New dollar coins

[Figleaf]

It's an idea whose time came a long time ago. Replace the paper dollar with a coin. The economics are simple: coins are more expensive to make, but whereas a bill will last only a month or so in circulation, a coin can easily last half a century. A dollar coin would save quite a bit of taxpayers' money.

The latest attempt is a series of brass (the media call it gold, of course) coloured coins with the local presidents. Once again, the coin is designed according to the principles of the early renaissance: portrait in profile, blah blah around, symbols and emblems on the reverse. The only bit of innovation was immediately controversial: moving IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM to the edge (hey guys, the Dutch have done this since 1815 and there was no divine punishment). The religious right took this as a personal affront and the loony left bought files to take it off. The hapless Philadelphia mint managed to stoke the fire by forgetting the edge inscription on a large batch of coins. Some people love it and pay outrageous prices or look at every dollar they can get, others groan and a few think it's all a vast conspirancy against god.

Every knowledgeable coin collecter can predict the project will fail. Why? Well, look at the experience of the Bank of England after the Napoleonic wars. During the war, gold sovereigns had disappeared from circulation. They were replaced by banknotes. After the war, the Bank offered to exchange the pound banknotes for gold. The operation failed miserably. When given a choice, people will prefer trusted notes over coins. It's a lesson that today's politicians still refuse to learn.

Peter

[Figleaf]

The Denver Mint has apparently decided to make up for the mistake of their Philadelphia brethren. On THEIR error god is present but the president is absent. I love the statement in the article that on seeing the blank, Mr Smith could tell right away something was strange...

Source: ABC news

Peter

Couple Find a Faceless Dollar Coin

DENVER - Tuesday March 13, 2007 5:23 pm

Mary and Ray Smith can't make heads or tails of a new presidential dollar coin they found last week. It doesn't have either. A week after the revelation that some of the coins slipped out of the U.S. mint in Philadelphia without "In God We Trust" stamped on the edge, the Smiths said Tuesday they found one with nothing stamped on either flat side. It does have "In God We Trust" on the edge. What's missing is the image of George Washington on the front and the Statue of Liberty on the back. Instead, the Smith's coin is just smooth, shiny, golden metal.

"We're just so excited," Mary Smith told The Associated Press. "I'm just dumbfounded that we actually found something significant."

U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White said officials had not confirmed the Smiths' find. But Ron Guth, a professional coin authenticator in Newport Beach, Calif., said he is certain the coin is authentic.

"It's really pretty rare," Guth said. "It somehow slipped through several steps and inspections."

It could be worth thousands of dollars, maybe more, he said. The value will depend on how many similar misprints are found, but the Smiths' will always be worth more because it will be the first one to be independently authenitcated, Guth said.

The first "Godless" coins, which went into circulation Feb. 15, initially sold for $600 but were attracting bids of up to $152 on eBay Tuesday. It's not certain how many were made.

Douglas Mudd, curator at the American Numismatic Association's museum in Colorado Springs, said Guth is one of the best known-coin authenticators in the country.

The Smiths' coin bears a "D," meaning it was produced by the Denver Mint. The "Godless" coins were all believed to have come from the Philadelphia Mint.

The Smiths, who live in Fort Collins about 50 miles north of Denver, are coin collectors who bought two rolls of the presidential dollars on March 7 after hearing about the earlier mistake.

Mary Smith said she thought they might find a "Godless" dollar of their own.

"I opened the first roll, and I looked at all the edges, and they all had printing, so I just set them down and left the stack there," she said.

On Thursday, she pocketed the top two dollars to use during the day, and her husband noticed the next one in the stack looked odd.

He checked, and it was blank on both sides.

"I could tell right away something was strange," Ray Smith said. "I knew what we had immediately."

Guth still has the coin, but the Smiths say that when they get it back, they'll store it in a vault at their bank for now.

"I'm not sure what we'll do with it," Ray Smith said. "I think we'll hold on to it for a while."

The U.S. Mint struck 300 million of the coins, about half in Philadelphia and half in Denver.

[Figleaf]

The story gets better and better. Since the dollars without edge inscription are worth a considerable premium (some $35-40), a whole army of con artists are busily taking off edge inscriptions! Market forces prove to be stronger than religious convictions?

Peter

[Figleaf]

Here's the serious news. Why will the project fail, because the dollar bill will not be retired? Special interests! This article names the names. Don't you think it's any different in Brussels. When it comes to big money, there is no general interest, only special interest.

Source: The Agitator

Who Holds Back the Dollar Coin? We Do! We Do!

