Dollar Coin

The report out of Washington wasn't particularly controversial, yet it was still pretty titillating. (Relax, this has nothing to do with the Prez's impeachment.) It read: "Sacajawea, the Shoshone teenager who accompanied explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Pacific Ocean almost two centuries ago, gazes serenely from a proposed design for the new dollar coin. "The design is among six finalists for the gold-colored coin that Americans will find in their pockets starting in 2000.

Sacajawea, the Shoshone teenager who accompanied explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Pacific Ocean almost two centuries ago, gazes serenely from a proposed design for the new dollar coin. The design is among six finalists for the gold-colored coin that Americans will find in their pockets starting in 2000.

The face on the new dollar coin will be that of Liberty, but with features "inspired by Sacajawea," the famous Indian guide, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The choice won praise for widely differing reasons, but Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) said he will fight it in favor of the Statue of Liberty, which he called "the greatest and most recognizable symbol of freedom worldwide." He has introduced a bill that would overturn Treasury Secretary Robert E.

Sacajawea, or at least the spirit of the Native American guide, was picked by a federal advisory panel to replace Susan B. Anthony in Americans' pockets. The panel voted 6 to 1 to recommend to Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin that the new dollar coin bear the image of "Liberty, represented by a Native American woman, inspired by Sacajawea and other Native American women."

President Clinton has approved what will be the first alteration in America's circulating coins in two decades. He signed legislation providing a new gold-colored dollar coin that will replace coins bearing the portrait of suffragist Susan B. Anthony. The government will continue printing dollar bills. The Treasury secretary will decide whether the new dollar coin will depict the Statue of Liberty or an actual woman or women of historical importance.

Legislation and budget measures now before Congress would abolish the dollar bill and require the Treasury Department to mint a new dollar coin. The goal is to force Americans to accept a coin they don't want in the name of cost savings that will never materialize. The result will be an immense expense and the third dollar coin to fail in the past 25 years. Americans simply don't want a dollar coin. Since the 1970s, they've rejected the Eisenhower dollar and the Susan B.

A dollar bill is of little use when you need coins to feed a parking meter, use a vending machine or make a phone call. Mass transit agencies could save loads of money if they did not have to sort the paper currency that many riders use to pay fares. Maybe it's time to take another look at using a coin in place of the dollar bill. We can hear you groaning. Sure, everybody wants to forget--and almost has--the disastrous Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, introduced in 1979.