I was just reading about the "life of currency"

Totally understandable with those old SBAs.

Fortunately, today's $1 coins are quite distinct from quarters. Different color, smooth edges, different weight.

30 years have passed, give the new coins a shot, they're much better.

Actually, here in Canada when we eliminated both the one dollar bill in 1986 and the two dollar bill (another concept y'all have never warmed up to! ) in 1997 to replace them with the one dollar and two dollar coins all the concerns mentioned above were brought up, yet it seems everyone here has adjusted just fine to the idea. The coins are, of course, far more durable & are actually quite handy once you start using them. For the idea to function well, the coins do need to be made larger than quarters so that folks will have no trouble distinguishing the two - we've done that. The $1 & $2 coins are also very different in both look and feel, with the $1 being a single piece in a bronze color, while the $2 has an insert that is the same color as the $1 coin but has an outer ring that is a silver color. So there is no way anyone could confuse the two, even in the dark, since you can feel the insert on the $2 coin if you can't see it.
I would say it took less than a year after the introduction of each of these coins for most people to adjust to the paper bills being pulled from circulation, and no one seems to even notice the bills are missing anymore. The odd bill does still show up (still legal currency) and when it does it's like watching kids play hot potato - no one wants the paper bills anymore! Men carry the $1 & $2 coins in their pockets, just as they do with pennies, nickels, dimes & quarters - no protest marches or anything! For those who throw their accumulated coinage into a jar at day's end, or drop their coins into the bottom of a purse there is a secondary benefit - they add up REALLY fast! That extra trip to Vegas is a lot closer than you think when you add up the contents of that "penny jar" after a few months!
It really does make much more sense than printing paper bills. The cost savings realized by minting these coins is significant, as they have a life expectancy of 20+ years. The last report I saw mentioned Canada had an expense of over $16 million dollars annually to reprint one dollar bills that had a life expectancy of only a couple years in regular circulation. I wonder what that expense is for you folks with so many more bills in circulation. Then again, I sometimes wonder if those $1 bills of yours are EVER pulled out of circulation, LOL! I seem to be a magnet for the most disgusting examples whenever I get them in my change. They often look like they've come out of a dumpster somewhere - wrinkled, faded, torn, stained and covered with who knows what kind of debris! I much prefer the coins!

How about those $100 bills? They are all covered with cocaine. Do we get rid of them, since they are covered with drugs?

But did you have to call them Loonies? We would have to eliminate our 2's too or they would become the new dollar bill. I love visiting Canada and carrying aound a pocket full of toonies. For some reason I allways end up with a pocket full of loose change in the US anyway, so with a bunch of loons and toons in there it makes me feel wealthier.

LOL! Loonie is just a nickname because of the bird on the reverse of the original coins - the Loon.
Toonie just followed as a natural nickname when the $2 coin came out.
There are now many variations on the original coins, as there have been several issues to commemorate different events over the years, so you don't always get a $1 coin with a loon or a $2 coin with a polar bear on the reverse. But the nicknames still stick regardless of the pictures!

Europe has 1 and 2 euro coins. UK has the coins, too.

The foreign coins are thick, heavy and no way you'll confuse them with a quarter.

Remember that America couldn't adapt to the metric system, so asking them to do something as foreign as giving up a dollar bill is more than most can handle.

If it were up to me...

Get rid of Pennies (more time is wasted with people waiting in lines for someone to find 2 pennies so they a single nickle or even a quarter back)... McDonalds would probably save millions if the cashiers did not have to be standing there waiting for people to get a penny out of their purse / pocket... they could be doing something much more productive).

Get rid of the Dollar Bill for a $1 coin. The only time I use $1 bills is tipping a valet, and if I have a good night, they get $5 on the way out... And besides any of that, I rarely use cash anymore... Too many perks to bonus whore on Debit cards these days...

We should be on a metric system as well...



No Pennies, No $1 Bills, Metric, = WIN!

I like the metric system we have now... 100 pennies = $1. thats all the metrics I need.

I admit Im the guy who takes the time to find a penny to give to the cashier. I do that so I won't get more pennies back as change.

I am against doing away with pennies as that will only mean one thing -- higher prices. Businesses will round prices up to the next nickel. And next they'll be rounding prices up to the next quarter -- and then to the next dollar.

What this country needs is a good "fractional coin" like a "quarter cent coin" so we can pay our sales taxes fairly and not get "rounded up" to the next penny.

Totally AGREE with all your points...