# Should the $1 bill be replaced by the $1 coin?



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/us/some-seek-to-replace-the-dollar-bill-with-the-dollar-coin.html

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - It is not typical for a politician to admit using a coin to decide critical issues, but there was Representative David Schweikert, Republican of Arizona, fishing out a dollar coin from his pocket the other day.

"See this?" he said, opening his palm and revealing the coin, heads up.

Mr. Schweikert was not flipping the gold-hued presidential dollar coin, but was using it as a prop to promote his idea of doing away with the dollar bill to save the government money.

*A recent study by the Government Accountability Office said the government could save about $5.5 billion over 30 years if it phased out dollar bills, which last about three years on average, and replaced them with dollar coins, which can circulate for three decades before they become worn out.*

The projected savings have prompted some House Republicans, eager to pare government spending in these austere times, to champion a changeover. While doing away with the greenback has been debated for decades, many on both sides of the issue consider the odds, while still long, to be better than ever.










As a result, coin and bill backers have begun a lively back and forth over the merits of such a remaking of the country's currency. They disagree on whether the coin would excessively weigh down consumers and complicate transactions for business owners. And they are far apart on whether the government would reap the cost savings that the accountability office predicts.

Mr. Schweikert, a former county treasurer who can be quite wonkish when it comes to financial matters, produced his dollar outside a jobs fair he was sponsoring last week for out-of-work constituents in this upscale community outside Phoenix. His point in showing it was that the dollar coin has evolved considerably in the three decades since the introduction of the silver-hued Susan B. Anthony dollar, which confused Americans because of its similarity in size and color to the quarter.

"It fits the mantra of why we got elected - to save money," said Mr. Schweikert, whose effort is backed by the coin lobby, an assemblage of mining interests, operators of coin-operated devices and others that have formed a group called the Dollar Coin Alliance. His proposed legislation to make this happen is called the COIN Act (whose initials stand for Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings Act).

The changeover faces considerable opposition from those who do not want the dollar note to disappear. Calling themselves Americans for George, their members include the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association as well bingo operators, foresters and Crane & Company, the Massachusetts papermaker that has provided the cotton stock used to make the country's paper money for well over a century.

"Of course we have a particular business interest in keeping people employed in Massachusetts because this would be particularly damaging to us," said George Crane, an eighth-generation papermaker. "But on so many levels, changing from paper doesn't make sense."










*It is an emotional discussion. Paper backers imagine Americans wilting under the weight of dollar coins in their pockets and purses. "The world won't come to an end," Tom Ferguson, a dollar bill advocate who used to head the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said of a changeover. "But Americans will be carrying around a lot more coins."*

*The costs of converting cash registers and vending machines are also raised, as well as the higher transportation costs associated with coins. "It would be very cumbersome for the bartenders and the waiters who carry money around with them," said Ken Cheuvront, a former Arizona state senator who now runs a restaurant and wine bar called Cheuvront in downtown Phoenix.*

*Their coin counterparts speak of the progressive people of Canada, Europe and Australia, who use coins for their base currencies without any fuss and who look down at the paper American dollar as something akin to the horse and buggy.

Adopting the dollar coin, coin advocates say, means no one will ever have to suffer the indignity of having worn bills rejected by vending machines. And as for the weight issue, they say that five dollar coins weigh 1.5 ounces, which is less than a Snickers bar or a box of Altoids and considerably less than an iPhone 4.*

It is on the question of cost, though, that the two sides really go at it. The accountability office has been studying the issue going back 20 years, each time coming up with a varying cost savings.

The office says that it costs more to produce a coin than a bill and that it would take the government some years to begin to accrue net benefits.










The savings projected by the office come from the fact that coins and bills cost less than their face value to make, so the government gains value, known as seigniorage, with each one produced. But because coins tend to circulate less than bills, the office estimated that anywhere from 1.5 to 2 times as many coins would have to be produced to replace each bill, increasing the seigniorage.

However, the office said the Congressional Budget Office, which offers official estimates of the budget implications of legislative proposals, would most likely use a different analysis that would substantially lower the projected cost savings, if any, of doing away with dollar bills. On top of that, critics of the coin point out that the accountability office eliminated from its analysis the costs that businesses would face to accommodate the dollar coin.

