pan, those strips of paper are no more than that... strips of paper.
snopes.com: Strip in U.S. Banknote
As for the
US dollar coins, those have been around more often than not and are still around. Of course, the fact that people talk about US dollar coins as if they don't exist shows just how much effort is being put into promoting them. What they did about 10 years ago was
reintroduce the dollar coin after a redesign from a silver Susan B. Anthony coin to a golden Sacagawea coin. Starting in 2007, they began a program to mint golden coins with the presidents, the same way they minted all the states on the quarter.
I'm a big fan of the dollar coin and sometimes go out of my way to get them and spend them. If it's cheaper to make dollar coins than dollar bills, then the government should stop being indecisive about it and just discontinue the dollar bill. People will get over it. People don't like change, and if they're given the option they're going to stick with what they know, regardless of what is better.
Anyway, this thread is about plastic bills. Sounds like a great idea to me. Especially if it's cheaper, I fail to see the down side.