Bold gold: the new dollar

Let the collecting begin! This Thursday, the U.S. Mint unveils the new Washington dollar coin. I have to confess, and I may sound like a geek to some with this admission, but I'm pretty excited about it.

I've always been fascinated with currency, both ours and other countries'. I happen to think that we are about as antiquated as can be about our money. You need look no further than our northern neighbors to see what I feel is a very good system.

Canadians have a one dollar coin (the "loonie" because it has a loon on the back of it) and a two-dollar coin (no surprise there - the "toonie"). Why a dollar coin can't gain traction in the United States is a puzzle and a mystery. A recent AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of Americans oppose replacing the dollar bill with a one dollar coin, and people are evenly split as to whether there should be both dollar bills and dollar coins.

This time, however, the government seems to have finally wised up. Finally, many vending machines are going to be programmed to take the dollar coin. And, what's more, the Mint is building on a past success - the 50 State Quarter Program.

The new gold dollars will feature a new president every three months, all the way up to Ronald Reagan in 2016, but that may change, depending on the longevity of the current former presidents. I wonder if the Reagan and George W. Bush coins will be worth about 50 cents to commemorate their disastrous economic policies? It would be fitting, since both men skyrocketed our national debt to gargantuan proportions. Ah, I digress.

I'm looking forward to collecting the new coins. With a little luck, some enterprising company will roll out some sort of collector board or map, much like the 50-state quarter maps. Sometimes, our government does get something right, and that's probably not spoken enough by Americans as a society, or by me. I love this new program, and collecting 'em all should be fun, and a cheap hobby - it's only gonna cost me 50 bucks!

New dollah makes me hollah

So, the U.S. Mint is taking yet another run at the dollar coin. This time, they will retain their gold color, but in lieu of the Sacagawea Dollar, now we are getting Presidential Gold Coins.

Bravo!

I love the idea of a dollar coin. The failures at past attempts to have a successfully circulating dollar coin are well documented, but I believe the failure of the Sacagawea coin is primarily because the U.S. Government refuses to take the $1 bill out of circulation, and also because many vending machines, parking meters, etc. aren't equipped to take the coins.

We aren't going to see the dollar bill disappear any time soon, but at least this time around, it looks as if vending machines are finally beginning to change; many are being modified to accept the new coins, and most new machines that are built will accept the coins. Cool.

And I love the idea that the mint is putting presidents on the back of dollars, similar to the State Quarter Program that was begun in 1999, which proved to be successful and well received.


I love the back of the new coin - the Statue of Liberty is depicted, and from a neat angle.

Another cool new feature - the coin's edge. The phrases we are used to, "In God We Trust," and "E Pluribus Unum," along with the year of issue, are all on the coin's outer rim, instead of on its flat surface.

I think this new dollar coin has the best chance yet for a successful U.S. dollar coin. Mint officials certainly are optimistic, sounding the right themes when the coin was introduced.

"We see this as offering consumers choice," said Becky Bailey of the Mint's public affairs office. "In some situations the dollar bill works better, and in some situations coins work better. With these coins, it's just a wonderful history lesson."

"The new presidential $1 coins are an educational way to learn about former presidents," Edmund C. Moy, the director of the U.S. Mint, said at the coin's introduction to the press. "We hope students will take to them as they did with the state coins."

Presidents who served two consecutive terms will get a single coin, but Grover Cleveland will be honored twice because his terms were separated by Benjamin Harrison's administration. The schedule for release of the coins goes to 2016, when the Richard M. Nixon coin will be rolled out. If the mint had any balls, they would depict him flashing his victory salute as he boarded Marine One after his resignation. Hey, one can always wish, right? I'm just kidding, though. By all accounts, the program is being administered in a non-political way, as it should be.

A quick footnote to my thoughts on coins. I'm glad that by law, presidents can't be honored until a certain time after their deaths. I not so fondly remember a movement by Republicans to replace FDR on the dime with Ronald Reagan shortly after the latter's death. Thankfully, his widow, Nancy Reagan, proved to be the voice of reason, saying she didn't support such a move so soon after his death. And how symbolic would that have been? "FDR bumped by Reagan" - Imagine those headlines. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell may well have been moved to kiss each other.