The government has tried in the past to prod Americans into using the dollar coin, with modest success. The United States Mint, which produces coins, conducted public relations campaigns in four communities across the country in 2008 to try to increase public acceptance of dollar coins. Use increased modestly in Austin, Tex., Charlotte, N.C., and Grand Rapids, Mich., but actually declined in Portland, Ore. As it is, the Federal Reserve has about 1.1 billion dollar coins in storage because of limited public demand.

That is why those pushing for the full-scale introduction of the dollar coin say it is essential to eliminate the bill altogether and force Americans to make the change.

"It's normal for people, who have so much stress in their lives, to say, 'Don't mess with my world,' " said David DuGoff, who runs a car wash outside Washington that accepts dollar coins and dispenses them as change. "But people need to get over their habit and learn that life will be easier with the coin."


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I always thought Japanese money was so much easier to deal with than American money. More colorful than American money. There is a hole in the 5 yen and 50 yen coins. The 1 yen coin is very light and made of aluminum (can float in water). The 500 yen coin is much bigger/heavier than the 100 yen coin so easy to tell them apart. I also think the American quarter just makes doing quick calculations harder.

¥ 1 = 1¢ 
¥ 5 = 5¢ 
¥ 10 = 10¢
¥ 50 = 50¢ 
¥100 = $1 
¥500 = $5

*Weight*
*Japanese Coins*
¥ 1 = 1.00g 
¥ 5 = 3.75g
¥ 10 = 4.50g
¥ 50 = 4.00g
¥100 = 4.80g
¥500 = 7.00g

*American Coins*
penny = 2.50g
nickel = 5.00g
dime = 2.27g
quarter = 5.67g
$1 coin = 8.10g
¥500 = 7.00g

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yen#Coins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_United_States_dollar


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

This has been tried several times and it never caught on (Eisenhower, Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea dollar coins). Americans love their greenbacks. :yes


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

It's been tried. It failed. Remember the Golden Dollar Coins with that Indian Chic who led Lewis & Clark (I think). I saw 6 of them in my life; my brother had them & put them in his collection just like every other coin collector.

What we really need to do is get rid of pennies. They're so worthless most folks won't even bend down to pick one off the ground. Yet they'll go nuts if anybody suggests what they otherwise deem worthless were to cease being produced. Then it magically become of great importance, so important they can't pick it up.:roll


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

The only reason it failed was because they kept printing the $1 dollar bill. It might cost more in the beginning but in the long run the government will save money and it is much more convenient for most people.

Many things are like that. Because of tradition and short term inconvenience we get stuck with something inefficient. English spelling is another example. We really should add some more letters to the alphabet since English has more sounds than letters and make it more regular.



> English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English orthography, like other alphabetic orthographies, uses a set of habits to represent speech sounds in writing. In most other languages, these habits are regular enough so that they may be called rules. In standard English spelling, however, nearly every sound is spelled in more than one way, and most spellings and all letters can be pronounced in more than one way and often in many different ways. This is partly due to the complex history of the English language,[1] but mainly because no systematic spelling reform has been implemented in English, contrary to the situation in most other languages.
> 
> In general, English spelling does not reflect the sound changes in the pronunciation of the language that have occurred since the late fifteenth century.


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

Great! Another jar to add to the nightstand!


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## coldmorning (Jul 4, 2007)

Ugh, I hate coins. All jangling around in your pockets.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

coldmorning said:


> Ugh, I hate coins. All jangling around in your pockets.


Don't you have a compartment in your wallet for coins? Mine has a velcro compartment that is easy to open and close.


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## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

No matter if it is paper money or coin it is all an instrument of debt. The money has no backing. All fiat currencies end up failing eventually.


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

We have 10c 20c 50c $1 [email protected] coins here then notes from there up. I much prefer it tbh. The biggest issue I have with US cash is the paper of the notes as opposed to plastic. Paper gets dirty, scrunched and just more annoying to work with imo.


