Dollar coin?

Question: I know that something has started in the US to do with "presidential dollar coins" or something. Is this meant to be a permanent change? Are dollar bills going to be eradicated? Or are they just collected by some people, and not used practically like the British five pound coin? I think that it would make sense though for a dollar coin to be introduced into circulation. It's so much more compact!

Answer: The attempt is to permanently replace the dollar bill with a dollar coin for a number of logistical reasons such as durability of coins, difficulty in counterfeiting, portability and ease in verification (such as in vending machines). There have been a number of attempts to do this (such as the Susan B Anthony silver dollar in the 70's and the Sacajawea dollar from 2000) but the success is contingent on how fast they circulate and how readily we accept them (the above failed). The newest attempt will be in the form of presidential commemorative with the statue of liberty on one side and a president (starting with John Quincy Adams) on the other. The president on the other side will be changed every three months with new releases.

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