Whose Image Would Make Americans Use a Dollar Coin?

Filed in archive Banking on November 24, 2006

The U.S. Mint is pushing the dollar coin again, this time with the faces of presidents, with new images coming out on a rolling basis, the way they did with the popular state quarters. I think the faces of presidents aren't going to be enough to make people actually use the dollar coins, so I've been thinking of whose face would make people use the coins. A few ideas---please suggest your own:

First off, we only put people on our money who are already dead; otherwise we might have ended up with an O.J. Simpson dollar, and no one wants that. So we have to pick from the dead in choosing new honorees. Below, my top ten list:

1. elvis presley - The "Elvis" dollar is a natural. However, unlike the stamp where we voted on young Elvis versus Fat Elvis, I suggest the Mint do one of each. If we want to get a little more governmenty, create a picture based on Elvis' famous meeting with Richard Nixon.

2. Martin Luther King, Jr. - The guy's got a road in every major city, when's he getting the money, honey?

3. U.S. War Casualties - This one's common sense. A coin commemorating those who've died in battle, especially while we have an ongoing war, would definitely be used.

4. Robert F. Kennedy - RFK has a new movie coming out; the guy is hot. Capitalize on the moment with a new twist on the Kennedy dollar.

5. Jack Kerouac - On The Road is a classic tale of traversing this great country. Under the influence of drugs, sure, but, still, it's an ode to oiur great nation. This one lets us play up the greatness of the country while also embracing the counterculture which, let's face it, is generally the only culture that we remember over the long haul.

6. Jackie Robinson - The first black man in Major League Baseball seems a logical choice.

7. Marilyn Monroe - Hello? I'm no genius and I thought of this. Where's the U.S. Mint been?

8. John Denver - I know it's nuts, but I like the idea of John Denver smiling out at me from my dollar, making me think of sunshine on my shoulders and taking the country roads home to the place where I belong West Virginia mountain mama. Who doesn't love John Denver and think of him as a true American?

9. Louis Armstrong - Another American original, straight from New Orleans, which we're all holding in our hearts these days.

10. Homer Simpson - Not dead of course, but not alive either. Perhaps not the greatest American, but perhaps representative of a good 50% of us. Who wouldn't want to pay their beer tab with a few Homers?

Honorable mentions: Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison, Roberto Clemente, Malcolm X, Liberace, Alf.