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Switching from the dollar bill to the dollar coin is a hot topic again at the U.S. Mint. While last year the mint decided to curtail production of the newest dollar coins because of lack of interest, a new GAO (General Accounting Office) study says that the U.S. government would save approximately $4.4 billion over the next 30 years if we replaced the paper dollar with the dollar coin.
At West Seattle Coins and Bellevue Rare Coins, we know that throughout history dollar coins have been valued as collector’s items. Let’s take a look at this little coin’s big history.
In the late 18th century, Spanish silver dollars or pieces of eight were in wide circulation throughout the American colonies. So when the fledgling U.S. government minted their first coins in 1794, they used the Spanish silver dollar as their guide.
Because of a minting error, all the silver dollars minted in 1804 bore the year 1803. It was the last year of production for that silver dollar. Thirty years later, the U.S. Mint put together a commemorative set of silver dollars, including every year that they had been minted. In doing so, they created the rarest coin in American history: the 1804 silver dollar. Only 15 of these coins are known to exist — and in 1999, one of them sold for $4 million at auction.
In the wake of two gold rushes, the government wanted to use more gold in its coinage. Thus, the gold dollar coin was minted for 50 years beginning in 1849. Because of gold’s high value, this was the smallest coin ever minted in America.
Americans have seemingly always preferred the paper dollar to the dollar coin. Although the dollar coin was used frequently in the western states over the next 100 years, most of the rest of the country was content to collect the silver and gold dollars rather than use them as currency.
With the U.S. Treasury announcing in 1964 that silver certificates could no longer be exchanged for silver coins, the dollar coin disappeared. Then, in 1971, the Eisenhower dollar coin was minted. It never gained popularity, though, because of its large size and heavy weight.
Over the next 40 years, the U.S. Mint attempted several times to introduce a new dollar coin that they hoped would gain favor. However, Americans remain slow to adopt the dollar coin, preferring the venerable greenback. And with the cost of producing the coins (32 cents per coin and millions in transportation and storage), the government decided in 2011 to curtail their production.
No one really knows what’s going to happen next, but with the newest GAO report, the dollar coin is again on everyone’s minds. “We realize that replacing the $1 note with the $1 coin is controversial,” Lorelei St. James of the GAO said. “In fact, public opinion has consistently been opposed to the $1 coin.” But whatever happens in the debate, the government has promised to continue to issue the newest dollar coins (the Presidential and Native American series) in collector’s editions.
Do you know the history of the coins in your collection? Or how much they might be worth? Come see the experts at West Seattle Coins and Bellevue Rare Coins in West Seattle, Bellevue and Lynnwood. We do more than buy and sell coins — we’re also avid collectors who love to talk about coins and their history.
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