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Dollar Coins are Good Investments
Dollar coins make better investments than paper money because they will always hold some amount of value. The American paper dollar loses value during economic recessions. No matter how much inflation occurs, dollar coins will always hold value because they are made of precious metal. In fact, the price of precious metals such as silver tends to rise in value when the paper dollar decreases in value. Dollar coins make good investments because older coins are more valuable. The value of a dollar coin rises according to how long ago it was minted, how much silver in the coin and the rarity of that specific coin. This makes dollar coins great collector's items.
Coins are Less Economical than Cash
Producing paper money is less expensive for the U.S. government than producing metal currency, which requires mining, smelting and minting. In 2006, USA Today discovered that the price of producing both pennies and nickels was actually greater than the values of those two coins. From 2005 to 2006, the cost of producing pennies increased by 27 percent, and the manufacture price of nickels increased by 19 percent. Paper bills, however, cost a mere four cents each to manufacture.
Limited Utility
America is using hard forms of money less and less as credit and debit cards, and online shopping, become more prevalent. Also, Americans cannot use dollars when touring other countries; the majority of foreign cities do not use the American dollar as legal tender. Thus, travelers use credit cards and other electronic forms of payment instead of coins. These trends are making the dollar coin less and less useful.
Heavy Coins are Inconvenient
One of the reasons people have been switching to credit and debit is that it is less safe and more inconvenient to carry around coins and bills. This is especially the case for dollar coins, as they are heavy; in fact, they are heavier and larger than pennies, nickels, quarters and dimes.