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## coldmorning (Jul 4, 2007)

komorikun said:


> Don't you have a compartment in your wallet for coins? Mine has a velcro compartment that is easy to open and close.


No, my wallet doesn't have anything like that. Some of my jeans have a little pocket above the main pocket which I use for coins. Sometimes when I'm putting my jeans away, I forget to take them out of the little pocket and the coins go flying all over the floor.


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## Meta14 (Jan 22, 2012)

Canada has a $1 and a $2 coins. I like them. :3


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## Diacetylmorphine (Mar 9, 2011)

$1 seems awfully small for paper.


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

The dollar coins have their use, I get them when I take the train or buy stamps. I don't like the idea of paper dollars being phased out, it would be a lot more hassle to carry around a bunch of coins instead of the bare minimum.


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## Nogy (Feb 13, 2011)

I'd hate to have any more loose change jangling around in my pocket


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

Most people don't want a bunch of bulky coins in their pocket. That's why the old silver dollar (Morgans) went out around the 1920's or so...that and they were pure silver...which was getting worth more than $1


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## Nada (Dec 19, 2004)

I think we need to focus on governments reckless spending than this. Plus my coins tend to get tossed aside and forgotten, so I'm not saving any money.


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## Ape in space (May 31, 2010)

I'm not an American but your dollar bills SUCK. Whenever I go to the US I have to stand at the counter like an idiot sorting through all these ridiculous bits of paper trying to find one that's large enough to cover my purchase, after being under the impression that I have a lot of money when I really only have like $7. And why the heck are your bills not colour-coded? Please for the love of god use dollar coins.


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

I hate the opinion that anything different needs to be done away with. You get used to the different bills very quick. Color coding would be undignified and obnoxious looking.


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## Nekomata (Feb 3, 2012)

As a non-American, I don't really care, however, I do think it's weird to have a $1 bill... o__o so... like, if you have $100 on you, you have like... 100 notes or something? No, I think coins are more practical, plus they're all shiny and stuff... *loves having tons of pound coins* xDDD. Or.. well, I suppose there are bigger notes than $1 I guess, but still XD

Oh, but the Japanese currency seems to be the most prettiest of all *fawns over how colourful they are*


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## MindOverMood (Dec 12, 2009)

How will I make it rain at the strip clubs?:b


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## Nada (Dec 19, 2004)

MindOverMood said:


> How will I make it rain at the strip clubs?:b


It will be hailing instead. I will only slightly feel bad for all the injured strippers.


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## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

Meta14 said:


> Canada has a $1 and a $2 coins. I like them. :3


I have 40 $1 Canadian coins, but they are silver dollars so they are worth a lot more then $1 per piece. Bought them on sale from the place I usually buy silver.


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## FireIsTheCleanser (Aug 16, 2011)

Ape in space said:


> I'm not an American but your dollar bills SUCK. Whenever I go to the US I have to stand at the counter like an idiot sorting through all these ridiculous bits of paper trying to find one that's large enough to cover my purchase, after being under the impression that I have a lot of money when I really only have like $7. And why the heck are your bills not colour-coded? Please for the love of god use dollar coins.


Is looking for a number that appears 8 times on a bill too much hard work?


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## Lasair (Jan 25, 2010)

I'm not american.....so why did I vote!


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Ape in space said:


> I'm not an American but your dollar bills SUCK. Whenever I go to the US I have to stand at the counter like an idiot sorting through all these ridiculous bits of paper trying to find one that's large enough to cover my purchase, after being under the impression that I have a lot of money when I really only have like $7. And why the heck are your bills not colour-coded? Please for the love of god use dollar coins.


