New dollars to start circulating in Iowa next week

Iowans should start seeing the new “golden dollar” coins soon as banks begin distributing them across the Hawkeye State next week. Vernon Geiger is executive vice president of Earlham Savings Bank in Madison County. Geiger predicts Iowans will snap the coins up fast but the novelty will wear off within a few months.He suspects the federal government is simply trying to save money with the introduction of this gold-colored coin. It should last 25 years, as opposed to paper dollars which last in circulation about one year. Geiger says the dislike of the smaller, silver-colored Susan B-Anthony dollar coins was understandable. He thinks there’ll be a certain appeal with this new, bigger gold-colored coin — and no mistaking it for a quarter.While gold in color, the coins are made of manganese, copper and brass. They feature Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian who helped guide the historic Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804-06. An eagle is on the flip-side.