Eliminating the $1 bill?

I really don't see this study as something is going to be feasible. It's more work than it seems. Not only would the government have to convince the American public to use the coins over the bills but EVERY VENDING MACHINE in Ameica would have to be replaced! They tried with the presidential $1 coins. I've been colleting them but only for the collector's book. Other than that, if I have to choose, I choose the bills. Sure, eliminating the bills might save money in the long run but what about eliminating the penny? It costs more to make the penny than it is worth.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a formal proposal to the Treasury and Federal Reserve noting that if it eliminated the $1 bill and replaced it with the $1 coin, the country could save roughly $5.5 billion during the next 30 years. The reason, according to the agency's report, is that dollar bills have a shorter lifespan than dollar coins because they wear much faster, which in turn requires the government to spend more to print new bills.

The GAO estimates that phasing out dollar bills in favor of coins would require a four-year transition period, during which the government invests in the new currency, but following that, the government would save an expected $522 million each year from the change.

Unfortunately, as the GAO notes, there is one problem with the plan: When given a choice between dollar coins and dollar bills, Americans always choose bills.

"GAO has noted in past reports that efforts to increase the circulation and public acceptance of the $1 coin have not succeeded, in part, because the $1 note has remained in circulation," the agency wrote in its report. So if we are ever going to make the switch to dollar coins, as other countries like Canada have done, the GAO suggests the only way to do so is to phase dollar bills out of circulation altogether.