about $1 coin: not much used, almost fail, due to people so much love $1 paper bill

[James2011]

How many $1 coins have you seen in circulation?

Since the Presidential $1 Coin Program launched in 2007, I have received just one during a commercial transaction. The cashier apologized profusely while passing me a tarnished coin bearing a likeness of John Quincy Adams. She told me she just wanted to get rid of it.

The Presidential $1 Coin Program is the federal government's latest attempt to create a circulating $1 coin. To give the series the best possible chance of success, the authorizing legislation provided numerous measures to increase awareness and remove barriers to circulation.

By and large these measures have failed, as Americans continue to embrace paper currency. Louise L. Roseman, director of the division of reserve bank operations and payment systems, told Congress last month that "transactional demand for $1 coins has not increased materially since the start of the Presidential $1 Coin Program and overall demand continues to come primarily from collectors."

Despite the lack of demand, the U.S. Mint has produced approximately 2 billion of the golden-colored $1 coins, with production continuing at about 500 million coins per year. This includes the four different $1 coins released each year featuring former presidents, plus one more annual design for the separate Native American $1 Coin Program.

As of May 31, the Federal Reserve Banks had nearly 1 billion $1 coins stockpiled in their inventory. The amount continues to grow with each $1 coin released and is expected to reach 2 billion by the end of the program.

The obvious question is: If there is little transactional demand for the coins and an enormous stockpile already exists, why does the Mint continue to produce the coins in such great quantities?

The answer has to do with a legislative requirement of the coin program that was intended to ensure an adequate supply for commerce. By law, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must ensure that each design of the presidential $1 coin series released is available to financial institutions during an introductory period. To meet this requirement, the reserve banks are compelled to order new $1 coins from the Mint four times per year. The Mint diligently produces these. Quantities of the new $1 coins ordered by the Federal Reserve and not requested by financial institutions, as well as quantities that are ordered and then redeposited, continually add to the reserve banks' inventory of $1 coins.

The legislation behind the separate Native American $1 Coin Program requires that these coins be produced in a quantity equal to at least 20 percent of all dollar coins for each year. Thus, production of this additional $1 coin series is based on the inflated demand for the other series.


The required production of Native American $1 coins created a different problem. Since the Federal Reserve was not required to order the coins, the Mint was stuck with them. Conveniently, the Mint created the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program, which allows individuals and businesses to order the coins at face value with no charge for shipping and handling.

Last year, the Mint distributed $121 million of the $1 coins through the direct-ship program. Unfortunately, a potentially significant portion of this amount may have been related to artificial demand created by people taking advantage of the program. Many people purchased the coins at face value with their credit cards, earning valuable rewards points, and then deposited the coins at their local bank, recovering the full cost. (The Mint has since worked to curb such abuses.) Once deposited, many of these $1 coins were probably returned to the reserve banks, since financial institutions would have little need to keep them on hand.

Meanwhile, the Mint has been generating substantial "profits" from the production and stockpiling of unnecessary $1 coins. Each time a manganese brass disc of metal gets stamped into a legal-tender dollar, the Mint earns seigniorage based on the difference between the costs of production and the face value. In the most recent fiscal year, seigniorage earned through the production of $1 coins was $318.7 million, accounting for 63.5 percent of the Mint's total seigniorage and net income. It's a strange overlap of legislative requirements and unintended consequences that created this unnecessary but "profitable" product of the U.S. government.

Consider that the next time you see a $1 coin in circulation, if it happens.

Michael Zielinski is editor of Coin Update, a Web site on coin collecting, and author of Mint News Blog.

[MrMachine]

How many $1 coins have you seen in circulation?

Since the Presidential $1 Coin Program launched in 2007, I have received just one during a commercial transaction. The cashier apologized profusely while passing me a tarnished coin bearing a likeness of John Quincy Adams. She told me she just wanted to get rid of it.

The Presidential $1 Coin Program is the federal government's latest attempt to create a circulating $1 coin. To give the series the best possible chance of success, the authorizing legislation provided numerous measures to increase awareness and remove barriers to circulation.

By and large these measures have failed, as Americans continue to embrace paper currency. Louise L. Roseman, director of the division of reserve bank operations and payment systems, told Congress last month that "transactional demand for $1 coins has not increased materially since the start of the Presidential $1 Coin Program and overall demand continues to come primarily from collectors."

