Are we washing money down the drain?

When I read that replacing all dollar bills with coins could save the U.S. $5.5 billion over 30 years, or $183.3 million a year, my first thought was, “How can a piece of paper cost more than a metal coin?”

But it makes sense. According to DailyFinance.com, it comes down to the laundry. How many times have we forgotten a dollar bill in our jeans pocket and then tossed it into the washing machine?

Lather, rinse and repeat enough, and the cost of printing dollar bills — and of transporting them in armored trucks, of shredding them and printing more — adds up to a hefty bill for the U.S. taxpayer, as Daily Finance notes.

In contrast, writer Ricky Smith pointed out, a dollar coin, once minted, can stay in circulation, undamaged and perfectly useful, for decades. A metal dollar coin has an average lifespan 17 times longer than a printed dollar bill.