Patent Application
20140246485
Replacing the U.S. one dollar bill with a U.S. one dollar coin would save billions of dollars, and reduce expensive landfill. Since 1975, the Mint, U.S. Treasury Dept., and the Federal Reserve have tried four times to circulate a small dollar coin. In each case the public has rejected the coin, primarily because the coin was too easily confused with the U.S. quarter coin. Billions of coins were returned to the Federal Reserve, where they remain. The Dollar Coin Converter converts the dollar coin about to the size of the silver dollar, so that the public will voluntarily circulate the dollar coin.
Below is a brief history of the failed attempts to circulate a dollar coin. The history is told mostly by quotes of experts and persons having ordinary skill in the art of coinage. References for the quotes are provided.
In 1875 The Mint struck a Twenty-Cent coin that was rejected by the U.S. public because the coin was too similar in size to the U.S. quarter coin. It was eight-hundredths inch smaller than the quarter.[1] This was a lost opportunity to learn from experience about producing a coin the public would voluntarily circulate.
“It all began in the mid-1970s when the Research Triangle Institute was commissioned by the Treasury to study the coinage of this country and make recommendations for the future . . . .”[2]
That report found that “the Eisenhower dollar has not been widely accepted by the public because of its large size and weight”, but if the diameter was reduced by about a third, and the weight by about two-thirds, it might be used.[3]
In January 1977, just prior to leaving office, President Ford's Treasury Secretary, William E. Simon, proposed the elimination of the cent and half dollar, and a reduction in size of the dollar.[4]
In 1979 the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was issued. “Everyone soon discovered that the coins were easily confused with quarter dollars.[5] Cashiers were mistakenly giving out dollar coins instead of quarters in change. Bus companies and other facilities were refusing to accept them as payment.[6] “ . . . the public quickly rejected the new coin as too close in size and weight to the quarter dollar, and production for circulation ceased after 1980.”[7]
Within two or three months the chances of seeing one in daily use were practically nil.”[8] Even the Mint had trouble distinguishing the Anthony Dollar from the quarter.[9]
“Had the promoters of the Anthony dollar taken the trouble to consider what happened to the 20-cent piece, which was too close in size and artwork to the quarter, they would have taken a much difference approach to the new dollar. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat its mistakes. The Anthony dollar is a classic case of this aphorism.”[10]
“Mint Director Stella Hackel Sims stated, ‘people are accustomed to the Eisenhower dollar, but in time, they'll become accustomed to the Susan’.”11] The Anthony dollar coin is nine-hundredths inch larger than the quarter coin. This was another lost opportunity to learn from experience about producing a coin the public would voluntarily circulate.
And so, “ . . . a new, blue ribbon, political committee was appointed to design a new dollar coin that overcame the objections of the public.” This committee heavily represented the vending machine business. Incredibly, “ . . . they decided to launch the new dollar coins . . . in the same form factor as had previously failed . . . ”,[12] but with a different color.
The golden Sacagawea dollar coin was launched in 2000. “This new dollar coin was heavily marketed by The Mint in a series of print, radio, and television advertisements, as well as Mint partnerships with Walmart and Cheerios.”[13] “The new dollar quarter was a resounding flop for precisely the same reasons that the first dollar quarter flopped. It was confusingly similar to the quarter.”[14]
Next came the golden Presidential Dollar series (2007-present) and the Native American Series (2009-present). “Neither is used frequently in general commerce.”[15] The only minting done now is for collectors.
“ . . . the Fed's board of governors told Congress in June [2011] that the reserve system is holding more than $1.2 billion in dollar coins at 28 cash offices across the country . . . . The Fed cited a 2008 Harris poll that showed 76 percent of Americans prefer paper money”[16] to the small dollar coin.
“ . . . A U.S. Mint official claimed in a November 2012 meeting that most of 2.4 billion dollar coins minted in the previous five years were not in circulation. A major reason for the lack of acceptance of small dollar coins is their similarity in size to the quarter.”[17]
“The nonpartisan Congressional Accountability Office reported in March 2011 that switching from paper to metal would save taxpayers $5.5 billion over 30 years.”[18] In addition, it would benefit the environment by saving 66,000 tons of landfill waste.
