How is this for being Frugal!

[braumeister]

Let me get this straight-- the federal government is paying him to put metal coins in circulation, and you think that he's the one lacking in ethics?

Exactly right.
He agreed (by clicking the button on the website order form) to put them in circulation, and he's not holding up his side of the contract.

The gummint is doing a good thing by spending a little (in shipping and card processing costs) to save a lot. Dollar bills wear out quickly, and printing them is not that cheap. Replacing them in circulation with long-lasting coins is a significant net savings.

It costs about 8 cents to mint the coin, compared to 3.8 cents to print the bill.
The coin's useful life is 30 years, while the bill's useful life is 1.5 years. So over the 30 year life of the 8 cent coin, the gummint saves the cost of producing 20 dollar bills at a cost of 76 cents.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates ANNUAL savings of over $120 million, the GAO's estimate is $135 million, and the Federal Reserve's estimate is $164 million.

The whole thing is about providing an incentive to people to get the coins in circulation, so they can start saving those long term costs.

 

[Mulligan]

Exactly right.
He agreed (by clicking the button on the website order form) to put them in circulation, and he's not holding up his side of the contract.

The gummint is doing a good thing by spending a little (in shipping and card processing costs) to save a lot. Dollar bills wear out quickly, and printing them is not that cheap. Replacing them in circulation with long-lasting coins is a significant net savings.

It costs about 8 cents to mint the coin, compared to 3.8 cents to print the bill.
The coin's useful life is 30 years, while the bill's useful life is 1.5 years. So over the 30 year life of the 8 cent coin, the gummint saves the cost of producing 20 dollar bills at a cost of 76 cents.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates ANNUAL savings of over $120 million, the GAO's estimate is $135 million, and the Federal Reserve's estimate is $164 million.

The whole thing is about providing an incentive to people to get the coins in circulation, so they can start saving those long term costs.

I personally think the government is beating its head against the wall on this. I see as many of these coins in circulation as I do the $2 bill and Susan B. Anthony's. People just dont like to change and dont want to carry it either. Now HawkeyeNFO is on to something. Get your AARP 5% cashback CC and buy $4000 worth of these little scraps of metal for 6 months , then finish out the year with the customary 1%, you net $1440 in a year!. Hell of a lot more money "earned" than $100,000 can get you in a 1 yr. CD! If you have a conscious you sell them to your friend, thus you are circulating them., then what he does with them doesnt matter. Too bad I'm not 50, cant get the card!

 

[kombat]

You guys finally have a $1 coin? How cute.

Let me know when you get a $2 coin. We've had one for a decade and a half. Both coins are in wide circulation. We don't even have any paper bills smaller than a $5 anymore.

Sincerely,

A Canadian.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You can already use a debit or credit card almost anywhere, for any amount of purchase--at McDonalds to buy a small coffee, for example. Our grown kids almost never use cash, either coin or paper.

 

[BigNick]

I wouldn't be surprised if what the government is doing here - letting $4000 out of their sight in return for $3920 or however much it is they get from Visa - isn't actually illegal.

That said, I'm with kombat. The UK and Europe start their bills at 5, which is $8 and $6 respectively.

 

[veremchuka]

The gummint is doing a good thing by spending a little (in shipping and card processing costs) to save a lot. Dollar bills wear out quickly, and printing them is not that cheap. Replacing them in circulation with long-lasting coins is a significant net savings.

It costs about 8 cents to mint the coin, compared to 3.8 cents to print the bill.
The coin's useful life is 30 years, while the bill's useful life is 1.5 years. So over the 30 year life of the 8 cent coin, the gummint saves the cost of producing 20 dollar bills at a cost of 76 cents.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates ANNUAL savings of over $120 million, the GAO's estimate is $135 million, and the Federal Reserve's estimate is $164 million.

The whole thing is about providing an incentive to people to get the coins in circulation, so they can start saving those long term costs.

ok i have been wondering why the govt would mint a dollar coin but i see the savings are actually logical. strange the govt is doing something that actually makes sense? must be a mistake.

now all along i have been thinking and now will ask who the heck wants to carry coins when you can put paper into your wallet? i don't carry dimes and quarters unless i happen to get them as change, most things i buy are on a credit card. let's see i can carry 2 pounds of dollar coins in my pocket or put 4 grams of paper in a wallet which i am carrying anyway! well i guess my pants would be pulled down low enough that teenagers would think i'm cool, i mean you all do want to see my boxers don't ya?

