In theory (or so they say) the reason our dollar coins are always quarter sized is for vending machines. Most of them can handle the dollar coins. Except of course that quarter size makes them even more annoying for us, so we don’t use them.
Of course as electric money gets more prevalent the whole discussion becomes more and more meaningless. I know of plenty of vending machines that take debit cards, even for cheap stuff like soda. The whole physical money thing is on the path of obsolescence.
So by eliminating the penny and nickel, we can make dollar coins the size of a nickel and every vending machine will take it!
The newer dollar coins were a great improvement just by changing the color; the Susan B. Anthony dollars (”Carter quarters”) were confusing to some people. They are definitely larger than a quarter, and with the gold color wouldn’t be mistaken for one.
“The whole physical money thing is on the path of obsolescence.”
It has been years since I have seen cash used as widely as I do now in NJ; the underground economy is growing, and to the illegals/welfare cheats/tax dodgers cash will ALWAYS be king. Cash is disappearing for working, taxpaying Americans who play “by the rules”; unfortunately they are disappearing anyway, and what is replacing them knows they can’t have transactions show an electronic trail.