"No" To North American Common Currency

A recent study found that support for a common currency in North America - similar to what has happened with the Euro - has slipped in the years the survey has addressed the question.

The Coinstar National Currency Poll found that 32 percent of Americans would support such a move compared to 43 percent several years ago. The company speculates that renewed patriotism due to September 11 may play a role in that decline.

The new state quarter is apparently popular with nearly half of Americans, who say they are collecting them, the same survey found.

Meanwhile, however, the dollar coin is not faring so well. About 23 percent of respondents would like to see the coin discontinued. While that unpopularity is second to the penny (38 percent said they would like to see it go), the penny has made some progress. In the survey the year before, 72 percent of Americans wanted to see it disappear.

Other tidbits from the survey include:

• 60 percent of respondents wanted the two dollar bill to disappear. Surprisingly, 10 percent said they want the one hundred dollar bill eliminated (oh, those pesky 100s!).





• Charity continues to profit from coin collection: 71 percent of Americans said they regularly donate coins to charitable causes with church collection plates the most popular gathering method. More than half of respondents said they would donate more to charity if there were a handier way to do so.





• George Bush won out over Spiderman by 53 percent to 23 percent as far as who respondents would choose to grace new currency.





• The piggy bank is on the decline: 53 percent of respondents said they stash their coins in household containers such as glass jars and bottles compared to just 13 percent who said they put their spare change in piggy and other novelty coin banks.

Fact: A piece of currency, any denomination, weighs (1) one gram. There are 454 grams in one (1) U.S. pound. If you have a pound of $1 bills, you have $454.

Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 7, 9/02