The U.S. Mint is still trying to get that new dollar coin into circulation. According to a Washington Post article, “the average American is holding onto six golden dollars as souvenirs”. Hmph! I’ve only ever seen one to hoard and someone else obtained it for me. I don’t know anyone with more than one, so there must be people hanging onto rolls and rolls! The director of the Coin Coalition claims banks were “livid” that the mint initially passed them over to help in promoting the dollar coins. Instead, Wal-mart purchased 100 million coins to hand out as promotional change. But the American Bankers Association blames retailers for not requesting the coins, since banks will only order as many as they are getting asked for. Now Allfirst, a Baltimore-based bank, has dollar coins available for customers who want it when cashing checks and to give as freebies to those opening checking account. But I’m not sure this will help push it into circulation; people will still hoard those few coins. If the Mint keeps treating the coins like a promotional item, the public will keep treating them like a collector’s item. Their usefulness needs to be promoted. If they are indeed going to benefit someone, then those who benefit need to get on the bandwagon.