The Dollar Coin

I saw a video that ABC News put together the other day that talked about how the US government is spending a lot of money to make dollar coins but people aren’t using them. They’re even building a new warehouse to hold them. So maybe they’re making too many of them right now, but from my perspective, it seemed like an odd piece. I use the dollar coin all the time. Many vending machines have prices that are near or over a dollar, so anytime I buy something from a vending machine I use the dollar coin. It may be true of men more than women, but the dollar coin is easier to use because it is easier to find a dollar coin in a front pocket than it is to retrieve a dollar bill or a credit card from a billfold.

I think this is just another case where the news media is failing to paint the whole picture. They have a point they want to make. Picking on the dollar coin is fun because seems to show that the government is wasting money even as they make money. But give it time. In a few years, those extra coins may very well be put to use. Vending machine prices aren’t going down. Some people have suggested that all vending machines should have credit card readers on them, but that’s not only costly, it is dangerous as well. Pass your card through a vending machine card reader and you can’t be sure who you’re giving your personal information to. But a dollar coin is easier to use and you aren’t giving personal information to anyone.

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