Despite the lack of demand, the U.S. Mint has produced approximately 2 billion of the golden-colored $1 coins, with production continuing at about 500 million coins per year. This includes the four different $1 coins released each year featuring former presidents, plus one more annual design for the separate Native American $1 Coin Program.

As of May 31, the Federal Reserve Banks had nearly 1 billion $1 coins stockpiled in their inventory. The amount continues to grow with each $1 coin released and is expected to reach 2 billion by the end of the program.

The obvious question is: If there is little transactional demand for the coins and an enormous stockpile already exists, why does the Mint continue to produce the coins in such great quantities?

The answer has to do with a legislative requirement of the coin program that was intended to ensure an adequate supply for commerce. By law, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must ensure that each design of the presidential $1 coin series released is available to financial institutions during an introductory period. To meet this requirement, the reserve banks are compelled to order new $1 coins from the Mint four times per year. The Mint diligently produces these. Quantities of the new $1 coins ordered by the Federal Reserve and not requested by financial institutions, as well as quantities that are ordered and then redeposited, continually add to the reserve banks' inventory of $1 coins.

The legislation behind the separate Native American $1 Coin Program requires that these coins be produced in a quantity equal to at least 20 percent of all dollar coins for each year. Thus, production of this additional $1 coin series is based on the inflated demand for the other series.


The required production of Native American $1 coins created a different problem. Since the Federal Reserve was not required to order the coins, the Mint was stuck with them. Conveniently, the Mint created the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program, which allows individuals and businesses to order the coins at face value with no charge for shipping and handling.

Last year, the Mint distributed $121 million of the $1 coins through the direct-ship program. Unfortunately, a potentially significant portion of this amount may have been related to artificial demand created by people taking advantage of the program. Many people purchased the coins at face value with their credit cards, earning valuable rewards points, and then deposited the coins at their local bank, recovering the full cost. (The Mint has since worked to curb such abuses.) Once deposited, many of these $1 coins were probably returned to the reserve banks, since financial institutions would have little need to keep them on hand.

Meanwhile, the Mint has been generating substantial "profits" from the production and stockpiling of unnecessary $1 coins. Each time a manganese brass disc of metal gets stamped into a legal-tender dollar, the Mint earns seigniorage based on the difference between the costs of production and the face value. In the most recent fiscal year, seigniorage earned through the production of $1 coins was $318.7 million, accounting for 63.5 percent of the Mint's total seigniorage and net income. It's a strange overlap of legislative requirements and unintended consequences that created this unnecessary but "profitable" product of the U.S. government.

Consider that the next time you see a $1 coin in circulation, if it happens.

Michael Zielinski is editor of Coin Update, a Web site on coin collecting, and author of Mint News Blog.

The $1.00 coin will never really take off unless they pull the Paper Dollar bill out of circulation, just like Canada did when they introduced their successful Looney dollar coin.

[Adamski]

Hithere,

If Congress wants full acceptance and use of the stock-piled dollar coins, all it has to do is begin the elimination of our filthy, tired, worn-out dollar bills. Having two formats of the same value currency puts both at a disadvantage. People who never use coin-op equipment would see no use for the dollar coin while people who use coin-op equipment would be better served without the dollar bill in the way.

I've been using the dollar coin in my laundromat for six years now and I can attest to the fact that the public will embrace the coin in a coin environment. In addition, I have used the coin many times when making purchases outside of the coin environment and it is now received without remark, question or comment. Our industry needs the dollar coin to solve the worthless quarter problem. Can you not see how ridiculous it is for a customer to insert 16 to 40 quarters just to start up a medium to large washer? The dollar coin is the perfect conveyance to restore convenience to a laundromat's vend pricing.

The US Mint's Direct Ship program makes refreshing my dollar coin supply easy and convenient. I merely go online and order the dollar coins I need and charge them to my credit card. Since I am exempt from the 2 box ($500) limit; I can order as many boxes as I need for my bill changers. I also buy coins from my bank when they have the uncirculated ones in stock. Obviously, the bills from the changers pay for these coins so buying coins is not a business expense; rather, it's an exchange of paper money for dollar coins.

