Replacing $1 bills with coins would save $4.4 billion

Congressional auditors say doing away with $1 bills entirely and replacing them with dollar coins could save taxpayers some $4.4 billion over the next 30 years. Vending machine operators have long championed the use of $1 coins because they don’t jam the machines (as paper does), cutting down on repair costs and lost sales. But most people don’t seem to like carrying them. In the past five years, the U.S. Mint has produced 2.4 billion Presidential $1 coins. Most remain in storage with the Federal Reserve, and production was suspended about a year ago. The latest projection from the Government Accountability Office on the potential savings from switching to dollar coins entirely comes as lawmakers begin exploring new ways for the government to save money by changing the money itself. The Mint is preparing a report for Congress showing how changes in the metal content of coins could save money. The last time the government made major metallurgical changes in U.S. coins was nearly 50 years ago, when Congress directed the Mint to remove silver from dimes and quarters and to reduce its content in half-dollar coins. Now, Congress is looking at new changes in response to rising prices for copper and nickel. At a House subcommittee hearing Thursday, the focus was on two approaches: moving to less expensive combinations of metals like steel, aluminum and zinc; and gradually taking dollar bills out of the economy and replacing them with coins. The full story is available here.