collecting - The end of the Golden Dollar?

On Sun, Barney wrote:

Andrew W Applegarth wrote:
Pardon me for pointing this out, but I think that it's hilarious to
suggest feeding bills into a vending machine just to get GDs so that you
don't have to feed bills into vending machines...

It's easier than dealing with a bank that may not currently have any Golden
Dollars. It's also easier than trying to get some from retailers since
many don't have any in their registers...if they did, Golden Dollars would
be as available as quarters from any store at any hour.

You missed the point, if certain vending machines require
dollar coins, then they should also have a bill changer, because
the owner of those machines profits from the use of whatever
service, product or privilege the dollar coins pay for.

So the average public should not need to go to banks
or put any special effort into obtaining dollar coins.

This is a factor in the utility of the coins, if they are
difficult to obtain, and the machines or change boxes they
are used in do not provide for using $5 or $10 bills, then
the coin's utility is diminished.

Most postal machines at post offices (that I know of) are available 24
hours a day.
Barney

I think he was talking about the general public getting
dollar coins to use where they are either required or useful.

While I get dollar coins from the stamp machine, I have
to drive 10 miles to a post office that has a stamp machine.
And by doing that, if the counter is not open I am
taking a risk of losing money if the machine malfunctions.

I know laundrymat operators who have to have an
attendant on duty because they can't afford change machines
and soap and vending machines.
Also, liquid bleach has only been packaged for use
in vending machines recently.

The coin vending machine industry has a lot of
opportunity with labor costs already absurd, but the
vending industry has a long way to go just to design
and build machines to get revenue back to the days
of the cigarette machine in every store.

As it is now, about the only product machines
that seem to take dollar coins is the 20 ounce pop
machines.
More high tech entertainment machines need
to be developed, like, high resolution computer gaming,
digital television, 1080i resolution DVD jukeboxes,
and DLP television.

Of course designing and building machines just
to be able to use certain coins is silly, the merchandising
of new technology is very worthwhile.
But the big issue will remain, security of the machine
and change box.

Joe Fischer