The Coin Coalition is an organization supporting the elimination of pennies and dollar bills from U.S. currency. It is funded by

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...

companies, video-arcade owners, and the soft-drink industry, who all have an interest in eliminating maintenance costs associated with bill validators. The National Bulk Vendors Association supports the Coalition. Manufacturers converted machines to accept the dollar coin at great expense, but the unwillingness of the U.S. government to phase out the dollar bill prevented the coin from becoming popular. Although copper miners and other interest groups backed the Coin Coalition on this issue, they were unable to match the influence of

Save the Greenback Save the Greenback is an organization of U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing employees and paper and ink suppliers opposed to phasing out the paper dollar. The group formed to counter the influence of the Coin Coalition. Their website was inactiv ...

, a rival organization supporting continued dollar-bill production. In 1995, Tom Davis, introducing the

Save the Greenback Act The Save the Greenback Act was legislation proposed, but not passed, in the United States Congress in 1995 and 1997 forbidding the phase-out of the United States one-dollar bill. It stated simply, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Se ...

, warned that customers' pockets would be weighted down with heavy coins. However, a 1997 article in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' disputed this notion by noting, "This argument ignores the vast number of quarters now required for parking meters, vending machines, buses and many other staples of life. For a lot of transactions, an attractive $1 coin would be a great convenience. And although we would all be walking around with a few $1 coins, they would be replacing several quarters". In advocating abolition of the penny, the Coin Coalition cites three penny-related costs that are passed on to consumers:Should the penny go?
Annelena Lobb, CNN Money, Apr. 11, 2002 *Wrapping charges (stores pay about 60 cents for each roll of 50 pennies) *Lost store productivity from penny users slowing the checkout line *Lost wages paid to clerks counting pennies in the register on each shift James C. Benfield, a partner with Bracy Williams and Company (

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

), led the Coalition from 1987 until his death in 2002. He testified in committee hearings on the

United States $1 Coin Act of 1997 The United States $1 Coin Act of 1997 (part of ) was legislation passed by the United States Congress providing for a redesigned gold colored coin with a distinctive new rim. A major purpose of the Act was to allow for the replacement of the Susan ...

References

{{reflist Vending Coins

See also

References