U.S.A. — Seventy-six percent of Americans prefer $1 bills to $1 coins, according to a new Harris Poll survey. Harris said the public continues to show "a strong reluctance... to use $1 coins," and noted that only 25% of those surveyed said they had ever seen the coinage. The study did not address possible correlations between exposure and acceptance.

In related news, Massachusetts state representative Denis Guyer (D-Dalton) recently proposed legislation to limit use of $1 coins with vending machines run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Guyer described the new money as "the most unpopular and inconvenient form of currency ever devised," and wants venders to dispense banknotes when giving more than $5 in change (they currently pay back $1 coins). Critics of the bill point out that the supplier of paper used by the U.S. Mint for its bills happens to be based in Guyer's home town, and believe that this has influenced his position

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