Stan Collender, who led the team to "increase consumer awareness of the [Sacagawea] golden dollar" when in was introduced in the '90s, counters the Tea Party's call for the coin:
[I]n spite of the consumer demand, the golden dollar was a huge flop. Why? The problem was that consumers wanted but couldn't get it. …
What Congress didn't realize or care about when it authorized the golden dollar was that it costs businesses more to get coins than bills because they're heavier and the delivery charges from Brinks or some other armored carrier are higher. Plus, you had to order dollar coins in bags of 2000, which is way more than most retailers need and want to keep in their safes. Because consumers ultimately didn't care whether they got a dollar bill or dollar coin when they made a purchase, businesses saw no reason to pay extra to have the coins delivered or to take the extra risk of having them in their safes. Ultimately, therefore, they didn't order them and you didn't get one in change.
It's one issue where Dan Savage and the Tea Party agree.
The Dish 