Since the highest metal content in the coins will most likely be tin, they won't be heavy. Plus you still have the option of 1x$20 or 2x$10 or 4x$5.

Plus with a pocket full of dollar coins you wouldn't have to worry about accidentally going swimming or putting them through the wash, they'll just be shinier :-)

>How would you like to carry around $20 worth of dollar coins all day? I wouldn't.
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>>>Seems like a lot of countries are and/or have been going this way. The English pound is a coin and when I was there last summer they came out with a 2 pound coin remarkably similar to out toonie and have plans for a 5 pound coin. (For anyone confused, that's not the weight of the coin ;-)
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>>The coins have a much greater lifespan than the paper, so after the higher initial outlay for them, they can save a lot of printing/circulating cost over time...that's the main reason the US is going to them. Actually, they tried before with the Susan B Anthony dollar, but they were very unpopular < s >
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>>Eventually, they want to obsolete $1 bills completely, to force people to use the coins...if the public doesn't revolt, anyway :)