In 2013 the consumer advocacy group Citizens Against Government Waste said “Eliminating the dollar bill in favor of the coin would save $13.8 billion over 30 years.” . . . . Prominent U.S. senators, such as John McCain (R-AZ), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Mark Udall (D-CO), have all supported this effort.[19]
Throughout the history of the dollar coins the notions of size and weight were repeatedly confounded. Over and over size and weight were cited as causes of lack of circulation of the silver dollar. Yet when The Mint issued small dollar coins with reduced size and weight, the result failed because of size, not weight. No one said they did not like the small dollar coin because it was too light, or that its weight was too similar to the weight of the quarter. It was always the size that was the problem. The small dollar coin was too similar in size to the quarter. The failure of the 1875 Twenty-Cent coin was also due to size. Its weight was less than the quarter.
The public has no inherent objection to a dollar coin. Silver dollars were minted for 37 years in competition with the paper $1 bill until the coin became more valuable as metal than as currency. “What nobody in the [1983 blue ribbon] committee ever thought to do was to put five of the new dollars into their pocket along with a bunch of other change and then see if they could pick out the dollar coins quickly.”[20]
The logical conclusion from this historical account is that, if the public is to accept the coin, the weight of the dollar coin can be reduced, but the size of the dollar coin must be distinguishable by touch from the quarter coin.
That is exactly what the Dollar Coin Converter does. Drawing on precedence and lessons from history, the Dollar Coin Converter converts the small dollar's size back to the time-honored and successful size of the silver dollar and its easy tactile distinction from the quarter coin, while leaving its weight at about one-third the weight of the silver dollar, while allowing convenient removal of the dollar coin from the converter for other purposes.
An attachment or method to improve the circulation of the dollar coin as legal tender for cash transactions.
In three patent searches I could find no related art, or even a suggestion of such prior art, for this use of the Dollar Coin Converter. I found no record that even the Blue Ribbon committees, convened to solve the problem, remotely conceived of such an idea. Apparently, attaching a removable prosthetic to remedy the limitation of the dollar coin was beyond imagination.
During two patent searches I reviewed 800 patents. They generally fell into 3 categories: tokens, coin holders, money carriers, and coin displays. They were narrowed down to a few representative patents listed in the Patent Citations section, having some similar characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 20050167288 A1 issued on Aug. 4, 2005, to Valerian Sottile, titled “Money holder,” describes a container, which holds a plurality of coins 145 for emergency use. To insert or remove the coins one unscrews the covers from the coupling member. A face of a coin can be seen from top or bottom. A key ring can be attached to the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,850 A issued on Apr. 9, 1940, to Kenneth V. Bostian, titled “Coin attachment,” describes a clear, plastic label with adhesive on part of one side, and indicia on the other side. The label can be attached to a coin with the adhesive, and is easily removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,489 issued on Oct. 25, 1966, to Conrad Bergmann, titled “Substitute Silver Dollar,” describes an annulus the size of a silver dollar, within which a folded paper dollar bill is placed between clear plastic disks. The bill is folded such that the denomination of the bill is visible.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,187 issued on Jun. 22, 1976, to Elmer J. Stumpf, titled “Adjustable coin display device,” describes an open, slotted annulus within which a single coin can be placed in the interior slot. The break in the annulus is bridged by a handle, which opens the annulus when squeezed inward. Coin can be displayed hanging with a string though handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,582 issued on Jul. 13, 1976, to Bernard B. Jones, titled “Gaming Token and process for fabricating same,” describes two injection molded rings to form a token with tabs and stripes, into which coins can be inserted. Token is constructed in an eight step process, and the coins are sealed in with molding compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,573 issued on Aug. 28, 1979, to Marjorie S. Richards, titled “Coin holder,” describes a rectangular structure with a central hole into which a retainer ring with locking pins is placed to hold a coin securely, such