Las Vegas and Golden Dollars

Not a peep.

I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make the rolls of circulated
dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Plans to mint 2004 Golden Dollars for regular circulation.

I figured the second item would help reveal the inventory and draw-down rate.

No reply to my voicemail message (it's been a couple of days). I have only called them 2
or 3 times ever in the past and then I got a person who called me back when they found
answers (within a day).

-Fred Shecter

--
"""Remove "zorch" from address (2 places) to reply.
"Michael G. Koerner" wrote in message
...
Barney wrote:

"Fred Shecter" wrote in
:

The fare machines will indeed give
dollar coins (GDs and/or SBAs) in change as well as accept them. "They
are the latest machines that everyone else is using, including BART".


Good to hear that there's going to be more dollar coins circulating. I
would think that this would help with the draw down rate.

The next thing - $1 coin slot machines in the stations.

;-)


BTW, has anyone heard anything recently about what the current drawdown
rate is and any estimates on when we'll see the next business-strike
production run?

INTERESTING FIND.....

I finally ran across my first 2001 Golden Dollar! (that I know of) It was
a few weeks ago and there was about 2 or 3 of them in the few rolls that I
picked up.

I have the feeling that they could have come from another area since 2001
GDs are still pretty much unheard of in my area.

Barney

About 1 in 50 that I get here are 2001 (either mint).

--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________

Fred Shecter wrote:

I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make the rolls of circulated
dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Why would they bother to do that?


I've been buying a bag of GDs each year to use instead of dollar bills. Helps keep the wallet
thinner (more ways than one!) and it's fun to look for mint errors. But I wonder whether I
should hang onto a few of my 2003-Ps?

Check around and see what you can find out. They either started replacing
older machines
in the system or there is a new station or a new line/extension.

there are new machines in some downtown sf stations, and at the new sf
airport bart station. i haven't looked at them too closely (i have a
farecard that has entirely too much money on it and i don't use it too
often) ...

--
# henry mensch / san francisco, california
#

--
"""Remove "zorch" from address (2 places) to reply.
"Richard Schumacher" wrote in message
...


Fred Shecter wrote:

I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make the rolls of
circulated
dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Why would they bother to do that?


I've been buying a bag of GDs each year to use instead of dollar bills. Helps keep the
wallet
thinner (more ways than one!) and it's fun to look for mint errors. But I wonder
whether I
should hang onto a few of my 2003-Ps?


I buy a bag of each mintmark each year as well, but it is more than face value. Most folks
will just go to a bank and ask for rolls. The banks get them from deposits, or - more
likely - they order a box of 1000 which has 40 rolls of 25. Those rolls are packed at a
coin processing center and they are commingled SBA and GD. Many merchants will not order
dollar coins to use in their cash registers because they 'fear the Susie'. They assume
that the customers will react badly and run screaming from the store never to return. They
also assume that their cashiers are going to hand them out as quarters.

That is not a problem with the Golden Dollars, so rolls of "pure" golden dollars would be
much more accepted and we would see an increase in use of dollar coins.

-Fred Shecter

Richard Schumacher wrote:
Fred Shecter wrote:
I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make
the rolls of circulated dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Why would they bother to do that?

There's a theory that one of the reasons why GDs have not been as well
accepted as they might be otherwise is the continued mixing of old SBAs.
Removing the SBAs from the mix would therefore heighten acceptability of
GDs.

Personally, I don't buy it for a second. There is only one reason why
dollar coins have not gained widespread acceptance: continued production
of rag-bucks. Given the choice, people prefer to fall back on the
familiar, despite any efficiencies gained from the change.

--
Bob

Bob Flaminio wrote:

Richard Schumacher wrote:
Fred Shecter wrote:
I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make
the rolls of circulated dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Why would they bother to do that?

There's a theory that one of the reasons why GDs have not been as well
accepted as they might be otherwise is the continued mixing of old SBAs.
Removing the SBAs from the mix would therefore heighten acceptability of
GDs.

Personally, I don't buy it for a second. There is only one reason why
dollar coins have not gained widespread acceptance: continued production
of rag-bucks. Given the choice, people prefer to fall back on the
familiar, despite any efficiencies gained from the change.

It's also distressing that GDs tarnish so quickly to such an ugly color.
After a few weeks (!) of handling they start looking like old game arcade
tokens. Surely some alloy that ages more gracefully is possible, but
perhaps it would not be electromagnetically compatible with Susies and the
current GDs in vending machines.

You are (both) correct sir!

Also - if you rattle them around in your pocket they semi-polish themselves and are not so
dull. if you handle them and then put them in a jar or in rolls for a year they will react
and tarnish.

Silver coins did the same thing. If you rattled them around and circulated them, they
stayed silver colored, but if you just handle them a bit and then put them in a jar or
roll they turned quite dark.

Remember getting shiny new silver half dollars in the 'good old days'? They were much
nicer than the circulated halves.

Of course, circulated coins are supposed to continue to circulate. Wow, what a concept:
coins = money! I dig it.

