GUWonder

What would FinCEN do with this when giving money from yourself to yourself is not illegal? No problem likely unless the bank in which you deposit the money files a suspicious transaction report and/or they think your transaction is greater than $3000 or being broken up in amounts to avoid reporting requirements. Even then you can't be "done" if you have it documented what your source of funds was and where it was deposited. Federal prosecutors and courts wouldn't waste their time if they exercised even a wee bit of common sense especially when neither the source of funds is from illicit activity and when this is not being done for tax evasion or evasion of other reporting requirements.

A thousand miles for a thousand dollars per President? If you want to try for a million miles this way, I suspect that the bank might file some reports with say FinCEN and the IRS but it's not going to "do you in" ... but there may be some explaining to do.

mia

Precisely. At this stage it appears only the JQ Adams coin is offered at face value. This program could end if the Mint sees that a high proportion of these are turned in at banks in their original wrappers.

soitgoes

The next ones will be out mid-August; there are four releases per year:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=schedule

Please remember that we--the taxpayers--are paying for this. I see this as something that can be beneficial to us in getting a small number of extra miles each year or reaching some CC spending threshholds and at the same time helping the Mint with its mandate to increase circulation of the dollar coin.

If these coins don't actually end up circulating, the Mint will likely cancel this program, as they should.

Aus_Mal

I have to ask... how often do people see $1 coins in the U.S? Will there ever be a day when the $1 note is phased out?

soitgoes

Rarely, though I really don't expect that will change unless they stop circulating the $1 bill, which gets talked about, but not acted upon.

VPescado

Money laundering involves taking undocumented monies (usually cash or cash equivalents) and making them documented (e.g. a check allegedly for for payment of some seemingly legitimate sale or service).

In this case you are doing the opposite.

You can draw attention to yourself if you appear to have a pattern of using up lots of cash do to a suspicion that it is being used for illegal purposes but strictly speaking, this is not money laundering.

ANDREWCX

For AA earners - if you aren't Gold/Plat/ExPlat already then you will have to check your annual earning cap on your card.

People with CO and DL cards that offer EQM/MQM's could also use this to earn towards lifetime status.

The new VS Black Card would allow you to earn Silver Status (Annual) with 100 boxes purchased).

(Assuming they take Amex but since someone mentioned the Starwood card I assume they do).

Can anyone confirm that these charges were actually processed as a purchase rather than a cash advance?

ANDREWCX

Carter did it, and Reagan reversed it (Susan B Anthony $1)
Clinton did it, and Bush reversed it (Sacagawea $1)

This time is odd since the new $1 have come in under Bush.

Plus - there is a lot of pressure from the Federal Reserve to get rid of the $1 notes since they cost too much to produce, don't last very long, and allow too much cheap currency paper on the market that gets used to make counterfeit $20's etc.

I do use $1 coins and $2 notes on the odd times that I use cash (well, some of the time).

rrgg

You're talking about a million coins. How many of these commemorative coins do they mint anyway?

The idea of annoying my bank for lucrative miles/points/cashback seems a little unappealing.

hfly

Andrew, these are your theories, right? Because they seem to have little relationship to reality or history. Neither Carter nor Clinton phased out or were about phase out the $1 bill, it should also be noted that previous to the Susan B coin there was the IKE coin.

They cost to much to produce is a relative term/idea. They cost next to nothing to produce, but their life is short. A coin effectively lasts forever,costs more to produce, but "saves" money over time (at least that is the idea). Regarding your ideas about the paper. This was maybe a valid concern 10-15 YEARS ago, however since that time all sorts of measures have been taken and bits added to different denominations to make such a thing impossible.

ANDREWCX

I was almost certain that the dollar bill had been phased out in the past but now I look for it, I find that although that was part of the various (pre-presidential) $1 Coin congressional bills - it may never have happened. I know it was congresses intent at the time.

I do remember Bush campaigning to defend/restore the $1 Bill though so at least the politicians made it appear that the $1 Bill was or was soon to be history.

According to http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=5499&type=0 the cost to produce a $1 note is 3.8cents while a coin costs 8cents. If you take the average lifespan into account. It costs 2.5 cents per year for a $1 Bill but only 0.27 cents for a coin.

I know that is why the new 'colored' notes were introduced however, until the old notes are invalidated, this is still an issue. Obviously, very close inspection will reveal these counterfeits buy casual use won't as they 'feel' right.

Of course the US could keep bills but solve the other problems by switching to Polymer notes like many other countries (inc. Australia and some Mexican notes) - they last for ages, are very damage resistant, can't be counterfeited, and of course, are still notes so don't freak people out about tipping etc.

gbryan84

My dad gave a few of these dollar coins to a cab driver in Las Vegas last month and they guy thought they were quarters. He said sir, why dont you just take these, play them in the slot machine and if you win give someone a decent tip. My dad walked up to him and took them back and said actually these are dollar coins so thats a $5 tip you just gave up. They guy got back in his car and drove off as Im sure he felt really stupid and embarrased.

DBCme

Thanks for answering the question.

Parking is .25 cents per 4-5 minutes in some area of San Francisco now, these dollar coins will work well.

yorock

I suspect that the OP was not referring to illegal money laundering but perhaps activity that your CC company or FF program might frown upon. However, I would think that transation fees and sale of miles would still be a net plus for them.

rrgg

Product to be available June 28th. (I previously wrote "backordered to July 15th.")

Maybe the demand on this coin will help strengthen the dollar.

Edited to add:

• Orders are not valid until accepted by the United States Mint.
• The United States Mint reserves the right to limit quantities and may discontinue accepting orders at any time.
• The United States Mint reserves the right to accept or reject coin orders in any combination or option(s) it determines to be in its best interest.
• In the event a particular coin option is sold out, the United States Mint reserves the right to either process partial orders and make refunds, or return orders in their entirety.
• Bags of 500 coins or greater will be charged $7.95 per bag plus the appropriate shipping fee of Standard or International Shipping. Expedited Shipping is not available for International orders.

(I assume this is literally a "box" not a "bag" of coins.)