Big story in the world of small time currency. The $1 bill came under attack from a new report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) that recommends replacing the $1 Note with the $1 Coin. The report estimates that wide spread use of the $1 Coin would save the US Government approximately $5.5 billion over 30 years. 

What is interesting for fans of the $2 bill is the GAO report assumes that if the $1 bill was eliminated, "the public would prefer, and therefore demand, increased circulation of the $2 note." Unfortunately, if that would happen the US might decide to stop printing the $2 bill too!

In a related article, Tom Barlow writes in Forbes.com that many countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom all transitioned to coins by discontinuing the paper dollar. 

However the US has been especially resistant to accepting the $1 Coin. The GAO report includes a 2006 Gallup poll that found 79% of those surveyed opposed replacing the paper dollar.  The past failures to introduce the Susan B. Anthony, the Sacagawea, the Presidential series or the Native American series of $1 Coins support the poll findings.  People love their dollar bills! 

The result of this is today the Federal reserve sits on an estimated $1.1 billion in dollar coins, due to public unwillingness to accept these coins. People tend to hoard, not spend the coins. Because of these past fiascoes, the GAO report makes the argument to discontinue the paper dollar. 

What do you think? Should the US stop printing the $1 bill?