Should the USA do away with dollar bills in favor of dollar coins (like in Canada)?

Why is it that the U.S. still uses a dollar bill when other countries, like Canada and Europe, use a “dollar” coin? Do you think the U.S. should do away with dollar bills and instead use these dollar coins? Why, or why not?

Please answer by voting in the poll below. Thanks!

Emily Woodbury
Emily Woodburyhttps://www.rvtravel.com
Emily Woodbury is the editor here at RVtravel.com. She was lucky enough to grow up alongside two traveling parents, one domestically by RV (yep, Chuck Woodbury) and the other for international adventures, and has been lucky to see a great deal of our world (and counting!). She lives near Seattle with her dog and chickens. When she's not cranking out 400+ newsletters for RVtravel.com she's hiking, cooking or, well, probably traveling.

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Comments

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73 Comments

Sue
5 years ago

US has tried that with the Susan B Anthony $1 coin, a dud.We don’t want to change. $2 bill was another dud.

Gigi
5 years ago

No, the coins are too heavy and bulky for pockets.

Mike
5 years ago

Get rid of pennies and maybe nickels as well

Tom B
5 years ago

When stationed in Europe, they used dollar coins instead of bills. They also did away with pennies, rounding everything UP to the nearest nickel. If you stop and think about ALL those transactions being rounded up, it added up to a pretty penny…that YOU spent.

Bob P
5 years ago
Reply to  Tom B

I wish they’d get rid of the tenths of a cent it’s hard to trim off a tenth of a cent when you buy a gallon of gas for $2.599 and need to pay that 9 tenths of a cent. Then after buying 10 gallons of gas they don’t want to take all those tenth of a cent pieces you’ve trimmed off. Lol

Terry
5 years ago

We should do away with pennies. They cost more to make than a penny and they are pretty much worthless.

Donald N Wright
5 years ago

Weight and bulk is an issue,

Dennis L Olsen
5 years ago

It has already been tried and it didn’t work. The American public have rejected that idea.

Glenn
5 years ago

I don’t carry coins. A $1 coin would only make my change drawer/jar/dish increase monetarily faster.

littleleftie
5 years ago

I live in Canada and can attest that the coins are great. We also got rid of pennies and round cash purchases either up or down to the nearest 5 cents. Just cash purchases. When visiting the US once, we were given a $1 coin at a gas station in Georgia. When we were in the next town, the clerk at the grocery store refused to accept it. Kept insisting it “wasn’t real”. Said she’d never seen one. Obviously not too common and not too well-liked.

Lee
5 years ago

Can’t imagine carrying $50 in coins in my pocket!

Bill
5 years ago
Reply to  Lee

Weight in the pockets, if your Boat Capsized you may sink with it. They could be used in some places, like vending Machines (credit cards are used now). But That is still lots of weight in the pockets.

GARY SAIN
5 years ago
Reply to  Lee

If you find yourself frequently carrying $50 in ones with you, you might want to rethink some of places you’re visiting. 😉 .

Tom
5 years ago

What would you tip the topless dancers with?

blll
5 years ago
Reply to  Tom

Two dollar bills

Kurt Shoemaker Sr
5 years ago

I would think carrying twenty dollars in coin would pull my pants down.
I will check with my friend in Canada for his thoughts.

Just
5 years ago

This was done with the Susan b Anthony coin that was a joke

Tommy Molnar
5 years ago

How does figure into the “Great Coin Shortage of 2020”?

Dave
5 years ago

Paper is easier to carry in a wallet. Much lighter too.

volnavy007
5 years ago

Might be moot point as the world moves to a digital currency.

Tom
5 years ago

Yes, dump the $1 bill totally. Coins have a much longer service life over paper. Dumping the one cent coin sounds like a good idea, as they cost about 1.7 cents to produce and distribute.
However, while stationed in Europe, the military eliminated the one cent coin, promising the items would be “rounded up or rounded down, depending upon costs.” We never saw anything rounded down.

Skip
5 years ago
Reply to  Tom

You forgot to add the cost of copper. Last read it was 6.3 cents in copper making the penny at 8 cents out the door.

