Ain't We Just a Bunch of Sissies?

This week the United States Mint will release the new one dollar coin. The Mint plans to release four one dollar coins a year. Each release will feature the portrait of a United States president on the obverse side of the coin. The first release will feature a portrait of George Washington, the second John Adams, the third Thomas Jefferson, the fourth Jame Madison and so on and so on and one shudders to see the day when the Lydon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton coins. This writer wonders why the mint just doesn't feature the concept of Liberty (whether as a woman or as an eagle) on the coin as was done in the past. But we live in the where many people are not able to understand abstract concepts.

Your faithful correspondent celebrates the release of the coin. He appreciated the last dollar coin featuring Sacajawea despite the fact that he would have much preferred the image of Squanto, the Indian who aided the Pilgrims on the coin, be portrayed than Sacajawea. Your faithful correspondent champions any dollar coin, even if it bears the image of Ray Romano, simply because it is more practical and is inherently worth more than a dollar bill. A dollar coin lasts longer than a dollar bill and is thus a better investment for the Treasury than a dollar bill.

A recently survey, for what surveys and polls are worth, has shown that about 60% of those surveyed resisted the idea of a dollar coin for one of two reasons. The first is that the size of the coin is so close to the size of a twenty-five cents piece. that the user mistakes it for a quarter despite the fact that the dollar coin has a gold colored finish on it. And indication that the user doesn't look at his or her coins before handing them over to a clerk. Oddly the same complaint does not arise when handing over a dollar bill which is the same size and color as a five, ten, twenty, fifty or one hundred dollar bill. The second is that the dollar coin will wear a hole in the pants pocket of the user. This despite the fact that there has never been a demand for paper quarters, dimes, nickels or pennies to protect peoples' Levis or Haggars because of the alleged hole problem

The men and women of our grandfather's and grandmother's generation were used to carrying around heavy silver dollars in their pockets and purses and they never complained about the coins adversely affecting their pockets. And they also carried twenty dollar gold coins which were smaller than quarters; in fact, they were about the size of nickels, and your faithful correspondent has never heard a story about someone's grandfather accidentally using a twenty dollar gold piece to pay for a five cent Nehi soda.

If the Mint had any sense, which apparently it doesn't, it would not only issue a one dollar coin, but also issue a two dollar coin and a five dollar coin for the simple reason that coins make more economical sense than do paper bills and the fact that coins represent more value than does paper. After all, your local politician's promises are written on paper. And what are they worth?