The reason dollar coins are not popular is because COINS are not
popular.

I remember a news item from NPR about the way coin purses
have been rediscovered by young Italians
since they converted to more coins from printed money.

Rick, that is not entirely true. Dollar coins would be popular if
vending machines took them. They don't.

Huh? Plenty of vending machines around NY/NJ take dollar coins.
Particularly the transit TVM (ticket vending machines).

We are only a few years away from vending machines that take plastic or let you
pay with a cell phone. These are already used in Europe and Japan. That will
spell the death of coins to a large degree (as well as the paper dollar).

Atlanta's airport has a very high tech Coca-Cola vending machine
(not surprising since Atlanta is CocaCola's HQ).
- credit card payment, even the new contactless cards
- large flat video screen playing Coke commercials

A NJ highway rest stop had credit card payments on the ice cream machine
with instructions for how to buy more than one item on the same transaction.

So it's here already.
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-- mejeep deMeep ferret!