Yeah, I agree. The bills should be color-coded too. As you can see Americans are sooooo resistant to change. Dollar bills get old and crusty quickly. I always struggle to put dollar bills into vending machines and on the bus.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Cletis said:


> Most people don't want a bunch of bulky coins in their pocket. That's why the old silver dollar (Morgans) went out around the 1920's or so...that and they were pure silver...which was getting worth more than $1


The dollar coins do not necessarily have to be bulky. It is true that the ones they make now are too big though. I think they should change all the coins and make them similar to Japanese coins. The 100 yen coin ($1) actually weighs less than the American quarter. And it is ridiculous that the dime is smaller than the nickel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yen#Coins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_United_States_dollar

*Japanese Coins*
¥ 1 = 1.00g (smooth edge)
¥ 5 = 3.75g (smooth edge/holed)
¥ 10 = 4.50g (smooth edge)
¥ 50 = 4.00g (reeded edge/holed)
¥100 = 4.80g (reeded edge)
¥500 = 7.00g (reeded edge)

*American Coins*
penny = 2.50g
nickel = 5.00g
dime = 2.27g
quarter = 5.67g
$1 coin = 8.10g



> Due to the great differences in style, size, weight and the pattern present on the edge of the coin they are very easy for people with visual impairments to tell apart from one another.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

I hate coins. Do you have any idea how many $1 coins I've lost since the college machines only take change so you have to run your bills through the change machine and get $1 coins back... There's probably $20 floating around the bedroom from falling out of my pockets every time I sit or lay down. Then there's weight, clinking noises, etc... I've lost bills twice in my life and it was wearing jeans with too small of back pockets as a young teen and stuffing them in there. I also hate counting out change and never spend it. Aside from the college vending machines it all goes in a container to be turned in to digital cash. I use a debit card 99% of the time and am working on getting a credit card just to throw my monthly gas on it and pay it off for credit.

My husband tells stories of $5 coins in Japan and how he'd spend way more than he planned because our coins are so small. It seemed like just a coin and then he'd realize he'd put $20 in to the arcade with those 4 coins. Also how annoying and heavy carrying that much in coins around was.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Akane said:


> I hate coins. Do you have any idea how many $1 coins I've lost since the college machines only take change so you have to run your bills through the change machine and get $1 coins back... There's probably $20 floating around the bedroom from falling out of my pockets every time I sit or lay down. Then there's weight, clinking noises, etc... I've lost bills twice in my life and it was wearing jeans with too small of back pockets as a young teen and stuffing them in there. I also hate counting out change and never spend it. Aside from the college vending machines it all goes in a container to be turned in to digital cash. I use a debit card 99% of the time and am working on getting a credit card just to throw my monthly gas on it and pay it off for credit.
> 
> My husband tells stories of $5 coins in Japan and how he'd spend way more than he planned because our coins are so small. It seemed like just a coin and then he'd realize he'd put $20 in to the arcade with those 4 coins. Also how annoying and heavy carrying that much in coins around was.


I don't remember having a particularly heavy wallet when I was living in Japan. Japanese coins are very light compared to American coins. They are also easy to tell apart.

Your husband probably was just not used to using Japanese money. Many American men, I notice, seem to never use coins for whatever reason. My dad is one of them. He had hoards of coins in his briefcase which I used to buy candy with (only quarters were off limits because they were used for doing laundry).


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## Dane (Jul 27, 2009)

I don't think weight would be an issue because most people probably don't carry more than six or seven one dollar bills, and that many coins wouldn't weigh much. 

If you're worried about having too many coins, how about combining the dollar coin with UltraShy's idea to abolish the penny?

I would be in favor of both ideas, and I have one more of my own, although I know it would never be put into effect. I would like to see the government issue a $200 dollar bill. 

As inflation keeps eroding the value of money, we have to adjust upwards just to keep the buying power of the cash in our pockets the same.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I am kind of in the market for a new wallet, the zipper on mine is not working anymore. I just realized I have been using my current wallet for 8, maybe 10 years. It's the black version of this. I got it in Japan. Looking at wallets on amazon, I see that most of them are crap and do not have a convenient coin compartment. So that's why my roommate is always dropping coins around the apartment....(she doesn't use a purse, only a wallet)

http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=51&p_id=1123690
http://webshop.montbell.jp/goods/disp.php?product_id=1123685


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## Hank Scorpio (Oct 28, 2008)

We need less coins, not more. Stop minting pennies and nickles to save money.


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## blue the puppy (Jul 23, 2011)

was just on the metro the other day and saw all sorts of posters in support of dollar bills. this **** is getting real.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

> most people probably don't carry more than six or seven one dollar bills, and that many coins wouldn't weigh much.


