New Legislation Proposes to Replace Dollar Bills With Coins

By CP News Briefs, Friday, October 14, 2011

The U.S. Congress is planning new legislation that aims to replace the one dollar bill with a one dollar coins.

The new legislation was introduced last week. According to Rep. David Schweikert, chief sponsor of the legislation, replacing dollar bills with coins would save the U.S. $5.5 billion over 30 years. He says coins last an average 30 years while paper dollars last only 18-40 months.

It will take around four years to transition all the dollar bills and replace them with dollar coins.

“At a time when we are staring down a record-breaking $1.3 trillion deficit, any common-sense measure that cuts billions needs to be given serious consideration,” Rep. Schweikert said before the House of Representatives.

He calls his plan the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings project, or “COINS.”

However, not all lawmakers are on the same page as Schweikert; others believe that transitioning the bills into coins will put America into deeper dept.

“The $1 coin is misleading because it costs taxpayers so much more,” Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts said.

“In fact, we have over $1billion worth of extra $1 coins sitting idle in vaults, and that's set to double over the next several years,” Brown continued.

A contradictory bill to oppose the plan has been proposed by Rep. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Democratic rep John Kerry.