May 18, 2013
The Government Accountability Office will try once again tomorrow to make its case for one dollar coins , instead of dollar bills.
In a hearing before a House Committee, the non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress will try to convince the U.S. why coins make more sense.
The GAO says a one dollar coin typically costs about 30 cents for the U.S. Mint to produce.
But the government can sell them to Americans for a dollar each.
In contrast, producing a dollar bill is much cheaper, it only costs about 5-cents apiece.
But they wear out far more quickly than coins, and typical last less than five years.
This won't be the first time the GAO makes its case, it's been recommending the change for 22 years.
But it's a hard sell.
Most Americans, the vending machine industry and even the Federal Reserve are staunchly opposed to the switch.
