> But there is some hope -- the $1 bill is the only one that has NOT been > redesigned. If it ever is, all hope for the coin is gone. Somewhere I heard > that the government is replacing $1 bills with an equal number of $1 bills, > but increasing the needed number of $1 'items' with coins only. True, anyone? Can't say that I've heard anything about supplying any increased need for additional $1 bills with coins. Whether the fact that the $1 has not been redesigned is indicative of an eventual intent to take it out of circulation, I'm not sure. One of the reasons for the redesign was to foil the counterfeiters, and the $1 bill doesn't have a very high counterfeit rate. It takes too many bills printed to make it profitable. On a positive note, the FAQ section of the US Mint's page on the Golden Dollar DOES NOT include a question or statement about whether the coin is going to ultimately replace the dollar bill . That topic is not mentioned at all. If there was absolutely no plan to scrap the one dollar bill, I'm positive that such a question would be listed. If the plan is to ultimately replace the dollar bill with the golden dollar, it would have to be done "quietly", without a lot of fanfare. If the US government made a big announcement that they were getting rid of the $1 bill, far in advance of the actual date, it would cause such an uprising, that it would ultimately squash any plan they had. Of course, the other reason for not mentioning such a change is that dollar bills are produced by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, not the US Mint. Watching the project will be a bellweather as to how possible US metrication will be, under current circumstances. Stephen Gallagher