that both sides of the coin are visible. Structure comes with a two-legged stand to hold coin up-right for easy viewing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,154 A issued on Aug. 23, 1988, to Roger Martin, titled “Coin holder,” describes an open annulus with flat tabs at the ends and an interior slot into which a coin can be inserted and held. The outer edge of each tab is threaded, and a hollow body with interior threads can be screwed onto the tabs, which pulls the tabs together and closes the annulus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,005 issued on Apr. 30, 1991, to Alex Bally & 6 more, titled “Protective coin holder,” describes a rectangular, protective cover with large interior chamber, into which a coin can be placed and displayed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,064 A issued on Apr. 18, 1995, to Yu-Hwai Huang, titled “Coin carrier,” describes a container with three annuli hinged together with a rivet allowing the annuli to be rotated, permitting coins to be placed into the inside annulus. Faces of the top and bottom coins are visible through the top and bottom annuli.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,512 B2 issued on Jan. 29, 2008, to Adam M. Higer, titled “Coin holder,” describes a cardboard rectangle with 2 sets of concentric scored rings. The radii of the scored rings are selected to match existing coins, so that when rings smaller than a given coin are removed, the concentrically scored rings can be folded to contain the coin between transparent films.
There are many unpatented annuli that enclose coins, such as tokens, good luck charms or bracelet charms. Many even have indicia on the annulus. In all known cases, the coin[21] is a penny or other very small value coin, because the coin is not removable, is not legal tender, and in effect the value of the coin is lost.
The Dollar Coin Converter is typically an annular attachment to a United States dollar coin, which semi-permanently converts the coin to a size that is tactilely and visually, easy to distinguish from the United States quarter coin. With an inserted dollar coin the Dollar Coin Converter is about the same diameter but one-third the weight of a silver dollar. It is legal tender, and is convenient for commercial cash transactions. It provides retailers with a new, attractive, and economical opportunity for advertising and marketing. It provides both retailers and consumers with incentives to circulate the coin, thus potentially saving the United States government billions of dollars, and the environment thousands of tons of landfill by replacing the one dollar bill.
The Dollar Coin Converter is made of one-piece or two-pieces to reduce manufacturing costs. It holds a dollar coin securely, and will tolerate normal handling, such as cash transactions, flipping or jostling in a coin purse, pocket or money bag without unintentional release. The coin may be easily removed and replaced even by a child or a person with long finger nails in case the coin is needed for a coin-operated machine or other purpose. The Dollar Coin Converter with inserted coin retains the anti-counterfeiting, magnetic and electrical characteristics of the coin.
The Dollar Coin Converter converts the small U.S. dollar coin, such as the coin known as the Sacagawea dollar, into a size that the public will voluntarily circulate. The Dollar Coin Converter makes the dollar coin tactilely and visually, more easily distinguished from the U.S. quarter coin, thus removing the nuisance value of the tactual and visual similarity of the dollar coin to the quarter coin that has caused the dollar coin's unpopularity.
The Dollar Coin Converter is an annulus into which the dollar coin is semi-permanently inserted. The coin is held sufficiently securely to withstand normal coin handling, such as cash transactions, flipping, and jostling in purse, pocket, or money bag without unintentional release. In its first embodiment the converted dollar coin is about the size of a Morgan silver dollar, but about one-third its weight.
If needed for another purpose, the dollar coin can be removed from the converter, even by a child or a person with long finger nails, and another dollar coin can be inserted.
The faces of the annulus can contain indicia to provide businesses and consumers incentives to circulate the converted dollar coin. Most of each face of the coin remains uncovered to retain the inherent anti-counterfeiting, magnetic and electrical characteristics of the dollar coin.
The converter is of one-piece or two-piece construction to contain manufacturing costs. The converter can be constructed of many materials, such as plastic, aluminum, cardboard, wood, or pressed fiber, provided the material meets the functional requirements of the embodiment, such as durability, compression, resilience, or flexibility.