[apartment_guy]

Here in Canada we've had the "Loonie" for more than 20 years. In fact, Canada has always had a dollar coin but it prior to 1986 (or so) it circulated along with paper bills, and was typically treated as an oddity and used as a souvenier... to be given to kids to mark a birthday or a gift from the tooth fairy.

With the introduction of the Loonie (so-called because it has an engraving of a loon on the back face) paper $1 bills were taken out of circulation. Then in 1996 the "Toonie" (a $2 coin, as in "two loonies") was introduced and the $2 paper bill was removed from circulation.

I much prefer to use coins rather than paper. And I much prefer to get Loonies and Toonies in my coin boxes (which take both in addition to quarters). One unexpected benefit of the Toonie coin is that although my dryers can dry a full load for $1.25 or $1.50 many tenants will pay $2 because they don't have the right change.

BTW, the original "buck" was a Canadian coin. It was struck by the Hudson's Bay Company a couple of hundred years ago and had a value equal to that of one male beaver (a "buck") pelt.

[Adamski]

...the original "buck" was a Canadian coin. It was struck by the Hudson's Bay Company a couple of hundred years ago and had a value equal to that of one male beaver (a "buck") pelt.

Apartment guy,

So the term "buck" refers to a male beaver who's pelt was worth one dollar coin. Who'd a thunk that? I learned something new today. Thanks.

[James2011]

Apartment guy,

So the term "buck" refers to a male beaver who's pelt was worth one dollar coin. Who'd a thunk that? I learned something new today. Thanks.

Good lesson.....

[mjwalsh]

Dear Friends in Canada & Fellow Americans,

Do we really want to not include bill acceptors (with fleet & gift certificate capability) on some pieces of equipment? On a variety of our equipment ---- Megavendor, Crane Machine, Dog Wash & Car Wash meters all have both Coin Acceptors & Dollar Bill Acceptors. The Dog Wash & Car Wash also have unlimited denomination certificate capabilities too! It serves as a redundancy for these pieces of equipment if an unavoidable sticky gummy coin or children playing with tiny bits of paper gets the coins stuck etc. Sure ---- the amount could jump to $5 for the next bill but that could be kind of steep for some customers.

If our "dollar coin" mechs are "truly" high enough quality so they are noticeably more reliable than dollar bill acceptors then I think the customers will gravitate to them soon enough. Between that & the educational community (including our finest PHDs!) educating with their (our) sweet little heads I think the dollar coin use will be accelerated to the level that we need!

The original intended net result by our duly elected leaders would then occur with the original objectives of fewer one dollar bills needing to be printed and the other objective of increased economic activity occuring where credit cards are not practical!

Ugh Grunt Yup effort is needed ---- sorry about my more humble grammer! When is my proof reader going to be back to rescue me?#@*! Annieeehow!

MJ

Attn: Michelle or Webmaster or whoever ----Please pretty please don't delete this post!

[Adamski]

Good lesson.....

Hithere,

The real lesson to be learned here is that the dollar coin is successful in Cananda because the Canadian government wisely phased out their dollar bill when they introduced the looney. For some unknown reason, our government thinks that we should keep a bill that will only buy 2 first class stamps or a cold can of pop or 1/3 of a loaf of bread or 1 candy bar. These are all purchases that are best paid for with coinage but congress cannot see that.

[Adamski]

Mike,

What happens when someone squirts high pressure, soapy water into the bill accepter on your car wash meter? Let's face it, a car wash is the absolute worst environment for a coin meter or a bill accepter. You've got temperatures ranging from 90 down to below zero along with high humidity and the availability of high pressure should a customer decide to use it on the meter (I've seen this happen in a car wash that I used to own). You've also got mud and grease coming off motors and splattering everywhere. I cannot imagine a bill validator performing reliably in that environment.

[mjwalsh]

Mike,

What happens when someone squirts high pressure, soapy water into the bill accepter on your car wash meter? Let's face it, a car wash is the absolute worst environment for a coin meter or a bill accepter. You've got temperatures ranging from 90 down to below zero along with high humidity and the availability of high pressure should a customer decide to use it on the meter (I've seen this happen in a car wash that I used to own). You've also got mud and grease coming off motors and splattering everywhere. I cannot imagine a bill validator performing reliably in that environment.

