Cheaper Money: As Washington struggles to cut costs big and small, converting to the dollar coin would be a reasonable way to save money.

Ditch the dollar bill and live with change: The main reason to make the switch is that it will save money. Paper dollars wear out in about three years and then are typically shredded and put in landfills. Coins cost more to make, but they last 30 years or more, and they’re recyclable when they become too worn to circulate. The government also makes money on the difference between what money costs to make and what it’s worth.

In defense of the dollar coin: To the extent it’s possible to weigh the matter objectively, facts favor the coin. Almost all industrialized countries have eliminated small-denomination bills, because metal objects last longer than paper ones. Protecting the long-run interest of taxpayers is what Congress is supposed to do.

Cutting a dollar a tough issue for Congress: On balance, though, the merits favor a coin: Past attempts have failed because the government continued to offer a dollar-bill alternative. If you eliminate that, as Mr. Schweikert’s bill would, then business and consumer acceptance should be no problem. The government could draw down existing stockpiles to meet demand. Given the country’s financial emergency, it’s worth a try.

8 Easy Ways to Cut Government Spending: Replace George with Sacajawea (est. savings: $184 million).

Dollar coin? It’s time: A coin would last longer than a bill, saving the government money. A dollar bill, as we all know too well, is a fleeting thing. Not just because it leaves our hands so much more easily than it returns but because, as it changes hands, it wears out within about three years, and often sooner. A coin’s life span, by contrast, averages 30 years.

Dollar Coin: …it ($1 coin) makes indisputable financial sense. In its latest report on federal cost-cutting ideas, the Government Accountability Office estimated savings of $5.5 billion over 30 years with a dollar coin. It was the fifth GAO recommendation on behalf of such a coin over the past 20 years.

US should scrap $1 bill for more economical coin: Even as other nations eliminate low-denomination money, the dollar bill has hung on through a combination of nostalgia, inertia, and lobbying by paper and ink suppliers like Dalton-based Crane. But there is no good reason to keep the bill. Canada managed to phase out its dollar bill without economic disruption or social unrest. Surely we can do it here, too.

Dollar coins mean change for better: Continuing to make and circulate dollar bills is costly at a time the nation needs every (too expensive) penny. It’s time we learned to deal with change.

It’s time for the Treasury to phase out dollar bills: The Reno Gazette Journal writes, “If Congress and President Barack Obama were truly serious about avoiding the “fiscal cliff” come Jan. 1, they’d start with a few easy measures instead of going for the whole ball of wax at one time. They could get rid of the $1 bill, for instance.

2012 Congressional Testimony

Lorelei St. James of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before the U.S. Congress that a transition from the dollar note to the dollar coin will save the federal government $4.5 billion over 30 years.

2013 Questions for the Record

The GAO recommended for a ninth time that the U.S. transition from a dollar note to a dollar coin, explaining the many benefits to the federal government and the taxpayers.

2012 Annual Report:

Replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin would provide a significant financial benefit to the government over time. Over the past 40 years, many nations have replaced lower-denomination notes with coins as a means of providing a financial benefit to their governments.

February 2012:

Replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin would provide a net benefit to the government of approximately $4.4 billion over 30 years

March 2011:

Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin Would Provide a Financial Benefit to the government