Coin the debate, get rid of paper

By MARK TRAHANT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

I have favorite vending machines. Sure, I'm eager for a cup of coffee, stamps or such, but the real reason why I favor certain machines is because I know they will give me dollar coins as change.

I am fond of the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars. I think they're handy to carry and use. I only wish the coins were universal.

(I wonder if the newspaper business would be different these days if this country had switched away from paper dollars to coins years ago. Newspaper circulation numbers might not be any better but our revenue picture would be higher. Some of us wouldn't think much about exchanging a single coin for a newspaper.)

I have to wonder if this country has trouble with female images on its coins. Lady Liberty was circulated on nearly every coin before 1909 but she was gradually replaced by images of former presidents.

Then in 1978, the Susan B. Anthony coin was minted -- but that venture did not last long; the U.S. Mint produced fewer than a million coins.

Critics didn't like the Susan B. Anthony coin -- some said it was because of its size (bigger than a quarter, smaller than a fifty-cent piece) and others because of its political message. Whatever the reason, the United States gave up on the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Now almost 10 years ago Congress approved a new golden dollar coin, the Sacagawea.

The country was supposed to have learned from its dollar mistakes: The coin's size wasn't good for vending machines (an argument we now know was baloney) and it was too easily confused with a quarter. The new coin was larger and golden.

But the biggest mistake with the Susan B. Anthony coin was repeated with the Sacagawea. The only way to make these coin dollars work was to get rid of their paper counterparts. That's something that Congress was unwilling to do (even though the U.S. Mint estimated a potential savings of $500 million.)

Last week Congress approved new coins, a dollar honoring former presidents and a $10 honoring the former presidents' wives. (I wonder if Congress has thought through the potential of someday needing Bill and Hillary Clinton coins -- these could need to be issued twice, once as president, then again as a "wife.")

"An easy-to-use $1 coin will help bring much-needed efficiencies to the millions of low-dollar transactions that occur each day in our country. By making these exchanges more efficient with an easy-to-use $1 coin, businesses and consumers stand to reap enormous savings," said Sen. John Sununu in a press release. "In addition to its economic benefits, the $1 coin is a valuable educational tool -- much like the 50-state quarter series -- that will help inspire interest in the history of the leaders of our country."

The state quarters are popular. It's fun to collect them -- and see a new one when it rolls into circulation. But the state quarters don't compete with paper -- and that makes all the difference.

The new dollar act requires the federal government to give out the new currency as change, but makes no pretense of replacing the paper dollar. Instead it says the Sacagawea, Susan B. Anthony and new presidential coins will supplement each other.

Why can't we just get rid of the paper buck? It might be annoying for a time -- even a year or two. But we will all eventually get used to coins as dollars. That's certainly the case in Canada.

The coin debate is a symbol for American governance right now. Congress can't make hard decisions: It knows that dollar coins will save the country money but does not want to infuriate those who love the paper. Congress says do both. We, the country, can have it all.

The end result is we won't save money and will still infuriate those who champion their favorite monetary unit.

And what's with this business with more former presidents? Don't they already get enough attention?

Here's what I would do: Scrap the paper dollar, keep Susan B. and Sacajawea. Then I would add to the golden coin more names, honoring people who make America, America. I have a long list of nominees: What about coins for Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles or Louis Armstrong? Why not Caesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. or Vine Deloria? Or what about World War II veterans like Fred Korematsu? Or Sojourner Truth, Wilma Mankiller or Eleanor Roosevelt?

Instead of the Clintons, Eleanor Roosvelt would make a great first, second coin figure. Better yet, she should be the only figure to grace a $2 coin.