Larry,

I had the exact same concerns as you.

Zero trouble for bill acceptors in over 5 weeks now in car wash. From trusted people I have found out that the bill acceptors designed for that environment are actually less troublesome than card readers. I see you used to have a car wash --- the technology has improved for the bill acceptors as well as the coin acceptors so it is much less of an issue ----if an issue at all anymore. Some better quality coin acceptors --- if they do have a jam because of a really bad coin or other object they even snap apart for quick removal of whatever. These are the kind of coin acceptors that we just got done putting on sixteen ADC 285 dryers --- getting the job done finally on all of them about 3 PM yesterday. Still too early to broadcast too many specifics other than we are reasonably confident that we proceeded in the most optimal way both short term & hopefully long term.

Mike

[MrMachine]

Larry,

I had the exact same concerns as you.

Zero trouble for bill acceptors in over 5 weeks now in car wash. From trusted people I have found out that the bill acceptors designed for that environment are actually less troublesome than card readers. I see you used to have a car wash --- the technology has improved for the bill acceptors as well as the coin acceptors so it is much less of an issue ----if an issue at all anymore. Some better quality coin acceptors --- if they do have a jam because of a really bad coin or other object they even snap apart for quick removal of whatever. These are the kind of coin acceptors that we just got done putting on sixteen ADC 285 dryers --- getting the job done finally on all of them about 3 PM yesterday. Still too early to broadcast too many specifics other than we are reasonably confident that we proceeded in the most optimal way both short term & hopefully long term.

Mike

Mike,

Those sixteen ADC 285's....did you install quarter mechs, dollar mechs, or combo dollar/quarter mechs?

[MrMachine]

Here's an article explaining the pros and cons of eliminating the Dollar Bill to spur use of the Dollar coin.

Of course, much of it has to do with politics and cronyism.


http://coinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/paper-v-coin-dollars.html



Definition of Politics as broken down in Latin by word roots:


Poli is the Latin origin of Poly, which means MANY

Tics is latin for BLOOD SUCKING CREATURES

[mjwalsh]

Mike,

Those sixteen ADC 285's....did you install quarter mechs, dollar mechs, or combo dollar/quarter mechs?

Paul,

Combo dollar/quarter mechs. I followed your suggestion of putting coin graphics except I put them on the behind the Lexan reverse printed decal process that can't be peeled off from the front where the customers see & touch the protected images through the clear Lexan. I am at 6 minutes per quarter but give a bonus of 3 extra minutes for the dollar coin because the easy programming of the mechanism will allow that further tweak beyond the ADCs programming capability. So far this weekend people seem to be seeing the value of the better mechanisms. It should mean "goodbye" to those misses or double counts that the cherry wire switches were notorious for doing over the years. I am having trouble believing that I am the only one who has had that issue over the years. I want people to associate good with the dollar coin as much as possible.

Hopefully, down the road I will post some pics. I am not real comfortable barely getting these coin mechs (that required some non cosmetic grinding on the ADC 285s) installed & splashing too much about them. The appearance looks nice from our perspective.

Mike

[MrMachine]

Paul,

Combo dollar/quarter mechs. I followed your suggestion of putting coin graphics except I put them on the behind the Lexan reverse printed decal process that can't be peeled off from the front where the customers see & touch the protected images through the clear Lexan. I am at 6 minutes per quarter but give a bonus of 3 extra minutes for the dollar coin because the easy programming of the mechanism will allow that further tweak beyond the ADCs programming capability. So far this weekend people seem to be seeing the value of the better mechanisms. It should mean "goodbye" to those misses or double counts that the cherry wire switches were notorious for doing over the years. I am having trouble believing that I am the only one who has had that issue over the years. I want people to associate good with the dollar coin as much as possible.

Hopefully, down the road I will post some pics. I am not real comfortable barely getting these coin mechs (that required some non cosmetic grinding on the ADC 285s) installed & splashing too much about them. The appearance looks nice from our perspective.

Mike


Yes Mike,

Sounds good. I have adc 285's also, but I'm still tossing around the idea of dollar coin only, or doing a combo like you did. Are those Imonex combo units you installed? I hear they can be pricey....over $350.00 ea, correct?

