The new dollar coins haven’t even been released to the public yet and experts are already predicting failure. The reason? People prefer bills to coins.

“I suspect that a dollar coin is very unlikely to circulate as long as dollar notes are available,” said Kevin Foley, a Milwaukeean who is general chairman of the Central States Numismatic Society Convention. “A dollar note is so much more convenient for people to carry. I think these coins will be items that will be hoarded by people with a collecting interest rather than actually circulating.”

The U.S. Mint unveiled designs for the first four new $1 coins in the series, which bear the portraits of presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

The golden coins, which are identical in color and size to the Sacagawea dollar introduced in 2000, will be put into circulation in February. The coins will honor four deceased presidents each year, with a new one appearing every three months, in the order they served.

The congressional act calling for the program stated that Americans who don’t like using a $1 coin would change their ways if it had “an attractive, educational rotating design.” The Mint is hoping the program will be as successful and popular as the rotating 50-state quarter program, which, starting in 1999, put a bit of each state’s history on the flip side of the 25-cent piece. The quarters are used in commerce but also saved by collectors.

Congress said there are sectors of the economy - transportation fares, for instance - in which a $1 coin is both “useful and desirable.” From a practical standpoint, each $1 coin is a lot more durable than a $1 bill. While the coins could circulate for decades, the life span of a dollar bill is about 22 months.

But local coin experts say not to count on seeing $1 coins in your change. It’s one thing to carry around a metal quarter because there is no alternative to it, while it’s another to choose a metal coin over lightweight paper that slips easily into a wallet.

“I think the government is spinning its wheels again on a project that really isn’t going to get to first base,” said Rollie Finner, a coin collector in the Waupaca County community of Iola. “It’s the dollar-sized coin that people have shunned. The Susan B. Anthony fell flat on its face, and the Sacagawea, for all its hype, fell flat on its face, too.”

The silver-colored Susan B. Anthony coin first appeared in 1979.

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The new dollar coins will be unveiled Monday, and they’re causing a bit of a stir. People are concerned that the motto “In God We Trust” has been relegated to the rim of the coin rather than on the obverse or reverse. Another concern is that we’ll be honoring Richard Nixon. My feeling is that if they were elected to be President of the United States, they deserve to have a coin. It would take a whole lot of those dollars to get most people to even consider running for President.

Here’s an excerpt from an article in USA Today about the new dollar coins. The US Mint web site has a whole section devoted to them, including the schedule of their release.

WASHINGTON - Can George be successful where Sacagawea and Susan failed?

The U.S. Mint on Monday is unveiling designs for its newest additions: dollar coins that will feature deceased presidents on a rotating basis, similar to the popular state quarters.

The coins will enter circulation with George Washington on Feb. 15, four days before President’s Day, and will be gold in color like the Sacagawea to distinguish them from other coins. Like the Sacagawea, they will be slightly larger than the quarter.

Read the rest.

1. What two coins share the Moon-landing reverse? Answer Eisenhower dollar and Susan B. Anthony dollar

2. Punching advertising messages or other symbols into a coin is called what? Answer Counterstamping

3. What denomination struck for circulation in 1985 was not struck during the 18th century? Answer Copper-nickel 5-cent piece

4. Canada’s 1982 nickel dollar commemorates what event? Answer The return of the Dominion of Canada’s Constitution of Britain

5. Who appears on the back of the 1982 British 1 pound note? Answer Sir Isaac Newton

John Gibson is starting a coin club in Fountain Hills. It’s interesting to hear about how he’s going about it. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Numismatics wanted. No coinage required.

If you are a coin collector, or curious over what it’s about, this is the place for you.

Fountain Hills resident John Gibson, a numismatic for over 40 years, wants to hear from other coin collectors in the area.

Gibson, who has done coin presentations in places such as the senior centers and schools for over 15 years, thinks there may be other coin collectors in Fountain Hills who would be interested in a club where they can get together to share this common interest.

“I’ve been involved in one in Mesa, and was president of that club years ago, so I have a little experience with that, and I enjoy the hobby,” he says.

A 10-year member of the National Coin Association and a member of the American Numismatic Association, Gibson has an extensive library on coin collecting.

“I actually have a book, How to Start and Form an Operative Coin Club,” he says, “so hopefully we can use that as a guide.”

He started a coin collectors club at the Boys and Girls Club for eight- to 10-year-olds, which meets monthly. He recalls that he got interested in coin collecting when he was just a boy, himself.

“I just got started collecting with a couple of neighborhood kids,” he says. “One of my buddy’s parents had a collection started for him when we were very young.

“Then my neighbor started a collection, and he had a duplicate coin in his collection, so he gave me the duplicate, and that was my very first coin. And it just kind of grew from there.

“I still have that coin,” he says with a laugh.

Gibson is pleased that sons share his enjoyment of the hobby, as well.

And Gibson is excited about the idea of getting people together who share his passion.

“I would like to see the usual business side of a club, and then a more casual side, a collectors’ side, where we might have an opportunity to buy and trade coins, maybe a show-and-tell for collectors to bring things in and make presentations,” he says.

“There is always a topic where we can learn from each other. So it will be an educational format, as well as entertaining.”

The Charleston Voice has an interesting discussion about melting down silver coins for their silver content, buying junk silver and estimating the current population of silver coins in the market today.

Some people are under the impression that if the economy were to fail, we would go back to a metals-based economy, and the silver or gold content of coins would again be the measure of a coin’s worth. Whether that is accurate or not remains to be seen.