CAGW Reacts to VP Biden’s Dollar Coin Announcement
December 13, 2011 02:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time
On March 4, 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting the substantial benefits of discontinuing $1 notes in favor of $1 coins. The GAO estimated that phasing out the $1 note and increasing circulation of the $1 coin would save taxpayers an average of $184 million annually and a total of $5.5 billion over the next 30 years.
Most of the cost savings associated with coins comes from their comparative durability. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces approximately 3.4 billion $1 bills each year, each of which costs 4.2 cents to manufacture and lasts 40 months. By comparison, the $1 coin costs between 12 and 20 cents but has a lifespan of 30 years or more. The $1 coin also saves money because it is cheaper to handle and process.
The GAO report also points out that “Over the last 47 years, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain, and the UK, among others, have replaced lower-denomination notes with coins … Canadian officials later determined that the Canadian government saved $450 million (Canadian) between 1987 and 1991.”
CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “The Obama administration’s decision to kill the $1 coin is exactly the wrong policy choice, one that flies in the face of any supposed regard for taxpayers’ wallets and defies common sense. To make matters worse, it usurps Congress’s authority to legislate coinage and money production.
CAGW Reacts to VP Bidenâs Dollar Coin Announcement | Business Wire