I converted my mechs years ago from the coin switch to optic switches, so I don't have too much trouble in that area. I had to glue them on though, as there was no mounting area for the optic switch.

That's a good idea reverse printing on the back of clear lexan. Did you do that yourself, or did you hire a sign shop?

Definitely show us photos when you can!

[Adamski]

Here's an article explaining the pros and cons of eliminating the Dollar Bill to spur use of the Dollar coin.

http://coinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/paper-v-coin-dollars.html


Paul,

That is a very interesting article. I recommend that everyone read it ... including the comments that follow it.

[bodman]

my opposition is personally financial 250 coin acceptors times $300 will cost 75k plus tax 5,250 and shipping = some 80 thousand 500 bucks , OH MY how will that transition maake me money, As for the 1500 jobs lost , well the demand for coin acceptors will be so great there will be a need for new employes for their production . And what about the debit card systems the demand for those will increase driving up employment . I VOTE NO.

[mjwalsh]

Yes Mike,

Sounds good. I have adc 285's also, but I'm still tossing around the idea of dollar coin only, or doing a combo like you did. Are those Imonex combo units you installed? I hear they can be pricey....over $350.00 ea, correct?

A competing brand --- not Imonex. Price ---- for bare bones rejector without faceplate ----under $200 ea. We cut a a square hole in sheet metal for a relay so the mech is independent of the rest of the unit. A less than $10 power supply is plugged in to a handy outlet. Rather than using wirenuts we used a small isolation terminal strip so everything is extra neat & accessible. We also used a Molex Mini Fit Jr 4 conductor quick disconnect so coin mech with faceplate can be swapped out within a minute by taking off 4 nuts on 4 machine screws.


I converted my mechs years ago from the coin switch to optic switches, so I don't have too much trouble in that area. I had to glue them on though, as there was no mounting area for the optic switch.

I don't know if your optic switch solved the missing & the double credits but I honestly from my experience don't think it would meet car wash standards of being counterfeit coin proof enough. By experience --- I am going by the fact that the Car Wash industry quit using opto switches & got coin descrimination in the mid eighties for the most part.

That's a good idea reverse printing on the back of clear lexan. Did you do that yourself, or did you hire a sign shop?

Avery clear labels from Staples on this one. In the car wash it was necessary to go with waterproof ink done by a special print shop that also does die cut from a vector PDF or Adobe Illustrator or a DXF file etc. The Lexan cuts themselves was done by a local plastic fabricator with our DXF file. The back of the clear labels are covered with low cost white vinyl contact paper from Lowes to make it more translucent on the back of the lettering etc.

Definitely show us photos when you can!

The pics will show the added items & the plug relay. I guess I would rather not be falsely accused of misleading other operators & I should have some protection in terms of what they expected. This is why I don't really want to make the coin mech manufacturer angry a me for a flood of calls too early when they aren't aware of all the details themselves for the end results---- in other words premature to get operators too excited.

Mike

[MrMachine]

my opposition is personally financial 250 coin acceptors times $300 will cost 75k plus tax 5,250 and shipping = some 80 thousand 500 bucks , OH MY how will that transition maake me money, As for the 1500 jobs lost , well the demand for coin acceptors will be so great there will be a need for new employes for their production . And what about the debit card systems the demand for those will increase driving up employment . I VOTE NO.


Bodman,

At some point, not now but some time in the next few years, inflation will kick in with a vengence when the economy finally picks up.
This is due to the fact that the Fed is printing money like crazy. When the writing on the wall to pay the interest on the tremendous debt Obama is accumulating comes due, inflation cannot be avoided.

Therefore you will reach a point somewhere in the near future where quarters will no longer be manageable to maintain the flow of income into your stores. Imagine if we were still using dimes in our mechs, and you'll see what I mean. At that point, it'll cost you a lot more than 80 thousand bucks.

What we are dong here, discussing the Dollar coin is for many of us, looking ahead. Some are already using Dollar coin with great success, such as Larry, and there's a guy in my area who converted years ago.
I myself have already converted my Giant washers to Dollar coin, and it works out wonderfully. I plan on slowly phasing in everything else to Dollar coin over the next year or so.

