The dollar coin option is important poll

[mjwalsh]

Everyone has a personal opinion on this issue. But if you want a read on what the general public thinks of dollar coins just go to McDonalds, Burger King, or your local Cstore and ask them to change a $5 into $1 coins. You may get an idea of how popular they really are. And most likely the coins you get will be quarters.

Reds & others,

For one thing --- the McDonald's & others would be more than happy to accommodate their hard fought for customer ---- out the dollar coins if asked if they had them. They probably would not have them because of the "systemic" problem of most USA banks requiring the preordering of them. In our case in our area our state owned bank actually started several years ago for some unexplained reason to charge a large number of private banks so you see --- of course it would not be feasible for the restaurant or retailer to not pass on the 1.5% to the customer --- you better believe that would be a heavy deterrent.

What tips the scale is that it is actually also better for the Treasury because as Bill P pointed out the cost of the quarter & dollar bill for them to make is more. The overstocking towards the Mint media frenzy is totally unrelated --- that is just blantant poor judgement --- the same could happen if they also made too many of any other coin. Unless someone was totally confident of credit cards & other forms of payment --- I would hope they would rise above their potentially misguided bias & vote for #1 on the poll --- if for no other reason it is SIMPLE ARITHMETIC the treasury will be helped --- every little bit does eventually starts to add up.

It seems you & others are trying to find ways to show that the Dollar Coins are not popular ---- As IB WashinMrPat & myself have experienced as clear as anything can be --- the customer prefer the Dollar Coin in our setting &/or Quarters as well as in other settings such as in my case attached laundromat & dog wash. As I mentioned before that is the dynamic when the slight drawback of stocking the coins ourselves occurs & they are dispensed instead of quarters or in addition to quarters. In our case we have 8 hoppers between our two Standard EF Changemakers & an affordable hi speed & reliable Cummins 2000 counter so that is not an issue. The super low cost weighing option of the coins is the same feasibility as if the quarters are weighed.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-107shrg81563/html/CHRG-107shrg81563.htm

Please take time to read the ICA portion of the above 9 year old report because most of those facts still apply. Some of those 9 year old facts ---don't such as our overall economy is in tougher straits at the present moment --- so the need is even greater now. I will concede that credit card use is growing ---- but to eliminate cash entirely is fraught with its own "potential abuse & vulnerability". Inflation has gotten worse --- that makes the Dollar Coin becoming more dominant at our locations is even more compelling. There is no question when we dispense all dollar coins --- they will be the dominant coin in our venue --- other venues will continue to differ unless they have the courage to finally bump the one dollar bill up to a two dollar bill like Pat H suggests.

mike walsh of bismarck

Continued on next post.

 

[mjwalsh]

Continued from previous post

It turns out that the stage is set for visitors coming to our forum along with 2 coin op laundry forums --- to see if in fact the Dollar Coin can play a role to help improve our economy. Hopefully, we are not so foolish to pick the totally wacky option #2.

Again the poll is was also intended spark dialog & hopefully enough worthwhile dialog will be passed on to stop this inappropriate mindless suggesting to "all or nothing" elimination of the Dollar Coin & to CORRECT the "systemic" no incentive for banks to make them more reasonably available. The counts in favor of #1 on the poll is also of value to our industry as a whole.

If any of you want to check out the specifics of the 2 bills now before the two houses --- & give some of the rest of us a heads up --- it could help the proper flow of information. An uninformed public can be the biggest problem of all sometimes. I am sure if you google "Rep Jackie Speiers" you will see among other items the bill she proposes on dollar coins that is being layed on the table. Ditto for Sen David Vitter. I honestly feel that most of us should be given more credibility than them & their collaborators.

mike walsh of bismarck

 

[Washmee]

I don't have a dog in this fight because I'm a tunnel guy, but I don't have any idea why someone would want to walk around with a pocket full of coins. I can put paper money anywhere and carry it with ease. I guess if things with our economy keep going the way they are headed, we won't be talking about 1 dollars, because they won't be worth anything at all.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I don't have any idea why someone would want to walk around with a pocket full of coins.

I don't either, why would they? I don't get the perception that getting rid of the "one" would require packing a bunch of coins. People don't carry around 10-20 bucks worth of quarters now, nor do they have 20 or 30 ones in their wallet. The coin-op industry needs a dollar coin, the fact that virtually every vending machine has a bill acceptor proves that. Coins just work better in that environment. I don't think that anyone here can argue the fact that bill acceptor maintenance far exceeds coin acceptors. The dollar bill is silly and wasteful since it is now change, but in wrinkled paper form. As I said before, those that have their emotional attatchment to the greenback will still be able to pacify that with the "two" which no doubt would get ordered by banks in much larger quantities. The fact that Canada has already done the loonie/twonie and it works great should be a clue, but what do they know. All that being said, I hope my competitors keep dispensing piles of quarters that their customers don't want.

 

[Kevin Reilly]

"Where the heck has Kevin Reilly been? --- I really do miss him & his ability to sort out some of the inaccuracies that sometimes show up in the posts that could potentially hurt us overall. Is there a real lulu law that could potentially effectively eliminate the important dollar coin option --- in the event we are not united enough to deter those specific lawmakers? --- David Vitter & Jackie Speier & others I believe by their position will weaken any industry that the gold dollar coin might be a better fit for --- including the self service car & dog wash industry."