March 22, 2007

Ever wonder why the federal government's multiple attempts to migrate to a more sensible dollar coin have seemed so half-assed? It's because they are. All four attempts have been sabotaged by paper dollar enthusiasts. At Slate, Christopher Bonanos details one example from the failed Sacagawea coin:

Pressure from bill partisans at the [Bureau of Engraving and Printing] even kneecapped the Sacagawea ad campaign. According to the GAO, "an informal Treasury restriction" prohibited the Mint from suggesting that a coin was superior to a bill?it could say only that a coin was also available. One TV spot showcasing a frustrating vending-machine moment...was scotched, after a combative meeting at the Treasury, on the grounds that it "negatively portrayed the dollar bill."

So who could possible have an interest in lobbying Treasury officials and members of Congress to undermine the government's own dollar coin campaigns? Follow the money! Or rather, just take a closer look at it.

They come, principally, from three groups: the folks at the BEP; Mississippi cotton farmers, whose fibers make up the 100-percent-rag currency paper; and Crane & Company, a Massachusetts paper mill known for excellent stationery and a century-old papermaking contract with the government. Around the time the Sacagawea was proposed, they formed a lobbying group called Save the Greenback, which, according to press accounts, had the ear of Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and, back when he was in Congress, Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts.

And the Hatfields to these McCoys?

The group's archenemy is a pro-dollar-coin lobby called the Coin Coalition, backed by vending-machine and car-wash interests.

There's no more insidious a Washington pressure group than Big Car Wash!

I'm always amused--and a little disturbed--by all the niche interest groups in D.C. Take a walk through downtown Bethesda or Silver Spring, Maryland or Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and you'll see just what a parasite economy the Washington D.C. metropolitan area has become. I used to live near the national headquarters of the floral arrangers' lobby. And across the street used to be the air conditioning repair workers' lobby (I believe they have since moved). When you have a federal government noses into nearly every facet of day-to-day life, I suppose it only makes sense that everyone with more at stake than a lemonade stand would feel the need to set up an office in Washington.

Posted by Radley Balko on March 22, 2007

[Figleaf]

The religious right has won! God goes back to the reverse. Wait. That didn't sound right. God will be on the flip side. No. Oh well. Never mind. You get the message. Just like anyone who doesn't subscribe to the god party.

I am reminded that those revered American founding fathers were so insistant on separating church and state (which the godfellows now deny) that they invented new holidays and habits to replace religious ones, such as thanksgiving (harvest thanksgiving), halloween (all saints) and of course father Christmas (Saint Nicholas).

12-21-2007

'In God We Trust' to Resume Prominent Place on $1 Coin
Motto had been relegated to the edge of the new coins.

?In God We Trust? will return to the front of the $1 coin, thanks to pressure from the public.

According to the U.S. Mint, the motto was moved to the edge of the coin to draw attention to the inscription ? and it did. Some coinage made it through without being stamped with the motto. And experts say it could rub off over time.

?It was a bad idea, followed by bad employment of that idea, and now finally they are correcting that mistake," said Brian Rooney, spokesman for the Thomas More Law Center. "That?s good news.?

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., sponsored legislation to move ?In God We Trust? back to its proper home. It's waiting for President Bush's signature.

?While it may not seem like much of a victory, I think it?s significant," he said.

source: Citizen

[chrisild]

Of these presidential dollars, I got the first four - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison - partly because I like the Statue of Liberty being depicted, partly because, well, these are the first four. But I won't continue collecting the series. Sure, in a way it documents an impressive continuity, but that also means there will be many issues, "too many", says my wallet, hehe.

And, do they actually circulate? Not really from my experience. Another reason for me to leave them aside. And now, this. So "E Pluribus Unum", the year and mint mark stay on the edge, but "In God We Trust" is moved to the obverse and reverse? Well, you sure would not find anything like that on a coin from here (Fed. Rep. of Germany) ... Wowereit.

That other decision I read about - to "honor" not only the 50 states on quarters but also six territories - makes some sense to me. Especially with regard to the D.C. methinks.

Christian

[Prosit]

I got the first three from the bank and never intended to collect them.  There they are sitting on my computer, not even in a holder.  They are fairly ugly IMO.
I will still pick one up at the bank ocassionally as I am there and they have them.  Why?  Don't know, something to look at I guess.

I am not convinced they would circulate even if the $1 note were to be removed.  Think we would just start carrying more $5 and throw the change in a jar just like always.  Prolly cash that change jar in at the bank more often tho.  At this point I am almost entirely in the "Don't ever use notes or coins" catagory. 
I use a CC or a bank card, mostly the bank card as it is fee free.

Dale

[chrisild]

As expected, Bush signed the "package" (Consolidated Appropriations Act), which means that the dollar coin (NCLT ) design will be changed. http://www.coinnews.net/2007/12/26/president-signs-into-law-new-quarters-for-2009-and-relocation-of-in-god-we-trust-motto-3902/ Also, the territories will get "their" quarters ...

Christian