[Adamski]

my opposition is personally financial 250 coin acceptors times $300 will cost 75k plus tax 5,250 and shipping = some 80 thousand 500 bucks , OH MY how will that transition maake me money, As for the 1500 jobs lost , well the demand for coin acceptors will be so great there will be a need for new employes for their production . And what about the debit card systems the demand for those will increase driving up employment . I VOTE NO.

Dale,

I converted my entire 34 washer/31 dryer/3 vender/3 changer laundromat to dollar coin only at a total out of pocket cost of about $1,000. Most of that cost was to convert 4 changer hoppers so they could handle dollar coins. Sure, there was some labor involved too so figure $1,000 for a week's labor paid to ME. That brings the total conversion cost to $2,000. I'd say that's a very manageable business expense.

The convenience and simplicity of dollar coin only will increase customer satisfaction and therefore encourage business growth.

[mjwalsh]

my opposition is personally financial 250 coin acceptors times $300 will cost 75k plus tax 5,250 and shipping = some 80 thousand 500 bucks , OH MY how will that transition maake me money, As for the 1500 jobs lost , well the demand for coin acceptors will be so great there will be a need for new employes for their production . And what about the debit card systems the demand for those will increase driving up employment . I VOTE NO.

Bodman & other folks of quality reasoning,

Is that extra cost per each one on brand new equipment????

Respectfully indirectly to our manufacturers --- we truly want to be your friends & of the general economy (jobs etc): My plan is hopefully to transfer my proven to be higher level in all ways coin mechs to any new equipment that I would buy. Will our friends at our conglomerate laundry equipment companies accommodate us with that. If they would be so kind with minimal expense on their part, the extra expense for "our not so deep pockets" starts making much more sense in the long term. This is what our small tiny relatively poor company is banking on! Simple spatial & interface standards would be key of course! Not rocket science!

Respectfully to the Dollar Coin Only No Quarter Accommodation Crowd:

Fact: Nobody really knows how goofy inflation will get depending on the variety of dynamics that cause it.

My little ole opinion based on Tom's Illinois experience & the ease of which the affordable much improved coin sorter counters(mine is a Cummins for over 8 years) can deal with the 2 coin situation: The goal should be to gradually lessen the use of quarters but not eliminate them so in the end ---- we reach our goal & making their use more voluntary on the part of our customers. A little bit like what I suggested for the gradual less & less use of dollar bills until the dollar coins are more favored than the lowly dollar bill accomplishing our goal. I am sooo sorry that not "all hard knocks doctors of philosophy's" do not always agree 100% ---- and 100% of the time!

I don't want to sound facetious or anything even close to it but --- I clearly remember an extremely feisty handicapped presenter (only one arm) at one of the CLA workshops back 1991 at Cobo Hall in St. Louis saying some very toxic remarks about us greedy operators ---- another one at another workshop was carrying on about how "ya know some years some of our models just aren't quite as good" comparing themselves to the automakers. It seems about that time some "lemon laws" started creeping up around the country with the "out of range quality-wise" motor vehicles.

Just to let you know I sat right up front with the handicapped "in more than one way" presenter & "Honest to God" I did assist him. He had no assistant & he was having a heck of time. I definitely helped him with his slides on his "old style" transparency projector! I was still his friend even though being in that mindset he was not likely to allow any dialog that would make him even possibly more uncomfortable that he already was!

I also remember an engineer that the CLA had presenting at the same 1991 conference who showed a revolutionary way of better dryer design. I vividly remember the sweat just pouring off of him but everything he said seem to ring true. He spoke of resistance from the mainstream manufacturers to his worthwhile tested design ---- I am not sure if any part of his design was ever utilized.

MJ

[Adamski]

Mike,

Some of the problems directly associated with the dollar/quarter vend system are:

1. Old and new washers often do not have large enough coin boxes to accomodate a week's worth of coin accumulation if both coins are used.

2. A combination of the 2 coins must be vended to the customers through the bill changers. Striking just the right combination is impossible. Therefore, attendants are saddled with the job of exchanging dollar coins for quarters or quarters for dollar coins.

3. Customers easily become confused when the machines take 2 types of coins.

4. Bill chager capacity is not as great when using both coins compared to using only dollar coins.

5. Continuing to use quarters means customers will expect price increases in quarter increments. Such a small increment is not practical on medium and large washers today. With dollar coin only, customers expect price increases in dollar increments because that's the coin they're used to using. A quarter never enters the customer's mind.