John Wilkins
5 years ago

Who wants to carry a pocketful of heavy coins? I have enough coins in my pocket, and then no easy way of turning them in. Most banks seem to have gotten rid of their coin counting machines. I’m not opposed to dollar coins, but don’t eliminate the paper bill, and while they’re at it it, let’s bring back and promote the two dollar bill. How many time do you buy something that costs more than a dollar and need to pay with two one dollar bills?

William Braxton
5 years ago

No keep the bills. Why add weight to your purse or pocket. Leave well enough alone. Not too long ago there was a short effort to try coins. Did not work then and will not work now IMHO.

Jill
5 years ago

The USA has already tried that with the Susan B dollar coin and the populace rejected it. Besides many people either purchase online using a variety of payment methods or use a plastic card at the place of business. Don’t waste tax dollars on something that already failed. If the politicians think it’s a great idea, give them their paycheck in coin. I think they’ll change their mind.

kat
5 years ago

i have enough weight in my purse. dollar bills weigh less than coins and for me are just easier. we have had a couple of $1 coins that are now collector items.

Bob P
5 years ago

We tried that with the Susan B Anthony dollar and it failed terribly, maybe because it was sized to close to the quarter, a lot of people complained due to the size, others complained about more change in their pocket. Of course we could go to a system where we just tear a $5 bill into five pieces to pay for something. Lol

Philip Sponable
5 years ago

Bring back the Eisenhower dollar…!!!😂

Jeb
5 years ago

It’s a matter of what you grow accustomed to. While stationed in Germany years ago I had no trouble using coin DMarks in various denominations. You learn quickly to check your pocket first for payment. Plus coin is hard to counterfeit and last for a good long time.

Sink Jaxon
5 years ago

I say no to the dollar coins but also NO TO PENNIES!!!

CAREN KELLY
5 years ago

The best thing we did was got rid the penny, cost more to make than worth – we round up or down! We have Loonine for the dollar and Toony for the 2 dollar bill they are different looking but then so are our bills, $5 is blue, $10 is purple and $20 is green (easy to tell them apart). It’s amazing how much money you can save by not carrying around the coins – they go in a jar and then cashed it for US dollars. But then again, with Covid, we pay by debit or credit card – haven’t used cash very much.

GARY SAIN
5 years ago

Only if we get to call them Loonies like the Canadians. Biggest issue I see is cash registers may not have the additional box for change, but that should be workable. We’ve gone so much to cashless transactions already, it really isn’t a big deal to me.

www.livingboondockingmexico.blogspot.com
5 years ago

Money is dirty and germ spreader. We should digitalize everything and eliminate counterfeiting, theft and corruption.

Joe White
5 years ago

A very practical view point, which I encountered with the 2 dollar bill, is the cash drawer. All cash registers have a limited amount of space and do not have a slot for the dollar coin. Replacing the cash register would be very expensive for small business owners. A large “big box” store could absorb the cost more easily but why waste the time, material and energy? If we incorporate a system to eliminate the penny, that could give a solution to the space issue. I do agree that the coin would be weighty and I would prefer to keep a light weight dollar “bill” on my person.

Neal Davis
5 years ago

I dislike carrying change in my pockets (even the change/watch pocket in my jeans) or my billfold. Carrying bills in my wallet is fine. I hope the US does NOT discontinue issuing dollar (or two-dollar) bills.

David Blomberg
5 years ago

No way! I hate carrying change around. I empty change into a jar whenever I have it. The only thing that would be good about it, is my jar savings would increase considerably, lol!
In reality, I use mostly debit, so rarely carry cash anymore.

Montgomery Bonner
5 years ago

If the government has their way it will all be digital money, then you will not have any freedom because they government will know what kind of TP you use, which toothpaste you buy, and other private things you do. They also tried dollar coins several times, and they failed then. if they went to silver dollars, or 10/20 gold pieces, now that would be good, but nope, no dollar coins for me.

Diane M
5 years ago

Agree!

Edward Wullschleger
5 years ago

Dollar coins sure do come in handy at the old-fashioned car wash. Saves me a lot of time feeding quarters.

