It's All About the Washingtons?

By Jocelyn Geboy in News on Feb 19, 2007 7:50PM

So, today is Presidents' Day. All you lucky financiers, government employees, library workers and Chicago Public School kids have the day off. We're pretty sure when we were kids, we got both Lincoln and Washington's birthdays off as separate holidays! Sweet. Talk about a short month. We don't really get it so much anymore, though. What exactly are you supposed to do on Presidents' Day? Have someone recite the Gettysburg Address? Think about all presidents past and present? Or commemorate George Washington in coin?

Yep, there's another dollar coin afoot. This time, with George Washington on it. For those keeping track, he's already on the dollar bill. And for those counting, we've already had two very unsuccessful dollar coins already: the Susan B. Anthony (1979) and the Sacagawea coin (2000).

We remember being a small girl and thinking it was pretty kickass to have Susan B. Anthony on a coin. Then we quickly realized how lame it was that it so closely resembled a quarter. Same with old Sacagawea. Nice of her to be gold and everything, but why so quarter-sized? The new dollar coin will be "golden in color and slightly larger and thicker than a quarter." AAAHHH. They will also roll out another coin every three months with another president in the order in which they served until 2016. A president will have to be dead two years before they can be on the coin. We think that everyone who has already died will be more than covered.

Other countries have coins for dollar denominations and bright colored money, which we know is popular with a lot of people, but their coins often have holes in them or more distinctive markings. We're traditionalists, and sigh every time we see an old $5, $10, or $20. (We'd throw in $50 and $100, but let's face it, we really don't roll like that.) The new money wigs us out, what with their weird, creepy shadow figure faces hidden in the bill that always seem to be in a grimace of death. The only thing we like about the new money is the cluster of small numbers matching the denomination hovering around the building or scene on the back. We think it looks like a flock of birds that would be chirping (ten ten ten).

We've gotten used to the new paper money, but this dollar coin stuff just seems so useless unless you're a coin collector, or want to throw one in a vending machine. Especially when they seem to refuse to make them super big or varied too much from the size of a quarter. Whatever, old mint. If nothing changes, nothing changes. We can't really see this blowing up and being a big revolution in the dollar business.

"moneyyy." by Lin Pernille Photography.