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> "it would take 4000 double folds, forwards and backwards, to tear a banknote". Is this insufficient for UK uses?

When I was in the US I've often was given heavy worn out banknotes sometimes with tears. Haven't seen so many badly damaged pounds so may be dollars can benefit from more durable material too.

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The issue is that the one-dollar bill is still being printed. Decades of inflation has made dollar bills much more common, which means they come out of pockets more, which means they wear faster. I expect once the penny finally goes out of use, dollar bills will as well, and you'll see a lot more dollar coins.

I feel like the US would just switch to more durable polymer bills than try the dollar coin thing again. I only ever get them in vending machines. They are much heavier than a bill so transport costs are higher and many people don't like carrying coins around anyway. Plus, at the point where a dollar bill costs too much to produce, we'd be in a near cashless society so small denominations wouldn't make much sense.

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