Potential losers in dollar bill vs. coin debate: Strippers

By Judy Kurtz - 10/03/11 07:10 PM ET

Do away with the dollar bill and lawmakers could be making money disappear from the G-strings of some of the country’s hardest-working women (and a few men as well).

Exotic dancers may be more familiar with George Washington’s face than many other members of the American workforce — the dollar bill is their bread and butter. For the uninitiated, patrons shower adult entertainers with cash when they approve of the way they, eh, shake their stuff.

But now, those birthday suits may be left bare without any green to keep them covered, because the dollar note is being threatened with extinction. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and two other House Republicans recently introduced legislation that would get rid of the one-dollar bill and replace it with a dollar coin. Schweikert contends the move would save billions of bucks over the course of a few decades, since metal lasts longer than paper.

However, Daniel Harris, owner and manager of Archibald’s Gentleman’s Club in downtown D.C., is not ready to endorse the legislation. The businessman said with a laugh that chunks of change just won’t work in his establishment: “You can’t put a coin in a garter belt.”

Harris, who estimates he has handled “millions and millions” of dollar bills since Archibald’s opened in 1969, and greeted ITK (who proved there’s just about nothing she won’t do for a story) holding two bundles of dollar bills totaling $2,000, adds, “I think it would be very awkward for everyone involved. How much more would a coin weigh than a dollar bill? It would be very hard.”