6. Some laundromats may have high speed coin sorters. Some may have more modest sorters like my Klopp electric sorter. Many don't even own a coin sorter. Therefore, sorting coins in a 2 coin system often becomes a fairly major issue for Mr Operator.

7. Once sorted, both types of coin must be counted separately and the total added together to get the actual dollar amount a certain bank of washers took in. With dollar coin only, one simply counts the dollar coins and that is the total sales for that bank of washers ... in dollars. No sorting, no adding, just record the count. What could be simpler?

8. Since most quarter laundromats will eventually be dollar coin laundromats anyway; why go through the undesirable middle step of dollar/quarter laundromat?

9. Tom's negative dollar coin only experience resulted from his inability to cause his combination dollar/quarter accepters to reject quarters when he shut off the quarter feature to convert to dollar coin only. With those expensive accepters still accepting but not registering the quarters; customers began losing money like crazy. That's never a good thing. So Tom wisely turned the quarter feature back on so that quarters would register a credit when used. None of this was Tom's fault but it was he who had to resolve the issue the best way he could. Having invested large amounts of money in those new Imonex accepters, he was stuck with the dollar/quarter vend system even though he did want to convert to dollar coin only. Buyer beware!

[mjwalsh]

Larry & others,

Just to clarify #9. I would never recommend any coin mech that could not give an option of also eliminating a coin choice at some time in the future & properly returning the wrong coin accidently inserted. That would include counterfeit coins also.

To take it a step further if the control section of the machine had a blown fuse or no power to mech because of whatever reason or inappropriate time in the cycle to add a coin ---- the coin will automatically reject to the coin return.

So you can see our long term expectations from coin mechs is greater than what you & others are suggesting & describing.

If having the capability of more than one coin made the better coin mech more pricey than I would not be lobbying for the extra option. If this better technology that has existed for coin mechs in the coin op car wash industry (over 20 years & even on my Internet Kiosk (over 8 years) now was more pricey or troublesome than the existing coin mechs in the laundry industry I would not be shedding light on the more true facts. I also know how disheartening it was when I found one of my car wash coin boxes full of counterfeit coins before I had updated my car wash coin boxes from lesser coin mechs back in 1987. Sure I could have been penny wise & dollar foolish & kept my old coin mechs & boxes but I am sure glad I followed the right path!

Mr Operator has to seriously analyze your 1-8 statements to see if they apply to them & to what extent. I know that they apply very little to my situation. For example when we are giving out almost all dollar coins I know that the customers will not be overfilling my boxes with quarters that are now less available. Right now I have customers who I know prefer to tailor their dryer time to a more precise level than what the dollar coin can give them ---- this I honestly believe this will apply for a long time. At that time I will not just include the 1 dollar coin but a potential larger denomination coin than a dollar coin as well. Hopefully our good USA can choose to add a $2 or $3 coin at that point in time & guess what ---- we will be 100% ready at no extra long term significant cost. Then at that point in time the dollar bill will really be less used! The better mechs are more international too because they can sample & learn whatever coins & are not overly dependent on the specific set of characteristics of the large variety of potential coins.

I know a good percentage of my customers can not afford "even on a smaller scale" to go from merchant to mechant for their needs & continue time after time saying "you keep the change" that they otherwise would have been able to keep for their families with the more precise type of transaction. To force too big of increments on the dryers seems like giving up an edge within a large percentage of our communities around the country. Granted within some communities ---- you & possibly others have proven that the larger increments or brush strokes can be made to work for the dryers, soap machine, mega vendor & whatever other vending gateways that they may have --- I am sure it is not the best fit for all of us. I am concerned about the people who vote with their pocket books & see that smaller amounts add up to significant money. I think that they will be more confused when they run short of actual total amounts that they need to make ends meet because of a general lack of the good habit fostered of noticing smaller amounts of money that they could potentially save.

Mike Walsh of Bismarck

[Adamski]

Mike,

I just remembered one more:

10. With dollar coin only, I never hear the complaint "I put in 50 cents and my clothes are still not dry". Selling too small an increment of time can be more troublesome than selling too large an increment of time.