American Notes MONEY

Each year the Treasury Department spends $318 million to shred worn-out dollar bills and replace them with fresh ones. New Mexico Republican Senator Pete Domenici thinks he has a better, if not new, idea. He has introduced a bill to create a dollar coin, stamped mainly out of copper (which, not coincidentally, is plentiful in his state). He predicts the coins will drive paper dollars out of circulation because they can be used so readily in vending machines. Moreover, they will last 20 years, vs. a life-span of only 18 months for paper bills.

But wait, wasn't the Susan B. Anthony dollar such a flop that it is no longer minted? Sure, concedes Domenici, but that was because people confused it with a quarter. His buck will be gold-colored, not silver. Says Domenici, whose proposal has 28 Senate co-sponsors: "Susan B. Anthony need not hold us hostage forever."