OK, $1 coin lovers, such a deal I have for you. It is time to "fish or cut bait." No more "can't find 'em" excuses. I learned of this deal through another discussion forum: http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=8100
The US Mint will sell you $250 in $1 coins (circulation grade) AT PAR. They will absorb the credit card fees, shipping and handling, and deliver to your door. They are obviously taking a small loss on each to move inventory. Scammers have used the program to earn air miles and credit card points and immediately deposit the coins at their bank. So the Mint has had to add some limitations, you can only buy $1000 worth every 10 days, and you have to promise that you understand you are not supposed to abuse the program. (Please keep in mind that $1000 weighs 8.1 kg plus the weight of shipping materials.) That limit is considerably faster than I use cash, although, frankly, I prefer bills and larger denominations. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: John M. Steele <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, August 11, 2010 6:56:59 PM Subject: Re: [USMA:48358] Re: USA $1 Coins Your analysis does not negate 8X the weight. The volume comparison depends on how you do it. Dollar bills form nice, rectangular solid packs. coin stacks give cylinders and shipping requires hex close pack packing to form rectangular shapes. Using US Treasury dimensions, a million paper bills occupy 1.127 m³ and weigh about 1 t. If coins are close packed in an array 40 x 50 x 500 coins high, the dimensions of the close pack are 1.073 m x 1.147 5 m x 1 m = 1.2315 m³, a bigger volume, although not by much. However, it weighs 8.1 t. Back to the BBC article, since they gave the coin dimensions in metric, why doesn't the $1.1 billion stack extend 2200 km, instead of some odd number in miles? ________________________________ From: Michael G. Koerner <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, August 11, 2010 4:29:52 PM Subject: [USMA:48358] Re: USA $1 Coins > Subject: > [USMA:48352] Re: US $1 coins > From: > "John M. Steele" <[email protected]> > Date: > Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:31:51 -0700 (PDT) > To: > U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > > I don't think it has anything to do with metric. The $1 bill fits in our >wallets with other bills. The $1 coin has to be carried as change. To carry >a >given dollar amount, the coin is more than 8X heavier. It is also slightly >more >volume after packing factor is considered. We have vending machines that >accept >bills, so one of the biggest personal reasons for high-value coins is not very >relevant. > > I found a use for dollar coins where they don't bother me. The parking lots > in >a small town near me are automated. They accept bills or coin., but any >dollar >amounts they give in change are in dollar coins. I just leave them lying in a >tray in the car, where the weight is not a problem, and use them paying >parking >fees. Its perfectly safe, no one will break into my car to steal dollar >coins. >:) > > I don't like them, and when I receive them, I try to use them up in ways that >minimize my inconvenience. Of all the ways my government wastes money, >accomodating my preference for bills is small potatoes. PS: In recent data on >a >Treasury website, $1 bills now last longer than $5 and $10 bills, so >apparently >they have gone to a higher durability paper. We have the coins for those that >prefer them. USPS stamp machines also accept bills, and give dollars of >change >only in coin, so that is another way to get all (or more than) one wants. > > From: John Frewen-Lord <[email protected]> > To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > Sent: Wed, August 11, 2010 4:15:46 AM > Subject: [USMA:48351] US $1 coins > > While Canada has had a $1 coin for years (and Canadians far prefer it), >Americans still resist such a coin, according to this article on the BBC >website >today: > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10783019 > > All the coin's dimensions are in metric units, with the source of those >measurements being the US Mint, so obviously not converted by the BBC. > > One of the things that has always amazed me about America, especially for a >country that is, in the eyes of much (though not all) of the world, the >essence >of progressiveness and modernity, is how much of America is actually very >resistant to change, far more than say Europe, where history and tradition is >so >much more entrenched. > > I wonder if this US resistance to change is behind the deep opposition to >changing over to the metric system? Whatever the reasons, this resistance to >change wil be America's downfall in the end. > > John F-L A lot of it is inertia, but also a major factor is heavy lobbying by those with vested interests in maintaining that status quo. WRT $1 coins vs $1 banknotes, the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, especially Senators John Kerry and the late Teddy Kennedy, fought hard to quash any proposal to eliminate the $1 note. Why? The mill that makes the paper is located in Dalton, MA. I'm kind of surprised, and maybe not, that $1s now last longer than $5s and $10s. The paper in the latter two seems worse than what was used in them before their most recent redesigns. As for the comparative volume of $1 notes vs $1 coins, try a little experiment. Take 25 USA$1 notes, stack them together and roll them into the tightest roll that you possibly can (this is done for use in change-dispensing safes in many gasoline/petrol stations and attached stores). You'll find that that roll will be about the diameter of a $1 coin. Measure how long that roll is (this should be the vertical dimension of the notes). It should be a smidgen over 65 mm long. NOW, measure the length of a standard $25 roll of USA$1 coins. Since the coins are exactly 2 mm thick, a roll of 25 of them should be 50 mm, plus another 2 or so mm for the crimping, long - 12-13 mm SHORTER than the roll of $1 notes. Eack coin has less volume than each note. Also, I have not kept a $1 note in my wallet in nearly ten years, they are just too bulky. I keep them separately in one of my back pockets. Yes, inertia on needed changes, such as defaulting to SI measures and circulating high-value coins, is a huge problem here in the USofA, but, OTOH, roundabouts are fast catching on as design options for street and highway intersections in many parts of the USA, so there is a glimmer of hope here. -- ___________________________________________ ____ _______________ Regards, | |\ ____ | | | | |\ Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again! Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | | ___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