 

[braumeister]

who the heck wants to carry coins when you can put paper into your wallet?

The reason, pretty obviously, is that I'm an old fart who grew up in the days when coins were considered real money.

I love carrying the dollar coins and spending them in local shops. The 1 and 2 Euro coins, 1 and 2 dollar Canadian coins, and 1 and 2 British pound coins are a delight to me when I travel, and I'm extremely pleased that this country is starting to move in that direction.

I recognize that I'm in a distinct minority here, and it's probably because I'm both old and well-traveled. Bear with me, please.

 

[braumeister]

I see as many of these coins in circulation as I do the $2 bill and Susan B. Anthony's.

Be glad you're not a shopkeeper in my neighborhood. I also like to carry and spend $2 bills, and have done so all my life. If we had a $2 coin, I'd have a bunch in my other pocket.

OK, I'm weird. Get over it!

 

[Pajaro]

Any ideas why dollar bills are even printed anymore considering the savings that dollar coins bring? Is it the vending machine lobby, or is there some other reason we NEED dollar bills? I could see that it might take a few years to meet the total demand for dollar coins, but there must be something else I'm not thinking of.

 

[braumeister]

Any ideas why dollar bills are even printed anymore considering the savings that dollar coins bring? Is it the vending machine lobby, or is there some other reason we NEED dollar bills? I could see that it might take a few years to meet the total demand for dollar coins, but there must be something else I'm not thinking of.

IMHO, it's nothing more than inertia.
Same reason the USA hasn't converted everything to the metric system.

 

[bssc]

Here is the FatWallet Thread on this from June 12, 2008. There are 5448 posts. Order Dollar Coins from US Mint at Face Value with Free Shipping (Alive!)

It talks about which credit cards treat them as a cash advance and which see them as a purchase.

 

[powerplay]

The hassle factor on this "deal" must be huge. The FW thread talks about people being charged $4.95 for shipping and then disputing it with their cc and supposedly the US Treasury not noticing because it's "small". Then there is the issue of whether the order is handled as a purchase or cash advance on the cc. I can't imagine hauling all those coins around and trying to deposit them in banks and using different cc and e-mails to get around the order limits.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

You guys finally have a $1 coin? How cute.

Let me know when you get a $2 coin. We've had one for a decade and a half. Both coins are in wide circulation. We don't even have any paper bills smaller than a $5 anymore.

Sincerely,

A Canadian.

Canadians. What a bunch o' Loonies!

 

[haha]

You can already use a debit or credit card almost anywhere, for any amount of purchase--at McDonalds to buy a small coffee, for example. Our grown kids almost never use cash, either coin or paper.

I think that I have never seen a dollar coin. Also, for the last couple years I can cary the same $60 in my wallet for several months, using credit or debit cards for almost everything. But there are several small shops in my neighborhood that won't take cards for purchases below, say $10, or in a few cases take only cash. So I carry some cash. Also, my bus fares are much cheaper if I use coin and transfers rather than use the prepaid bus card. The card gives me a tightly controlled 2 hours to complete my ride- the drivers on the other hand are much more casual. Over a year, it may be worth $200 to use coins. Eventually this will disappear, but hasn't yet.

Ha

 

[ziggy29]

If they really want the dollar coins to circulate, they need to stop producing the paper $1 note. As long as that greenback is being produced *any* dollar coin is destined for failure.

 

[Mulligan]

Here is the FatWallet Thread on this from June 12, 2008. There are 5448 posts. Order Dollar Coins from US Mint at Face Value with Free Shipping (Alive!)

It talks about which credit cards treat them as a cash advance and which see them as a purchase.

Been reading the link a bit, BSSC. Kind of interesting. Seems like some bank tellers are getting tired of seing certain people. It appears a lot of the coins are "circulating" from the mint, to the person, to the bank, to the federal reserve or its designee holding banks.

 

[ERD50]

Been reading the link a bit, BSSC. Kind of interesting. Seems like some bank tellers are getting tired of seing certain people. It appears a lot of the coins are "circulating" from the mint, to the person, to the bank, to the federal reserve or its designee holding banks.

Yep, this is what you get when the govt tries to subsidize something, unintended (but not unforeseeable) consequences.

You can't push a rope.

-ERD50