1RMB notes are an abomination, and considering that there is a coin of that denomination I'm surprised they haven't been abolished. In my wallet now I have a couple of them dating from 1999. Dirty.
They only mint 1RMB coins in the south (e.g. Shanghai). Beijing and the north have mainly paper bills, we do get coins for the subway, however. Coins are annoying if clean, since we aren't used to them.