Cassandra Patricia
Taryn Snyder
Serena Franz
Chem A Per. 3
Background: In the past our dollar bill consists of paper, cotton, synthetic polymer and it is not recyclable and goes into our landfills when it is out of circulation. We are looking to change the dollar bill to a dollar coin made of Tungsten due to reasons listed below. Recommendation:
● Should both the dollar bill and dollar coin continue to be produced?
○ The dollar coin should be reproduced because it is more cost effective, it is recyclable, and it lasts longer.
○ The dollar bill should be discontinued.
■ Dollar Bill
● It costs about 5.7 cents to make.
● Once a bill is out of circulation it heads to a landfill because it is not recyclable.
● The bill lasts on average 18­40 months.
■ Dollar Coin
● It costs 10 cents to make.
● Dollar coins are recyclable in many ways. One way it is recycled is to be melted down and made into new coins.
● It lasts on average 30 years.
● Should the dollar coin or the dollar bill be redesigned and made from different materials? ○ The dollar bill should be redesigned into a tungsten coin for reasons stated above such as due to the amount it costs. We think that the smartest way to redesign the coin would be to make it out of Tungsten.
Rationale:
● The factors that most influenced our recommendations are:
○ It has the highest melting of all metals at 6170 degrees F.
○ It has an extremely strong, wear resistant quality, has a hardness very close to that of a diamond
○ It does not oxidize easily.
○ It costs $.00132 to make 6 grams whereas for a quarter which is 6 grams costs
$.10
○ It looks pretty.
● Descriptions of the materials that make up the forms of currency, including
○ For metals,
■ Where major deposits are located:
● China accounts for over 83% of the worlds production of tungsten ■ Important ores of the chosen raw materials
● Tungsten can be found in scheelite and wolframite. These are minerals that are not necessary to dig out. Instead they are held in open­pit mines meaning we can basically go in and grab it.

Cassandra Patricia
Taryn Snyder
Serena Franz
Chem A Per. 3
Environmental Implications:
● How obtaining the raw material will impact local and global environments.
○ As of today there is no known environmental impacts.
● What forms and relative quantities of energy will be required and what wastes will be generated in production of the currency.
○ Due to the lack of environmental impacts and that we will recycle any unused tungsten there will be no waste.