U.S. Mint believes new dollar coin will work as an alternative to paper dollar as well as a collector's itemWASHINGTON, D.C. — The newest dollar coin, which was released last week, features George Washington’s image. This is the U.S. Mint’s 14th attempt at getting Americans to use a dollar coin. However, a poll suggests that the gold-colored $1 coin, slightly larger than a quarter, is no threat to the popularity of paper money.An AP-Ipsos poll shows that 75 percent of those surveyed oppose replacing the dollar bill featuring Washington with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a coin. At this point, there are no plans to do away with the dollar bill, even though this could result in the savings of hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs.Due to rising parking meter charges, vending costs, etc., The U.S. mint is more optimistic about the success of the $1 coin. “The timing is much different today than even six years ago,” said Edmund Moy, U.S. mint director. The Sacagawea golden dollar appeared at this time. Moy also believes that the new coins will succeed because they are stamped with presidential profiles, making them collector’s items and educational pieces.The new dollar coin, which will be the same size and proportions of the Sacagawea dollar, pays tribute to American presidents. The George Washington $1 coin will be followed later this year by coins featuring John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Four coins will be released each year, one every three months.The Mint has made 300 million George Washington coins, the exact amount the Fed has ordered, Moy says. After producing nearly three times the number of Sacagawea dollars needed in 2000, about 1.3 billion, Moy added that the Mint has no plans to produce more than demand requires.
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