Jarle H Knudsen wrote:

I'm amazed you still use one dollar bills. Why haven't they been phased
out?

Paper notes are still far more convenient to carry than coins and the US has far
more vending machines and cash register drawers than most other countries. While
many will accept dollar coins, the ones that do tend to be government owned (ie
Post Office) or located in casinos. The far more ubiqutous soda and candy
vending machines tend to take nickels, dime and quarters, and if you are really
lucky, the have a working receiver for $1 bills. Replacing all those won't be
cheap and the cost would fall on the machine owner while the benefit went to the
government.

I've lived in both kinds of countries and used both types of currencies. While
you can make an argument that coins are cheaper over their lifetime, I'm glad
the US is still using paper.