This Presidents Day, the U.S. Mint is releasing the fifth in its new series of presidential dollar coins. Featuring the mug of James Monroe, the Mint is hoping that this coin will finally convince Americans to replace their greenbacks with cumbersome hunks of metal.
That's a safe bet. Demand for dollar coins is through the roof. That's why a distributor partnering with the Mint, World Reserve Monetary Exchange, is giving them away for free.
That's right. The presidential dollars are so unpopular that the Mint's partner has resorted to throwing them in with the purchase of a $28 ''commemorative collectors' frame.''
In other words, our government is employing sales tactics normally reserved for infomercials. But instead of, say, an extra week's supply of weight-loss pills or a custom-grip filet knife, you're getting legal tender.
Shocking, huh? One would have thought that Americans would be psyched about carrying around sacks full of heavy, shiny coins. After all, there's nothing more dramatic -- or more practical -- than plopping a big bag of bulky metal on the table to pay a bill
Thus far, the Mint has spent at least $5 million promoting the new series. Of course, it's possible that it will find someone who is interested in the coins if it puts them on Overstock.com. But then again, the coins are already free. And still nobody wants them.
The public's apathy is hardly a surprise. Every dollar coin campaign has been an embarrassing and costly failure.
Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar? Introduced in 1979, it took officials only a year (and 900 million coins) to notice that it bore a striking resemblance to the quarter -- which, you know, is worth less than a dollar. The U.S. Mint quickly stopped producing them, and by 1981, the coins had essentially dropped out of circulation.
The Mint gave it another go in 2000 with the Sacagawea dollar, and spent nearly $70 million promoting the coin. The tab covered a garish float in the 1999 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a promotional sweepstakes featured on Cheerios boxes in supermarkets across the country, and a $40 million ad blitz starring a back-from-the-dead George Washington.
That's your tax dollars at work. And needless to say, that campaign didn't work either.
The Sacagawea dollar proved so unpopular that its production was halted less than two years after its introduction. In 2005, the Federal Reserve reported that it had more than 200 million unwanted coins in storage.
Yet, Mint officials remain resolute when confronted with history. And they're banking on these new James Monroe dollars to succeed where the faces of his forbearers failed.
Anyone with an ounce of common sense -- or an ounce of common cents -- knows that dollar coins will never catch on as common currency. Relative to bills, they're just plain annoying. You see, men and women alike prefer to carry their money in wallets. Not the medieval satchels from the Lord of the Rings.
Coins are also more expensive to produce than paper money. The Mint says it will save in the long run, though, because coins have a longer circulation life, so they don't have to be replaced as frequently. But the dubious economics that underpin those savings can only be realized if people actually use the coins. Which they don't.
When it comes to dollar coins, it doesn't matter if they feature James Monroe or Marilyn Monroe -- Americans have no interest in them. So, this Presidents Day, taxpayers and consumers alike should tell the Mint to keep the change.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-left_col-a.6275715feb18,0,477278.story
That's a safe bet. Demand for dollar coins is through the roof. That's why a distributor partnering with the Mint, World Reserve Monetary Exchange, is giving them away for free.
That's right. The presidential dollars are so unpopular that the Mint's partner has resorted to throwing them in with the purchase of a $28 ''commemorative collectors' frame.''
In other words, our government is employing sales tactics normally reserved for infomercials. But instead of, say, an extra week's supply of weight-loss pills or a custom-grip filet knife, you're getting legal tender.
Shocking, huh? One would have thought that Americans would be psyched about carrying around sacks full of heavy, shiny coins. After all, there's nothing more dramatic -- or more practical -- than plopping a big bag of bulky metal on the table to pay a bill
Thus far, the Mint has spent at least $5 million promoting the new series. Of course, it's possible that it will find someone who is interested in the coins if it puts them on Overstock.com. But then again, the coins are already free. And still nobody wants them.
The public's apathy is hardly a surprise. Every dollar coin campaign has been an embarrassing and costly failure.
Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar? Introduced in 1979, it took officials only a year (and 900 million coins) to notice that it bore a striking resemblance to the quarter -- which, you know, is worth less than a dollar. The U.S. Mint quickly stopped producing them, and by 1981, the coins had essentially dropped out of circulation.
The Mint gave it another go in 2000 with the Sacagawea dollar, and spent nearly $70 million promoting the coin. The tab covered a garish float in the 1999 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a promotional sweepstakes featured on Cheerios boxes in supermarkets across the country, and a $40 million ad blitz starring a back-from-the-dead George Washington.
That's your tax dollars at work. And needless to say, that campaign didn't work either.
The Sacagawea dollar proved so unpopular that its production was halted less than two years after its introduction. In 2005, the Federal Reserve reported that it had more than 200 million unwanted coins in storage.
Yet, Mint officials remain resolute when confronted with history. And they're banking on these new James Monroe dollars to succeed where the faces of his forbearers failed.
Anyone with an ounce of common sense -- or an ounce of common cents -- knows that dollar coins will never catch on as common currency. Relative to bills, they're just plain annoying. You see, men and women alike prefer to carry their money in wallets. Not the medieval satchels from the Lord of the Rings.
Coins are also more expensive to produce than paper money. The Mint says it will save in the long run, though, because coins have a longer circulation life, so they don't have to be replaced as frequently. But the dubious economics that underpin those savings can only be realized if people actually use the coins. Which they don't.
When it comes to dollar coins, it doesn't matter if they feature James Monroe or Marilyn Monroe -- Americans have no interest in them. So, this Presidents Day, taxpayers and consumers alike should tell the Mint to keep the change.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-left_col-a.6275715feb18,0,477278.story