Kevin Reilly is alive and kicking (not too high though!) Pat Hall sent me a msg on facebook and said my name was mentioned (not in vain). It's been so long I forgot my password but had it locked up in excel and it worked!

We still have 5 self serve locations left but have sold off two exterior expresses that had bays attached and a 4-bay SS in Lodi, CA. My son decided he'd like to buy them so I sold them to him.

We still accept quarters, dollar coins and dollar tokens. Our token as income still do the most, but we get some dollar coins and of course quarters. Don't know what the percentages are but if you're interested I'll look it up. We are very big in vending, but vacuuming has dropped because the exterior express in town (my son) is giving free vacuums.

Economy here in Stockton is horrible and I can tell you that in all my years this has been the worst for us, but we are totally out of debt so we are surviving by tightening expenses as tight as we can and waiting for the turnaround.......

My thoughts on the dollar coin! The Feds would save a lot of money getting rid of the dollar bill. The dollar coin would certainly be used in all kinds of coin accepting machines and the coin would outlast the bill.

My son put in gates at some of his express washes. All transactions done thru an auto-cashier type, accepts cash, CC, Kelly's cards, and if you use cash your change is returned in DOLLAR coins and they use a lot of them. So it's not totally dead yet IMHO.

 

[Eric H]

I've kept quiet for this conversation. I have been dispensing $ coins since'99. I wouldn't think about going back and more importantly my customers would revolt if I did! I can't imagine asking my customers to deposit 14 quarters to start if my bill acceptor is down.
To restate what Pat said:The 2 dollar bill will replace the one if the government eliminates the dollar bill.
Next time you use cash to pay take a good look at your change before you put it back in you wallet.
If you get: $10 = 10
$9 = 5,2,2
$8 = 5,2, and a dollar coin
$7 = 5,2
$6 = 5 and dollar coin
$5 =5
$4 = 2,2
$3 = 2 and dollar coin
$2 = 2
$1 = dollar coin
So, only 40% of the time you would receive a dollar coin back as change. 40% does not equal constantly walking around with a pocket full of dollar coins!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Down to 20%

My god Eric, are you crazy! That's too many coins to be lugging around...outrageous!!! On any given day you could end up with two, maybe three of them to lug home! Any sane person would pay $6 & $8 back with 3 & 4 twos respectively just to get those heavy things down to a manageable level. Now, with my improvement, the coin is only absolutely necessary when the amt of change required is 1 or 3 dollars. Sometimes I worry about you

 

[mjwalsh]

Town House Meeting Report

"Where the heck has Kevin Reilly been? --- I really do miss him & his ability to sort out some of the inaccuracies that sometimes show up in the posts that could potentially hurt us overall."

Kevin Reilly is alive and kicking (not too high though!) Pat Hall sent me a msg on facebook and said my name was mentioned (not in vain). It's been so long I forgot my password but had it locked up in excel and it worked!

Economy here in Stockton is horrible and I can tell you that in all my years this has been the worst for us, but we are totally out of debt so we are surviving by tightening expenses as tight as we can and waiting for the turnaround.......

My thoughts on the dollar coin! The Feds would save a lot of money getting rid of the dollar bill. The dollar coin would certainly be used in all kinds of coin accepting machines and the coin would outlast the bill.

My son put in gates at some of his express washes. All transactions done thru an auto-cashier type, accepts cash, CC, Kelly's cards, and if you use cash your change is returned in DOLLAR coins and they use a lot of them. So it's not totally dead yet IMHO.

Kevin,

Just by telling your honest long term experience with the dollar coin --- it is helpful. Also you having been a very popular prez (for good reason) yourself of very significant number of us association wise makes it so your comments --- should carry the proper weight if the lawmakers are thinking clearly.

Our new congressman Rick Berg of Fargo who now is running for the open senate race had a "town hall meeting" a few hours ago today. He did allow dialog which was encouraging. I was sitting next to a long time friend & local leader who I remember very distinctly serving as "free of charge" as a very good ombudman to prevent "systemic" problems from getting out of hand many years ago when he was younger. Understand the dollar coin was just one of many issues brought up.

Yes I did stand up --- identified myself --- 1st question: Did the crowd of about 150 people want to get rid of cash completely? They did not say yes so I proceeded to say --- if not ---- which I am certain they would never want to go down that road competely if they were properly informed --- if not, then we need to consider making both currency & coin as efficient as possible.

I tried as hard as I could --- judging by how dilated the blood vessels in my face were by the time I was done. Other points that I tried to make: The "systemic" problems making the coins not being available enough --- needed to be corrected. Yes --- I did say the lowest currency should be moved up to $2 if they are truly interested in maximizing the savings.

His response of "I wish they would have stopped with Sacagawea" could be interpreted as if the stockpile problem was caused by starting of the Presidential coins --- so apparently he might need a little coaching &/or give it the proper thought: Did the fact that the over ordering was the cause of the unnecessary stockpile --- sink in --- do they or can they learn??? --- time will tell.

