U.S. Mint May Replace Sacagawea Dollar

The Guardian ^ | April 29, 2004 | Jeannine Aversa

[RWR8189]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Putting the faces of U.S. presidents on dollar coins would entice collectors, but there still would be challenges in getting the coins into cash registers and people's pockets, the chief of the U.S. Mint said Wednesday.

The comments of Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore came during a House hearing that, among other things, explored a legislative proposal aimed at breathing new life in the little-used Sacagawea dollar coin, also called the Golden Dollar because of its golden color.

The proposal would replace Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone Indian who helped Lewis and Clark find their way to the Pacific Ocean, now on the front of the coin, with a rotating design approach honoring presidents in the order they served the country. The face of the coin featuring a president would change four times a year. The back of the coin would feature the image of the Statue of Liberty.

``A design change will make the coin more attractive to collectors, but likely will have no appreciable effect on how many are used in retail transactions,'' Fore said during the hearing in the House Financial Services' subcommittee on domestic and international monetary policy, trade and technology.

``There are barriers against Golden Dollar circulation such as ... higher distribution and handling costs,'' Fore said. ``A design change will not mitigate these barriers.''

After testifying, Fore told The Associated Press that the Mint hasn't taken a position on the presidential coin bill and was working with lawmakers on various issues related to it.

The Sacagawea dollar has failed to catch on since it was unveiled in 2000. Coin experts say that for the dollar coin to become a staple of commerce, the dollar bill would need to be eliminated.

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., an architect of the presidential dollar coin bill along with Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said he didn't intend to mount a campaign against the dollar bill. Coin experts say that the public likes the dollar bill and favors the paper dollar over the dollar coin in part because it is easier to carry around.

Jeffrey Marquardt, associate director of the division of reserve bank operations and payment systems at the Federal Reserve, the supplier of the nation's cash to banks, cited a 2002 General Accounting Office report that said the public generally prefers to carry dollar bills because they weigh less.

The Mint has more than 262 million Sacagawea coins in inventory and estimates that 300 million are in commercial circulation, Fore said. More than 600 million of the coins are held by Americans who keep them and don't spend them, she said.

The bill that would put the presidents on the dollar coin was approved Wednesday by the subcommittee on domestic and international monetary policy, trade and technology on a voice vote. That sends the proposal to the Financial Services Committee for consideration.

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Bill is H.R. 3916

[MinuteGal]

Some of us may be pushing up daisies by the time Klintoon's mug shows up.

Sheesh, what am I saying!

But it IS a hard choice.

Leni

[Lunatic Fringe]

Why do we spend millions to coin dollars that nobody uses?

[Jim Noble]

No more Presidents!

No more dead politicians of any type, for any reason!

Not on aircraft carriers, and certainly not on coins!

Flying Eagle, Walking Liberty, Indian Head, Statue of Liberty-we have dozens of beautiful and patriotic designs to re-use, and I'm sure talented sculptors could do new ones just as good.

I even like the 1917 Janet Jackson Quarter:

Can you just imagine the WJC dollar?

Yuck!

[JoeSchem]

Sacagawea may well be the only 100% Christian on US money. Washington declined to take communion at his church, Lincoln's letters indicate he was a religious skeptic, Hamilton was so notorious for his lustful escapades that Martha Washington named her tomcat after him, Ben Franklin was an admitted deist, the only thing Grant believed in was having another drink. Maybe FDR (on the dime) was a christian. Do you feel comfortable with that?

Reagan would be a good alternative, but I would be sorry to see Sacagawea go. A christian mother and her baby: is there a better pro-life message?

[MediaMole]

Agreed, a dollar coin should look and feel like something of real value. The little squawbucks are just annoying.

[Reagan is King]

The Clinton quarter is already in circulation, lol.

[Junior_G]

We need to replace the dollar coin design quickly before it gets any more Canadian. Rotating through the presidents sounds like a great idea.

[TheConservator]

Don't rotate it. Put Ronald Reagan on it for good and all.

[mylife]

Why do we spend millions to coin dollars that nobody uses?

Because all those govt employees need something to do.

[Junior_G]

Don't rotate it. Put Ronald Reagan on it for good and all.

That'd work too.

[Eala]

[Lawgvr1955]

I don't think it matters what the coin has on it. No one wants to lug around heavy coins. We have all been raised with coins that had little value and we don't mind carrying them though they have a tendency to get lost, fall into the couch cushions, whatever. Its no major loss because they don't amount to much. But we don't really want high denomination coins that would have the same tendency to be lost.

Paper money is easier to carry and is less likely to be lost. The search for the perfect dollar coin is a fools mission.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I wonder if the failure of the Sacagawea and Susan B Anthony dollars has anything to do with the BS PC committee ideology that put them out in the first place.

Also, I know that metal coins are cheaper in the long run because they last longer, but does it ever occur to the Treasury people that Americans prefer paper Dollar Bills.

[orionblamblam]

> I wonder if the failure of the Sacagawea and Susan B Anthony dollars has anything to do
with the BS PC

Doubtful. More likely, it was due to the fact that they were not substantially different from quaters is size, and are substantially more annoying than dollar bills.

[BooBoo1000]

Hey Joe, I would like for you to supply us with any proof of U.S.Grants drinking. I have read a copy of the special committee appointed A. Lincoln to look into Grant's behavior. They sent people to live with Grant's Army and keep an eye on him for over a year. No drinking. All of that time he didn't have so much as a glass of Apple Cider, so if you can come up with some proof of Sam's tippling I would be interested.Yes I am a Grant Fan, as far as I am concerned, his appointment to Lt. General in charge of all Union forces was the turning point of the War of Rebellion/

[SedVictaCatoni]

Why do we spend millions to coin dollars that nobody uses?

Well, according to the article, about 600 million Squawbucks are simply in peoples' private collections and won't be spent.

From the point of view of the Treasury, that's a $600 million bond issue to the public that will never be redeemed! Ingenious.

[mylife]

Good point SVC!!

[rogueleader]

Since all US currency ever minted is still good, the list would be longer. But of that money still being minted, adding to your list:

Thomas Jefferson, deist

Andrew Jackson, good Christian man

JFK (50 cent piece), Roman Catholic

FDR (dime), Episcopalian

[endthematrix]

Since its introduction I have received one coin from a toll booth in my daily commute.