Mint hopes new $1 coin pays off like state quarters

This time it's going to work, they swear.

A $1 coin is the right piece of change at the right time, says the U.S. government, which is putting the new presidential dollar into circulation today.

Other dollar coins, such as the Eisenhower, Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars, were doomed to failure when they were deemed obscure or unnecessary.

But with inflation, it has become less convenient to lug around quarters: Think parking meters, where one quarter buys about 10 minutes, or laundry machines, where handfuls are required for just two loads.

"The timing is much different today than even six years ago," about the time when the Sacagawea golden dollar coins came out, said United States Mint Director Edmund Moy.

But tell that to people like Derek Duman.

"I prefer as little change as possible," said Duman, a 43-year-old Chicago salesman. "We're becoming a cashless society, so I think it's a waste, personally."

The Treasury Department keeps pushing the dollar coin in part because coins last longer than paper currency, saving taxpayers money.

Moy thinks the new gold-colored coins — which will be about the same size as the Sacagawea dollar — also will succeed because they will be stamped with presidential profiles, making them collector's items and educational pieces.

Starting today, the Mint rolls out George Washington and then continues down the line with every president afterward, provided they have been deceased for at least two years. Four coins will be released each year, one every three months, making Adams, Jefferson and Madison up next this year.

The program hopes to mimic the popularity of the 50-state quarter program, which releases five new coins every year, based on each of the 50 states. By Mint estimates, about 140 million Americans collect the state quarters, roughly half the U.S. population.

"The 50-state quarter program is by far the most successful coin program the Mint has ever done. The idea is to take some of the successful lessons learned and apply them to the dollar program," said Moy.

So far the Federal Reserve, the Mint's distribution agent, has placed orders for 300 million of the Washington coins.

Compiled from The Chicago Tribune, McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press