Letter to the editor, The Washington Post, March 17:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031602 113.html Time to Fold the Dollar Saturday, March 17, 2007; Page A18 The headline on Gordon Legge's March 10 letter, "U.S. Dollars: Feel the Difference," pointed to the solution to the problem our nation's 900,000 blind and visually impaired residents face in distinguishing among denominations of paper money. Replace the dollar bills with coins. Half of all paper money in circulation is dollar bills. Hence, half of the problem blind people encounter recognizing money would be solved by phasing out the dollar bill and phasing in the presidential dollar coins now being issued. Mr. Legge, who is visually impaired, noted that coins are easier for the blind to use because of their two tactile features: variations in size and in edge. He cited the euro currency's tactile features that make Europe's money more user-friendly for the blind. But he failed to mention the most important feature -- the euro, now worth about $1.30, is a coin, not a note. Because dollar bills circulate for about 20 months, and dollar coins last more than 20 years, the federal government would save at least $600 million a year in paper and ink costs by substituting coins for bills. These savings would yield more than twice the amount needed to provide every legally blind person in the country with a lightweight, hand-held, reliable currency reader. Currency readers would enable blind people to conduct transactions quickly and confidently. If Mr. Legge's solution -- the redesign of U.S. currency -- is adopted, bill acceptors in at least 1.5 million food and beverage vending machines, most of which are already capable of accepting dollar coins, will have to be retooled or replaced at a cost of between $150 million and $500 million. THOMAS E. McMAHON Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel National Automatic Merchandising Association Herndon _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Jason Wentworth Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 23:43 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:38283] New York City's metric-relevant experience >From the "Slate" article "Scrap the Greenback!" by Christopher Bonanos http://www.slate.com/id/2161901/?GT1=9231 : "You know the Feds are acting like the Keystone Koin Kops when they're outgunned by a New York state agency, but the Treasury really ought to look to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs the New York subways. The MTA introduced an electronic fare card in 1997 but kept the token around for several years, making silly noises about the MetroCard's poor "public acceptance." New Yorkers were slow to adopt the card, even when a volume discount made it worth their while to do so. But the moment tokens went away in 2003, "public acceptance" was inevitable, and four years later, no one (except a few railfan cranks) is whining about the good old days. The public is slow to accept new currencies, but that same public has a mercifully short memory. Get rid of those dirty handkerchiefs tomorrow, and you'll have forgotten about them by the time the first Martin Van Buren dollar lands in your palm." -- Jason
