Although a one dollar coin is three times as expensive to make, it lasts more than 17 times longer than a dollar bill. It costs 5.4 cents to make a $1 bill and it lasts on average 21 months. A $1 coin, in contrast, costs 18.03 cents and lasts for 30 years. Although coins are thus more economical from a production standpoint, there are additional costs from the coins' much greater weight. Coins are more than eight times heavier than bills and a lot less convenient to use by people and businesses.
More about currency:
- The United States spends about $800 million per year on the production of new currency.
- $100 bills make up about 80% of all US currency in circulation.
- The Federal Reserve estimates that about 37% of the physical US currency is actually held outside of the United States.