Making a mint.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The U.S. Mint has tried three times since the 1970s to get Americans to use one-dollar coins - the Eisenhower, the Susan B. Anthony and the Sacagawea, each time with disappointing results. The coins were either too big to be carried comfortably in pockets, or too close in size to the quarter to find widespread acceptance.

Now, a congressionally approved bill awaiting the president's signature directs the mint to try again, this time with a brilliant twist: The new dollar coins are meant not just to be spent, but collected.

Starting in 2007, the mint will release dollar coins bearing the likeness of deceased presidents - four a year, until all of them have been thus immortalized. The list of deceased presidents currently includes 37 names, enough to keep the mint busy for nearly a decade, and a few more could be added as the program rolls along.

The idea is modeled on the mint's successful 50 State Quarter program, which in 1999 began featuring designs from five states each year on the 25-cent piece. Oregon's design, featuring Crater Lake, was released this year, and proved to be the most popular in the series since 2002. The mint made 720.2 million Oregon quarters, or $180 million worth.

Many of those coins will remain in collectors' hands. These collectors are making, in effect, an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam, 25 cents at a time. It adds up: The government already has realized a $4 billion profit from the 50 State Quarters program, and it still has three years and 15 states to go.

Hence the plan for presidential dollars: If collectors will lend the gov- ernment a quarter, why not a buck? Collect 'em all and the government comes out $37 ahead - minus the cost of production.

Supporters also cling to the hope that has fueled past attempts to introduce a dollar coin. Coins are more durable than paper bills, and if a dollar coin found widespread acceptance the government could save an estimated $500 million a year in printing costs.

The dollar bill is an anomaly in the industrial world. The European Union's lowest-denomination banknote is the 5 euro bill, worth about $6. Japan's smallest bill is the 1,000-yen note, worth about $7. Great Britain has a 5-pound banknote, worth about $8.50.

For smaller amounts, coins are used - eight different values, in the case of the EU, in contrast to the four coins that are in everyday circulation in the United States.

An American dollar coin, however, has never caught on in modern times. Collectors seem likely to make the presidential dollar series a money-maker. As a replacement for the dollar bill, however, the Treasury should not place overly high hopes in Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce and Richard Nixon.