Will The One Dollar Coin Ever Catch On?

When you think of a dollar, you probably think of a paper dollar. Just like all other paper currency, the dollar can be folded into your pocket with a bunch of other dollars and it’s not very cumbersome. What if we didn’t have paper currency, however? What if there was a one dollar coin instead of the paper dollar? Would people respond positively to the one dollar coin or would they reject it as they have in the past? The fact is, most people love their paper currency and would rather collect the one dollar coin rather than spend it as currency.

The Silver Dollar

The one dollar coin looks great, but that may be its only good quality. There have been various versions of the dollar coin in the past. There was the silver dollar, which has been around for a long time. You rarely see the silver dollar coin, however, as most of them are in the hands of collectors. When you do find a silver one dollar coin, it’s almost as if you’ve found a treasure. You can either save it as part of your collection or you can spend it, as it is worth the same as your one dollar paper notes.

The Sacagawea Dollar

More recently, they have released a gold colored one dollar coin. This coin is called the Sacagawea dollar, named after the famous Native American woman printed on it. This one dollar coin quickly fizzled out, just like the silver dollar, and today it’s very rare to see one in circulation. The Sacagawea, too, is most likely in the hands of collectors. The reason this coin didn’t catch on is likely the same reason the silver dollar didn’t catch on. It’s too bulky and it doesn’t fold as the paper currency does. So, will the one dollar coin ever catch on? Maybe, but the government may be going about it the wrong way.

Europeans Have It Right

In Europe, when they begin to circulate a coin, such as the one dollar coin, they will remove the paper currency so that people don’t have a choice. If the United States government wants people to use the one dollar coin, they are going to have to stop giving people a choice. People are going to want the less cumbersome, foldable version of the dollar, the paper dollar, leaving the one dollar coin to the collectors.