Edward Wullschleger
5 years ago

I’d like to have 5 dollar coins as well.

Edward Wullschleger
5 years ago

And get rid of pennies and nickels so that there’s room for $1 and $5 coins!

Jotge Rodreguiz
5 years ago

AND do away with $5 bills in favor of coins as well. We need to be more efficient in every way as a country and our Mint is as good a place to start as any.

Renee
5 years ago

Only my opinion & with respect, only throwing out another perspective: Why don’t we start with the real & serious issues first…..riots, fires, killing, police issues, political un-easyness & tension between parties, & the list goes on? I feel the only thing anyone has focused on is hurting each other rather than get much of anything productive taken care of. Start with the unrest & move to the easy issues……not do the easy first, so that in the meantime the bad only gets worse & worse.

Last edited 5 years ago by Renee
Skip
5 years ago

Why do we think we have to follow other countries. And if you’re going to do away with something eliminate the damn penny. It cost more for materials and minting.

Renee
5 years ago
Reply to  Skip

Where’d they put that plus button? This right here is truth.

Dale
5 years ago

debit cards…period

Renee
5 years ago
Reply to  Dale

So when things “go down,” or get bad, we have no access to our money? No thank you.

Austin
5 years ago

Can’t find the poll so I’ll use this venue.
No to moving to a dollar coin. I could care less what Europe or other societies do.
Paper gathers germs? C’mon. Every one of us carries multiple containers of germx in our vehicles/rvs.
My suit pants/slacks pockets all turn green due to coins. Washed/dry cleaned or not.
No more coins please.

Thomas D
5 years ago

Yes.
Easier to grab a coin than folding a bill ino wallet. And while we are on the subject, get rid of pennys. Canada did.Round up/ down comes out the same. Make our bills plastic like Canada. They claim impossible to counterfeit.If you’ve never seen one, I believe it.

Diane M
5 years ago

We enjoy getting coins in change. Every day my husband and I put the day’s change in a box. When we get enough, we put it in rolls and take it to the bank. It’s amazing how fast it adds up. It doesn’t take us long to get $300 or $400, and then we treat ourselves to something.

Denny
5 years ago

I do not like coins in my pockets. They take up space they make noise. Please do away with pennies. We don’t need more coins. My car wash machine takes credit cards as do most machines. talk about filthy, coins are also dirty. I use my credit card for everything except my barber who doesn’t take credit cards. For me having more coins is going backwards to the dark ages. We are becoming a cashless society. Honestly the only people I see paying with cash are like me. Older. 😀. I agree who cares what other countries do with their money. We have traveled all over even the market-place of Istanbul takes credit cards

Denny
5 years ago

When things go down the only systems will be barter silver and gold if that. Some would add bullets to that list. Based on what we all saw last year I would add TP to that list for sure!😅

Rich
5 years ago
Reply to  Denny

food will be the new currency. ya can’t eat gold or silver.

Gene Bjerke
5 years ago

Based on our experience with the Sacagawea Dollar, if we do go to a dollar coin it needs to be different from all the others.

Bob S.
5 years ago

The only coin I carry on a regular basis is a 1972 Eisenhower………. My good luck charm, pocket piece.

I voted yes to the dollar coin. If they do that, there should also be 2 dollar and 5 dollar coins as well. But, the only way this will be successful is if they quit printing $1 notes. The dollar coin will never succeed as long as good old George is available.

JMHO

One other note. I agree that the penny should also be eliminated. Round up/round down works. Another but. You’ll never see the penny eliminated as long as Illinois has a say. Until they completely eliminated cash toll collection on the roads up there, they still took pennies at the toll booth. Abe has a big lobby in Illinois….

Last edited 5 years ago by Bob S.
Rich
5 years ago
Reply to  Bob S.

round down! hah! two chances….slim amd none.

Bob S.
5 years ago
Reply to  Rich

You’ve never been to Canada I guess. Happens all the time…..

Bob H
5 years ago

The paper dollar/coin dollar s a good question. Another question is why are they still minting pennies. Reportedly there is a giant surplus of pennies and they are minting so many that they are paying big bucks to store the pennies already minted because nobody wants them.

