New York City, NY — The U.S. Mint announced today that 22 amphitheaters owned and/or operated by Clear Channel Entertainment (formerly SFX) will be distributing Golden Dollars for the second year in a row.
Last year, Clear Channel Entertainment distributed five million coins at concession stands at 10 of its key market amphitheaters. During this year’s program, which began in July and will run through the end of the 2001 concert season, ten million Golden Dollar coins will be ordered by Clear Channel Entertainment and used for change in cash transactions at merchandise and concession stands and box offices.
‘The U.S. Mint is very pleased that Clear Channel Entertainment has joined forces with us for the second year in a row,’ said U.S. Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. ‘Their popular music venues help get the Golden Dollars in the hands of many thousands of people around the country.’
‘Clear Channel Entertainment is happy to be expanding our program with the U.S. Mint this year after successfully facilitating the exchange of five million Gold Dollar coins at 10 of our venues last year,’ said Paula Balzer, Chief Marketing Officer of Clear Channel Entertainment. ‘Involving the crowds that attend music concerts at our venues provides the Mint with an opportunity to demonstrate to consumers the convenience of using a dollar coin.’
Participating venues include: Mars Music Amphitheatre (Miami), Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (Houston), Merriweather Post Pavilion (Baltimore), Nissan Pavilion (Washington, DC), Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Charlotte), Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion and Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Los Angeles), Shoreline Amphitheatre and Chronicle Pavilion at Concord (San Francisco), Tweeter Center and FleetBoston Pavilion (Boston), Jones Beach Theater, PNC Bank Arts Center and Westbury Music Fair (New York area), Tweeter Center (Chicago), Tweeter Center at the Waterfront (Philadelphia area), I.C. Light Amphitheatre and Post–Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake (Pittsburgh), CTNow.com Meadows Music Centre and CTNow.com Oakdale Theatre (Hartford/New Haven), Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (San Antonio) and Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre (Sacramento).
In addition to Clear Channel Entertainment, banks, retailers and corporations have joined the U.S. Mint to remind consumers that the Golden Dollar is not only an attractive coin, but also an everyday form of currency meant to be used. Allfirst Bank, IHOP, Safeway, SFX, The Trenton Thunder Baseball Club and other minor league baseball teams have successfully promoted Golden Dollar usage.
About the Golden Dollar
To ensure the coin’s success and as mandated by Congress, the U.S. Mint has been educating businesses and consumers about the Golden Dollar. The United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997 required the U.S. Mint to place into circulation the new dollar coin. Since January 2000, the U.S. Mint has minted more than 1.5 billion Golden Dollars, with more than 1 billion Golden Dollars already in circulation, more than the total amount of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins produced over that coin’s 21–year history. Dollar coins have gained popularity in recent years due to their expanded use for purchases in post offices, subways, buses and other coin–operated outlets. Visit the Mint’s Web site for more information about the Golden Dollar at www.usmint.gov.
About the U.S. Mint
Created by Congress in 1792, the U.S. Mint today is the world’s largest manufacturer of coins, medals and coin–based consumer products. In 2000, the Mint produced more than 27 billion coins, fulfilling its primary mission to produce an adequate supply of circulating coinage for the nation’s commerce. The Mint has grown to a Fortune 500–sized manufacturing and international marketing enterprise with more than $3.7 billion in annual revenue and 2,800 employees.