Who's Next for the U.S. Dollar Coin, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford?: Currency Poll

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Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR), the leader in self service coin counting unveiled today that light bulbs and affordable automobiles not only secured notable scientists and inventors a place in U.S. history, but also a spot at the top of Coinstar's National Currency Poll. In celebration of National Coin Week (April 15-21, 2007) featuring the theme "The Presidents are Coming," relating to the United States Mint's Presidential dollar coin program, Coinstar conducted the poll to gauge American's awareness, interest and thoughts on the new dollar coin.

 

BELLEVUE, Wash. (BusinessWire EON) April 19, 2007 -- According to the poll conducted last week, 60 percent of Americans are aware of the new dollar coin, but only 16 percent are actually spending dollar coins. Fifty-six percent are saving or avoiding the dollar coin all together (31 percent saving and 25 percent avoiding).

 

Coinstar also asked Americans which group of well-known figures beyond presidents they'd like to see on a U.S. coin. The poll revealed that more than 25 percent of Americans rank Notable Scientists and Inventors as their top choice. Inspirational Athletes (8 percent), Influential Musicians (7 percent), Well-Known Authors (6 percent) and Famous Artists (5 percent) rounded out the top five categories. Receiving the least amount of interest were Popular TV or Motion Picture Celebrities and Pop Culture Icons which received a combined 5 percent.

 

"Given the popularity of celebrity and talent driven reality television, it's refreshing to see that Americans acknowledge the important contributions of scientists and inventors and rank them well above pop culture icons and celebrities as figures they'd like to see on the dollar coin," said Alex Camara, senior vice president and general manager of worldwide coin at Coinstar, Inc.

 

Additional information about the Coinstar National Currency Poll is available by contacting Coinstar.

 

About the Coinstar National Currency Poll

 

Coinstar National Currency Poll was developed in 1998 to provide information to better understand coin and currency habits in America, and track trends, behaviors and attitudes towards currency - both traditional and new forms, as well as related topics. Topics covered by previous Coinstar polls include whether or not to keep the penny, the introduction of new currency designs, the possibility of a future "cashless" society, and the adoption of the Euro. An independent market research firm conducts the poll and compiles data from the telephone responses of more than 1,000 randomly selected American adults.