Replacing the U.S. $1 note with a coin could save the government around $5.5 billion over 30 years, according to a new report by the General Accountability Office. The first four years of switching to a dollar coin would be expensive, the GAO says. But after that, the benefits start to accrue and would then outweigh the costs.
Of course, we already have $1 coins here in the U.S. — but they've never really gained a foothold against the greenback. The GAO says Canada and Britain figured out how to really encourage people to use coins instead of paper money: take the paper money away.
from npr.org