A bipartisan group of Senators has re-introduced a bill which seeks to improve the circulation of $1 coins and remove barriers to their use, which would eventually set the stage for the $1 coin to replace the $1 Federal Reserve Note as the only $1 monetary unit issued and circulated by the Federal Reserve System.
The bill S. 1105: Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings (COINS) Act was introduced on June 6, 2013 by Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa, John McCain of Arizona, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Mark Udall of Colorado. In the 112th Congress, similar bills had been introduced by bipartisan groups in both the House of Representatives and Senate, but failed to become law.
The new bill contains the same provisions as the previous bills. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System would be required to sequester all $1 coins minted and issued from 1979-1981 and in 1999. This refers to the Susan B. Anthony Dollars, which were highly unpopular with the public due to the potential for confusion with the quarter dollar denomination.
The sequestered coins would not be returned to circulation, but may be released at face value in bulk quantities to dealers in collectible coins and countries that have adopted the United States Dollar as their base unit of exchange. After one year, the coins would be declared obsolete although they would remain legal tender.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System would also be required to undertake efforts to improve the circulation and remove barriers to the circulation of the $1 coin, including outreach and education programs.
Quarterly reports would be required to be issued to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate covering the status of the sequestered $1 coins, efforts and the degree of success of the efforts to improve circulation of $1 coins, and a specific efforts to improve the circulation of $1 coins bearing the Native American design.
Once $1 coins have achieved sufficient market penetration, the bill describes the transition process from using $1 bills to $1 coins in circulation.
A deadline is established as the earlier of the date on which the number of $1 coins placed in circulation exceeds 600,000,000 annually or the date that is 4 years after the enactment of the Act. Upon reaching the deadline, Federal Reserve Banks may not order any additional $1 bills, but may for a limited time continue to place into circulation bills on hand or deposited as long as they are fit for circulation.
A specific exception is made that $1 Federal Reserve Notes may continue to be produced and issued to meet the needs of collectors.
In order for the COINS Act to become law, it must be approved by the Congress and signed by the President. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Tom Coburn of Utah
Either wrong state or wrong senator. Coburn is from Oklahoma.
Put the silver back in the dollar coin and I will have no problem using it! 🙂
Thanks. Corrected the article.
Start saving your SBA coins now before they are pulled from circulation!
There is a real simple way to get them circulating. GET RID OF THE DAMN DOLLAR BILL!!
Make it a five dollar coin. The size of a half dollar. What can you buy for $1? I like the idea of having it made of silver…maybe 5% max.
dollarcoinlover is absolutely right. Dollar coins won’t circulate until the government terminates its cozy relationship with the Crane Paper Company and stops printing dollar bills.
$1 coin is lame. Who’s gonna carry around a pocket full of $1 coins? Paper is lighter. How are you going to carry them? In your wallet? The only way to make this work would be to make is a higher denomination. $10, $20. Then people may carry a few of them.
I don’t understand why the Anthony dollar is confused with a quarter. They are different in size.
A $20 bill and a $1 bill are EXACTLY the same size. Do you get them confused with each other?
How do you carry them? The same way you carry your other change. The most you would need is four. Not heavy at all. Canada has not had a paper dollar for more than 20 years. It’s time for the US to follow suit. STOP producing paper dollars and coins will circulate!
These days a dollar has so little purchasing power that the coin is already close to being obsolete. When I was a kid in the 60’s I could buy more with a dime then than a dollar buys today. If they really want this to work, Congress should have the mint create a new design that is much smaller and lighter, and while they are at it they should save more taxpayer money by eliminating the useless penny and nickel from circulation.
they should mint some higher denominational coins 40% silver a tenth of a ounce $2.50 coin $5 quarter of a ounce $10 half dollar size coins and $20 1 ounce coins then make the fed stop making $5’s $10’s and $20’s in paper money inflation will drop 400%
All those other coins are “lame” too. Who has been carrying around a pocketful of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies?
“All those other coins are “lame” too. Who has been carrying around a pocketful of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies?”
And where do you keep those coins? It’s a simple factor of weight vs purchasing power. And what was said above about all you need is 4? What’s that…don’t you get $1 bills as change all the time? If the insinuation is that eventually the $1 coin will be the new quarter than yeah..do it…and we’ll end up with cup holders full of $1 coins. At this point however the $1 bill still buys enough to be carried. Of course with debit cards ALL of these are used less and less.
You got to be kidding me. Get rid of The
1$ bill. Thats like getting rid of grandma. She’s old and outdated not worth much like
since the 1960’s. Give me a break congress
needs to get there heads out of there —–.
What did the NSA pick up internal citizen
chatter that we don’t use the 1$ bill. The
billions spent on eavesdropping would cover
the cost of keeping grandma and voting out every senator and congessman. Wake up America
I don’t think the wetback even though 1$ is the issue. So go hug grandma we’ll keep her.
If they can come up with a dollar coin that people PREFER to the dollar bill, then I’m in favor of replacement. If the only way we can be persuaded to use the coins is to eliminate our preferred option, then I’m against it. The dollar coin has functional problems in terms of user acceptance, and those problems should be solved first.
Generally, I’d say this bill is a step in the right direction in that it requires some measure of success in putting coins into circulation, but 600,000 coins is a ridiculously low threshhold in a country with population 300,000,000+. The target should be at least 5% or 10% of the number of new dollar bills, voluntarily, sustained over at least 2 years. Then, I’d say, “Problem solved, coins work, time to eliminate the bill.”
Hey, our neighbors in Canada figured it out a long time ago! And so few people carry cash around anyway that its a no brainier to dump the 1 dollar bill. Tree huggers should be all over this, where are they? I think the people who oppose it are the ones who put 1 dollar in the basket at church, and cringe at the thought of having to now use a $5 or feeling silly dropping a coin in the basket! When I was a kid a $1 bill bought 3 gallons of gas! It now takes $12 to do the same thing. That means a $1 bill is today worth 8 cents compared to 1973!
Will the government ever understand that citizens do not want a one dollar coin? How many times has this been tried, only to fail. Wake up! We do not want the $1 coin.
That $1 dollar coin, with less than .25 of metal in it would last 30 years plus, vs a dollar bill needing to be reprinted every 2-5 years. Just imagine how much money that would save this country! Every other economically developed, smart country has figured this out already.
James Mackey says:
“These days a dollar has so little purchasing power that the coin is already close to being obsolete. When I was a kid in the 60′s I could buy more with a dime then than a dollar buys today”.
A dime from the 60’s is worth $1.53 in silver…