bill.

Americans have shown no more enthusiasm for the dollar coin than they have shown for the metric system, professional soccer and electric cars. So politicians are probably reluctant to tell voters what they can and can't carry in their pockets and purses. But they should. It would be a practical switch for consumers and a money-saving move for the federal treasury.

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What do you think?

Should the U.S. kill the dollar bill? Why or why not? E-mail us by 2 p.m. Thursday at ctc-response@tribune.com with "Dollar" in the subject line. Include your name, hometown and contact information. Responses will be published online and in Friday's Voice of the People.