The first embodiment requires a material that is compressible and resilient, such as nylon.
The second embodiment requires a material that is flexible and resilient, such as acrylic plastic.
The second embodiment is two annuli 20,21 joined in a clam shell configuration by a thin, narrow ribbon 50 made of the same material as the annuli 20,21, so that the annuli 20,21 can be folded to form a single annulus 90 as in
The outside face 28,29 of each annulus 20,21 has an outer ridge 26 and inner ridge 27 to protect the indicia 22 from wear. The thicknesses of the top annulus 20 and bottom annulus 21 are each about half the thickness of the first embodiment in
Around the interior edge of each annulus 20,21 is a plurality of flanges 24 attached to the inner ridges 27. The flanges 24 serve to retain the dollar coin 100 between the two folded annuli 20,21, while leaving most of both faces of the dollar coin 100 uncovered. The thickness of the flanges 24 is about the same as the height of the inner ridge 27.
A throw-away embodiment would allow easy removal of the dollar coin from the Dollar Coin Converter, but the dollar coin converter would be damaged. In this embodiment a dollar coin 100 can not be replaced with another dollar coin 100.
This enumeration of these embodiments does not exclude the many other possible embodiments of the Dollar Coin Converter.
The Dollar Coin Converter converts the dollar coin into a form that is tactilely and visually, more easily distinguished from the quarter coin, so that the general public will voluntarily circulate the dollar coin. To do so requires several steps.
First, someone must pay to make them. Before anyone will pay, they must see a benefit to themselves to circulate them. That is what the indicia are for. Businesses will pay to get their name with their tag line on the converted dollar coin. The indicia are an inexpensive method to get entry into this form of advertising and marketing.
Here is an example of a possible indicium for a fictitious retail store: WxyMart, Low Prices For Everyone. This indicium provides an opportunity for name recognition and familiarity and with a tag line indicating an advantage for shopping at WxyMart. The Dollar Coin Converter is an inexpensive way to advertise. It does not require huge initial expenses, such as for a TV commercial or newspaper advertisement. Not only does the customer see the advertising repeatedly, so does anyone to whom the customer circulates the converted dollar coin over and over again for as long as the Dollar Coin Converter lasts, perhaps years.
Another example of a possible indicium is, Worth $1.05 at WxyMart. In this indicium the converted dollar coin becomes a new form of money with the retailers name on it. When the customer receives the converted dollar coin in change, the customer is delighted to realize that more change has been received than expected. Moreover, the new coinage has more value than the dollar coin itself, allowing the retailer to advertise that literally “Your money is worth more at WxyMart.” When the converted dollar coin is returned to the retailer and used to purchase another item, it amounts to a discount, in this example 5%, on any item in the store, but not on the entire price of the item. The discount is only on that part paid for with the converted dollar coin. If the retailer wishes, it could limit the number of converted dollar coins used to pay for a single item. When the retailer receives the converted dollar coin, the retailer can just re-circulate it to other customers, and does not have to purchase another one in its place.
If the dollar coin is needed for some other purpose, such as for a coin operated machine, the dollar coin can be removed. The owner of the annulus has the options to retain it and insert another dollar coin, or to discard it.
The potential benefits of the Dollar Coin Converter are enormous. The ultimate objective of the Dollar Coin Converter is to circulate the billions of dollar coins that sit in Federal Reserve banks, so that they can replace the one dollar bill.
As initial retailers circulate converted dollar coins, some will be spent at competing retailers. The competing retailers will want to circulate converted dollar coins with their own indicia. The effect will hopefully snowball. Even small retailers will be able to circulate converted dollar coins with their own indicia, because entry into this form of advertising and marketing is low cost.
As converted dollar coins become more and more popular, they will create an increased demand for dollar coins. More dollar coins will be requested from banks, which will in turn request more from the Federal Reserve banks.
Eventually, converted dollar coins will replace one dollar bills, which can at that point be discontinued, thus saving billions of dollars and the 2,400 tons of landfill required for the three billion dollar bills shredded per year.
