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And the $1 coin vanishes once again.
Dec. 13th, 2011 06:18 pmJoe Biden, in one of his shocking statements, tells us that people just aren't interested in Chester A. Arthur.
If I may disagree with the U.S. Mint for just a moment, the issue was not so much the interest in $1 coins, as the freaking inability to get them. Four years ago I had a few friends desperately trying to find some for the local Ren faire, only to be told by bank after bank that the banks didn't have them, leading to sad, sad moments of feeding $5 bills into automatic post office machines to get a single stamp and a few golden coins. In three years my local bank branch has never had any $1 coins. I've asked. Others have asked. Just two weeks ago when I made a rare trip inside two mothers were asking for their kids, only to be told that the branch never carries them. And since two of the three local post offices don't have automatic vending machines, the opportunity to get $1 coins there are limited. At the little Light Up Winter Garden event one vendor HAD secured some and was mobbed by other vendors wondering where he'd procured them. Atlanta.
The end result is that when people do get the $1 coins, they hang on to them -- for visits from the Tooth Fairy, or just to have, or whatever. Which made additional sense since the pure rarity of these coins makes them difficult to spend. I once handed one over at a convenience store; the clerk stared at me, flipped it around, and then asked if I had a paper bill. Most vending machines need quarters or paper money, not $1 coins.
When I read something like this, I have no problems believing that the United States, as a nation, has no interest in Chester A. Arthur. (I expect the United States, as a nation, doesn't know who Chester A. Arthur is. Hint: the one possible illegal president -- rumors persisted that he was really born in -- gasp -- Canada. These rumors are untrue but fun anyway. I blame Canada for spreading them. Anyway.) But I question the massive returns of these coins. My simple guess is that bank tellers didn't have a little slot for them (grocery stores still don't) and therefore banks just didn't want to put them out, even if customers would have happily taken them.
Oh well. They aren't leaving us completely, I guess, and I can still chase after those elusive $2 bills. (Six so far. We'll see if I can garner more.)
If I may disagree with the U.S. Mint for just a moment, the issue was not so much the interest in $1 coins, as the freaking inability to get them. Four years ago I had a few friends desperately trying to find some for the local Ren faire, only to be told by bank after bank that the banks didn't have them, leading to sad, sad moments of feeding $5 bills into automatic post office machines to get a single stamp and a few golden coins. In three years my local bank branch has never had any $1 coins. I've asked. Others have asked. Just two weeks ago when I made a rare trip inside two mothers were asking for their kids, only to be told that the branch never carries them. And since two of the three local post offices don't have automatic vending machines, the opportunity to get $1 coins there are limited. At the little Light Up Winter Garden event one vendor HAD secured some and was mobbed by other vendors wondering where he'd procured them. Atlanta.
The end result is that when people do get the $1 coins, they hang on to them -- for visits from the Tooth Fairy, or just to have, or whatever. Which made additional sense since the pure rarity of these coins makes them difficult to spend. I once handed one over at a convenience store; the clerk stared at me, flipped it around, and then asked if I had a paper bill. Most vending machines need quarters or paper money, not $1 coins.
When I read something like this, I have no problems believing that the United States, as a nation, has no interest in Chester A. Arthur. (I expect the United States, as a nation, doesn't know who Chester A. Arthur is. Hint: the one possible illegal president -- rumors persisted that he was really born in -- gasp -- Canada. These rumors are untrue but fun anyway. I blame Canada for spreading them. Anyway.) But I question the massive returns of these coins. My simple guess is that bank tellers didn't have a little slot for them (grocery stores still don't) and therefore banks just didn't want to put them out, even if customers would have happily taken them.
Oh well. They aren't leaving us completely, I guess, and I can still chase after those elusive $2 bills. (Six so far. We'll see if I can garner more.)
