TELL US: Should $1 Bills be Replaced with Coin?

Can we learn to love the $1 coin, if it will save billions?

Americans have resisted the dollar coin. We like our small denominations in paper. But phasing out the dollar bill and replacing it with a coin will save an estimated $4.4 billion over the next 30 years, Congressional auditors say. For savings like that, can we learn to carry them? On the pro-side of the change, the coin has a longer shelf life. Coins can last decades, where the paper bills typically have to be retired after four or five years, according to a report in the Boston Globe. On the negative side, the paper bill would have to be completely eliminated for the savings to accrue. And it would take several years and up-front expenses to produce the coin. Advocates point to the recent experience in Canada, where the $1 coin has …

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