Shiny GDs in bright sunlight still look pretty damned light colored, but once they
circulate they get darker and look NOTHING like a quarter. If anyone says that they
confuse GDs with quarters I tell them that almost nobody is going to make a mistake that
stupid - why LOOK...they are larger, have a different edge and feel, and they are a
COMPLETELY different color.

-Fred Shecter

--
"""Remove "zorch" from address (2 places) to reply.
"Leo M. Cavanaugh III" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 22:26:20 -0600, Richard Schumacher
wrote:

It's also distressing that GDs tarnish so quickly to such an ugly color.
After a few weeks (!) of handling they start looking like old game arcade
tokens. Surely some alloy that ages more gracefully is possible, but
perhaps it would not be electromagnetically compatible with Susies and the
current GDs in vending machines.

But that only makes it easier to distinguish GDs from SBAs and quarters, the
main complaint people had been making.
--
In actual reality, there are no Reid and Anti Reids. There are only Anti Reids.

- Reid Goldsborough 2003

Richard Schumacher wrote:
It's also distressing that GDs tarnish so quickly to such an ugly
color.

Not at all! The tarnishing is a Good Thing, in terms of getting GDs to
circulate. Humans, like jackdaws, are attracted to shiny objects. A
bright new shiny GD is more likely to get tossed into a dresser drawer,
while a grungy brownish GD will get spent and circulated.

Besides, have you seen how ugly cents get in circulation? No one cares
that cents stay bright and red and shiny, why should it concern us that
GDs get similarly uglified? An ugly coin is a /working/ coin.

--
Bob

On Fri, "Bob Flaminio" wrote:

Richard Schumacher wrote:
It's also distressing that GDs tarnish so quickly to such an ugly
color.

Not at all! The tarnishing is a Good Thing, in terms of getting GDs to
circulate.

Can you identify just whom it is that wants "Golden" dollars
to circulate?
While I sense some interested parties feel that it might help
increase revenue of vending machines, but that isn't a proven fact.

I am very concerned that the tarnish may cause a percentage
of the coins to be rejected by vending machines, causing real problems.

Humans, like jackdaws, are attracted to shiny objects. A
bright new shiny GD is more likely to get tossed into a dresser drawer,
while a grungy brownish GD will get spent and circulated.

The mint would love to see them tossed in drawers,
the FRB probably has no preference at all except that
it costs more for hauling them around.
The public just wants a useful currency, without
any biased agenda.

Besides, have you seen how ugly cents get in circulation? No one cares
that cents stay bright and red and shiny, why should it concern us that
GDs get similarly uglified? An ugly coin is a /working/ coin.

The very reason that the quarters and dimes are so well
accepted is because they retain the silver shine that has been
the high utility US coinage for 200 years.
The idea of a "golden" dollar tarnishing may remind some
of "gold" rings turning their finger green.

I have seen one mention of a Canadian coin that uses
the same alloy, does it tarnish?

Frankly, I would like to see the SAC continued, but with
the same metal as the quarter, the idea of a silver dollar is more
appealing than a "golden" dollar, and the color provides nothing
to the coin even if it didn't tarnish.

The use of the word "golden" has probably hurt the image
of the coin, as it suggests the coin is something that it is not.

Mint more, the same metal as the quarter, and change
metal in the middle of the year, the extra coins grabbed up
by collectors will help pay for printing dollar bills, which
have far more utility than a dollar coin at the present price
structures in the US.

Joe Fischer

Fred Shecter wrote:

--
"""Remove "zorch" from address (2 places) to reply.
"Richard Schumacher" wrote in message
...


Fred Shecter wrote:


I called the Mint press office to ask about:

Plans to optically sort and melt down the SBA dollars to help make the rolls of

circulated

dollars "pure' golden dollars.

Why would they bother to do that?


I've been buying a bag of GDs each year to use instead of dollar bills. Helps keep the

wallet

thinner (more ways than one!) and it's fun to look for mint errors. But I wonder

whether I

should hang onto a few of my 2003-Ps?



I buy a bag of each mintmark each year as well, but it is more than face value. Most folks
will just go to a bank and ask for rolls. The banks get them from deposits, or - more
likely - they order a box of 1000 which has 40 rolls of 25. Those rolls are packed at a
coin processing center and they are commingled SBA and GD. Many merchants will not order
dollar coins to use in their cash registers because they 'fear the Susie'. They assume
that the customers will react badly and run screaming from the store never to return. They
also assume that their cashiers are going to hand them out as quarters.

That is not a problem with the Golden Dollars, so rolls of "pure" golden dollars would be
much more accepted and we would see an increase in use of dollar coins.

-Fred Shecter

I used to get a box every time I ran low. Then they started being mixed.
I wrapped up the Soozies and took them back to the bank and they complained
to me.
Recently it's just been too much trouble. I love the brass bucks but I've
started playing with $2 bills again, as you know.

--
Tom Rea
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