Rich
5 years ago

i voted ‘no’. dollar bills are much easier to handle. for the past decade or so once a week my wife and i have been putting our dollar bills away for our RV trips.

Bob and Charlotte and Champlin
5 years ago

Don’t like change in my pocket, it always ends up somewhere in my recliner.

John Koenig
5 years ago

I have visited Canada multiple times. Canada’s implemented of “Loonies” & “Toonies” ($1 & $2 Dollar coins) has been SUBSTANTIALLY better than the U.S. implementation. Virtually ALL devices that accept coins can handle those Canadian coins. Cash register trays were quickly updated for use of said $1 & $2 coins. This integration simply never took place in a widespread manner in the U.S. Both the U.S. & Canada have paper $2 bills. Again, implementation in Canada was seamless. Not so in the U.S. My experience with $1& $2 coins in Canada is that, after a day of shopping, I could easily have ~ $50 in coins in my pocket after paying for goods with larger bill denominations as most merchants no longer bother with paper $1 & $2 paper currency. The savings that result in coins vs printing paper bills is probably substantial and, would be even more so in the U.S. just because of the difference in populations.

J.O.
5 years ago
Reply to  John Koenig

We don’t have paper money for 1’s and 2’s anymore.

And they are looking at turning 5’s into coins also- here’s hoping it doesn’t happen.

Mike Albert
5 years ago

Late into the discussion, BUT, after traveling in the EU and Great Britain and experiencing Australia and New Zealand, the thought of having a similar monetary system is scary. The weight of the coins and the different sizes of paper notes are reason alone to not switch. The most popular places for dollar coins are in coin collections and casinos. But seriously, consider walking around town with twenty dollars in coins in your pocket. You would need suspenders to keep your pants from falling down.

Jeff Craig
5 years ago
Reply to  Mike Albert

Different sized bills make life easier for those who are visually impaired. In the end, it’s all academic, as online shopping has made ‘cashless’ payments (cards, online payments, bitcoin/cash apps) the future. (And banks/processors rich….)

steven Platke
5 years ago

keep the bills coins are to heavy!!

Grant Graves
5 years ago

I don’t carry any change so I guess any time I buy something for cash I would need to change a $5 bill. I mostly use my credit card for purchases of any amount. I occasionally take change to the farmers market and they love getting coins, so I guess that is what would happen with dollar coins as well.

KellyR
5 years ago

I am reading that a number of people want to get rid of the penny and some the nickles. Has no one ever pitched pennies?, and you want that memory to die? Are they the ones that bitch when gas goes up 2 cents a gallon? And the comment about carrying $50 worth of coins in their pocket? Do they carry $50 worth of ONES in their wallet? A dollar coin in my pocket weighs less than 4 quarters, I have fun tipping with $2 bills and 50cent pieces. So many don’t seem to realize that they are real money – it is fun – and maybe teaches someone about our currency system. I’m getting tired of change – wait until I die. lol I have fun with your polls.

Dave J
5 years ago

I voted yes but to me it’s far more important to get rid of the penny. It costs far more to make them than what they are worth.

Roy Davis
5 years ago

It is all irrelevant since it is evident we’re heading to a cashless society. The advantage of the coins is that they last a lot longer without needing to be replaced.

J.O.
5 years ago

I hate having coins for one and two dollars.

And they are completely useless if you travel to another country. Don’t give loonies and toonies as tips- banks do not accept coin in foreign countries.

Kelly F.
5 years ago

Think of the environmental impact. Nonrenewable metals, cost of transporting the weight. Paper is renewable and much lighter.

Harvey A Beliveau
5 years ago

Old habits die hard, particularly in the U.S. Think about the attempt to implement the metric system many years ago – that died a certain death as the American people (to put it simply) didn’t want to bother with the effort. Changing to a dollar coin and eliminating the bill would face a similar fate and would face wide-spread opposition for the same reason.

I’m all in favor of a dollar coin being used, but not really in favor of eliminating the paper bill as that serves purposes that coins would be problematic for.

Steven P
4 years ago

As I undertand changing to coins would save in replacement cost of dollar bills.