Stop Printing One Dollar Bills

So, I have been hearing these new radio advertisements about yet another new one dollar coin. These ads are all about how great dollar coins are, and how everyone should use them, right? Well, I know another fantastic way to get people to use them. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s the only way to get people to use them.

STOP PRINTING ONE DOLLAR BILLS!

Apparently, the Treasury isn’t allowed to stop printing dollar bills, though. It only carries out orders from Congress. And apparently, I kid you not, there is a dollar bill lobby.

They come, principally, from three groups: the folks at the BEP; Mississippi cotton farmers, whose fibers make up the 100-percent-rag currency paper; and Crane & Company, a Massachusetts paper mill known for excellent stationery and a century-old papermaking contract with the government. Around the time the Sacagawea was proposed, they formed a lobbying group called Save the Greenback, which, according to press accounts, had the ear of Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and, back when he was in Congress, Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Source. I highly recommend the article. It’s a great read.

Now, I personally can’t think of a single good reason to keep the dollar bill. Most small cash transactions are pretty automated these days — vending machines, car washes, tolls — and coins are MUCH easier to deal with.

What do you guys think?