When I was using cash I easily would accumulate 20 $1 bills within a week from breaking higher bills down every time. I threw them in the change jar since I never wanted to count them out at the store and turned in over $100 a month in change. Right now since the college only uses coins for the machines I often end up turning a $20 bill in to dollar coins but the ATMs often only give out 20s or 10s and I no longer use cash anywhere else so I can't break them. I only end up with 5s and usually 10s now when paying individuals for things or selling things like rabbits, birds, or martial arts class. I sold parrotlets for $75 cash last week and a rabbit for $30 cash today and it's the first cash I've seen besides coins from college in a month.


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## stylicho (Nov 8, 2003)

I like coins because they're easy to clean. Money is the dirtiest thing on earth. So when I get a chance I will use a little bleach and a lot of water and disinfect those things lol.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

After two attempts (1979-1980 Susan B. Anthony, 2000 Sacajawea), people still didn't want it. Those are collector's items now. :stu


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## Milco (Dec 12, 2009)

I don't know why, but at first I was thinking your 1 dollar bill was similar to our 20 kroner bill which was phased out in 1990, but it's actually like our 5 kroner bill which was phased out in 1962, so you're a bit behind :b
And then I remembered that you guys actually have pennies still.
Our 25 øre coin (about 5 cent) was phased out four years ago since it cost more to produce than it was worth. I thought I'd see about the penny and this is what I found:


> As of 2012, it cost the U.S. Mint 2.41 cents to make a cent because of the cost of materials and production. The loss in profitibility due to producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2011 has been officially released. The cost is a loss of $60,200,000.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_%28United_States_coin%29


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Milco said:


> I don't know why, but at first I was thinking your 1 dollar bill was similar to our 20 kroner bill which was phased out in 1990, but it's actually like our 5 kroner bill which was phased out in 1962, so you're a bit behind :b
> And then I remembered that you guys actually have pennies still.
> Our 25 øre coin (about 5 cent) was phased out four years ago since it cost more to produce than it was worth. I thought I'd see about the penny and this is what I found:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_%28United_States_coin%29


Yeah, I agree. They should do away with the penny. There was a thread about this recently.

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f36/should-the-penny-be-eliminated-157554/

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f36/pennies-37552/


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

I like coin money, even if it is heavy.


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## stylicho (Nov 8, 2003)

pita said:


> I like coin money, even if it is heavy.


That's loonie


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## stylicho (Nov 8, 2003)

Milco said:


> I don't know why, but at first I was thinking your 1 dollar bill was similar to our 20 kroner bill which was phased out in 1990, but it's actually like our 5 kroner bill which was phased out in 1962, so you're a bit behind :b
> And then I remembered that you guys actually have pennies still.
> Our 25 øre coin (about 5 cent) was phased out four years ago since it cost more to produce than it was worth. I thought I'd see about the penny and this is what I found:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)


How do you get rid of the most important number though? That number being one.


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## Milco (Dec 12, 2009)

stylicho said:


> How do you get rid of the most important number though? That number being one.


A penny (or 1 cent) is 1/100th though, not 1. So 1 is safe 
But eventually even the dollar will have to make way for something else.
I believe inflation is about 2% per year in most countries. That means that over 20 years, the money loses 1/3rd of its value, in 35 years it loses half.
It'll still take over 200 years for one dollar to be reduced to what one penny is worth today though.


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

it's a bad idea!! the worst is UK!! brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr still remember my heavy pocket! also UAE!!


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

I think coins makes sense. Not only for the $1 but the $5 as well.


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> I think coins makes sense. Not only for the $1 but the $5 as well.


lolol coz u r a rich kid I guess,,, not pooor like most of us


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## Blawnka (Dec 12, 2011)

It is, in Canada, it sucks and I'm jealous of your guys 1$ bills.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

No living in a country where $1 coins are used, I have to say that coins are generally anoying, bulky and tend build up over time from all the small change you accumulate. 

The only positive of coins is for vending machines and such, where trying to flatten a note so that the vending machine will accept it can get annoying/time consuming.


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