Like I said --- it is very possible there will be more than a few washington dc viewers noticing our ongoing dialog also.

mike walsh king koin of bismarck

 

[Eric H]

Sometimes I worry about you

I should know better than to drink and post. *sigh*

 

[Earl Weiss]

All that being said, I hope my competitors keep dispensing piles of quarters that their customers don't want.

If only that were true. Since going to Bill acceptors in the bays revenue is now 50/50 through the bill acceptors and the changers.


Still, every couple of weeks I need to add $500.00 in quarters to the changers because of the walk off / not enough to recycle from the Bays / Vacs/ vending.

So. for stuff thats not wanted using 1000 or so a week is a lot.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I guess that's the difference between metro and rural areas. In my 40+ years around this biz I've never had to buy a single quarter.

 

[mjwalsh]

I guess that's the difference between metro and rural areas. In my 40+ years around this biz I've never had to buy a single quarter.

Pat & others,

This has been our experience & it still reflects the current status. If fact, the weight of the quarters vs the dollar coins is a problem. We have a very good relationship with the local US Bank so they actually have been known to call us --- if they themselves run out of quarters. Also our experience with significantly more maintenance (& more costly) with bill acceptors than coin acceptors is consistent to what you said.

Can you imagine how much even more economy killing everything would be if the majority of banks across the country followed the lead of our state owned bank in the hucksterism mindset of 1.5% as their one way street transaction occurs --- & then in turn affecting a significant number of smaller banks across our "more rural than most" state of north dakota.

Yesterday evening I made it clear to the town hall people & congressman Berg that I have no vendetta against the bank &/or everything they do but that they clearly dropped & continue to drop the ball when it comes to dollar coins. Thus --- qualifying my previous statement that the government often does not know what its left hand is doing along with its right hand. The worse of it --- are they willing to make the proper effort to correct it or are they mostly interested in aggravating the problem even worse --- similar to a spoiled brat?

mike walsh king koin of bismarck

 

[mjwalsh]

Just thinking outloud as to what is the most just.

Let's see ----- What is a good anecdote to the people serious about making it so the USA has no dollar coin or who are party to making it less available.

Hmmm --- just thinking outloud ---- since at most they might have to carry just a few of the dollar coins around for proper change --- especially since 2 dollar bills will naturally become more prevalent & more requested ---- hmmm --- let's think this through.

Let's see --- the taxpayer money that would have been saved because of the proven extra cost to make the extra quarters needed & in the long term the many extra one dollar bills that will be needed to be made --- this loss will really have to be made up somewhere else in either extra taxes or some horrific denial of a planned needed medical assistance or something similar.

That does not seem fair --- we really need to find a way to make those who voluntarily discourage the using any dollar coins in any setting to come up with those extra tax dollars lost.

Right off hand I think the ones shortchanging the rest of us taxpayers really might be hard pressed to show some kind of actual burden or injustice inflicted upon them. Let see --- what would most of us answer to that if we were called to jury duty on that one. Something tells me a properly informed jury would rule in favor of the shortchanged general public that had to make up for those lost dollars.

mike walsh king koin of bismarck

 

[pitzerwm]

Since I banned Pat Crowe, he emailed me to add his opinion. "We are all morons to continue to campaign for a dollar coin.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I figured his Oprah for President campiagn kept him too busy to be concerned with us little pea-brained fools.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

Anyone want to put money on percent change in dollar coin use over next 10 years. I think it will be a negative number.

Ted

 

[MEP001]

Anyone want to put money on percent change in dollar coin use over next 10 years.

I'm actually seeing less use, now that the post offices have pulled out all the vending machines. All our machines take $1 coins; I used to find an average of two or three a week, now it's more like two a month.

 

[pitzerwm]

Most change is opposed. If the paper dollar wasn't an option, then people would quickly adjust and it would be no different than the use of a quarter. People aren't going to carry around a pocket full of dollar coins anymore than you carry around a pocket full of quarters.

Look in your wallet, you don't have a wallet full of ones, you have 20s, 10s and some 5s. namely because most of us use the credit card so that we can use their money for 25 days and enables us to keep better records.

Like I said most countries in the world have the $1 & $2 coins and they have no issues at all. I found that I might have one or two of them in my pocket at a time. I don't even know why there is any discussion on this other than just something to whine about. It's like saying that the quarter should never had been minted, because dimes and nickels were just fine.

 

[rph9168]

The only way to get people to use dollar coins is to take the bills out of circulation. I know it will cause some problems for businesses using bill changers but to have both bills and coins seems ridiculous. I know politicians do not want to make that decision for fear of losing votes but I think by not making a decision more people are upset than if one was made.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Look in your wallet, you don't have a wallet full of ones, you have 20s, 10s and some 5s. namely because most of us use the credit card so that we can use their money for 25 days and enables us to keep better records.

QUOTE]

When I travel I often carry 10 or more singles. Good for tips. I'd rather do that can carry the same amount of dollar coins. Tough to tip the porters doormen etc. with credit cards. There is alos a logistics issue.