Okay,

I have some news to report (even for those who don't care) I sent this
letter, along with my three legislation bills:



To the President of NAMA,

Hi,

My name is Tom, and I am a huge supporter of eliminating the $1 and $2
bill in favor of $1 and $2 coins (and heck, even eliminating the $5
bill in favor of a $5 coin in the future) and getting the half dollar
coin widely circulating once more. I had some legislation that I was
wondering if you would support it.

One bill calls for a redesign of the half dollar coin, to feature
famous police, military, fire, rescue, and sled dogs, that served, or
gave their lives for man kind, and to honor dogs, for serving man kind
for tens or thousands of years, as well as to respect the wild
ancestors, that dogs came from.

Another bill was about redesigning the $2 bill, with a one year
program, starting this year, for a redesigned NexGen style, and a
Louisiana Purchase theme on the reverse of the $2 bill. After the one
year Louisiana Purchase program, the $2 bill's design will revert back
to a modernized Monticello design.

I know that the wise thing to do, would be to lobby for new U.S. $2
coins, instead of redesigned $2 bills, however, the idea is: Phase out
$1 bills, issue new redesigned $2 bills alongside $1 coins, so that
people would realize that $2 bills are still being printed, and are
not "rare collectibles" and would spend $2 bills more. Program vending
machines to take the permanent Monticello $2 bill design, people
could then, get used to a convenient form of the $2 denomination, then
wait about 3-5 years after the $1 bill is phased out, then once people
are used to $1 coins, begin to phase out $2 bills, and issue new U.S.
$2 coins, using Canada's bimetallic $2 coin as the prototype.

I have some questions.

0. I have heard from some people that, the half dollar coin is
unwanted by the U.S. Mint, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and
the vending industry. Is it true that the vending industry does not
want to deal with halves?

1. I tried a current half dollar in a self-checkout at a local Meijer
store, and the coin fit perfectly in the coin slot, and was not a
tight fit at all, but the machine still did not accept it, and
returned it to me. So, I have heard that, some vending machines have
switches that the vendors can flip, to take $1 coins and $2 bills, so,
is it possible that these self-checkouts could have a switch to flip
to accept halves? I figure there should be a half dollar switch, since
the coins easily fit in the coin slots. If the machines accept and
dispense halves, it would help both, half dollar circulation, and gain
more sales.

2.. Do some vending machines take and dispense halves already? If so,
could you please tell me which ones, just out of curiosity?

3. Is there a chance that, NAMA could get the entire vending industry
to retool their machines to take halves? I know that many people say
that, due to the fact that, a half of a dollar is not a big enough gap
between the 25 cent and $1 denomination areas to justify circulating
half dollars, people were saying that the U.S. Mint should just scrap
the 50 cent denomination, but I support and would like to see a widely
circulating half dollar in my lifetime, and if vending machines
accepted and dispensed halves, people would receive and use this
denomination, and within a few years, treat it the same as a quarter.
I would find a half, and a quarter more convenient to receive in
change, if I bought a 25 cent pack of gum with a dollar, than three
quarters.

4. Would the vending industry be interested in supporting a redesigned
$2 bill, and retooling their machines and self-checkouts to accept and
dispense redesigned $2 bills of a permanent design?

5. A few years after the $1 bill is phased out, would you support
legislation for a U.S. $2 coin?

6. Would it be wise to forget about the $2 bill, and just lobby for
this new $2 coin?

7. Do vending machines have the ability to be retooled to take half
dollars, redesigned $2 bills, and eventually $2 coins?

8. Could you please consider supporting my $2 bill and half dollar
coin redesign legislation effort being passed in Congress? Do you have
a Congressman that can lobby for these changes? I believe that, if the
general public will embrace a redesigned $2 bill, and would not mind
phasing out $1 bills as much, if they have a $2 bill available, and
they know that they are real money. Same with a readily available
half. Redesigning the $2 bill will help people realize that $2 bills
are still being printed, and are not "rare collectibles" as well. Thus
people will receive, and spend $2 bills, and halves as every day
money, same as quaters, and/or $1 bills.

9. And above all, could you please try to get vendors interested in
retooling their machines, either to take the current $2 bill, and half
dollar coin, and/or also leave the possibility open for retooling
machines to take my redesigned $2 bills and halves? (I know that the
half dollar redesign won't matter, since coins are accepted through
vending machines, based on their weight, so, not as big of an issue as
redesigned $2 bills would cause)

10. Oh, and one more thing. Is there any chance of a $1 bill phase-out
any time soon? Do you think that, since President-Elect Barack Obama
wants to cut taxes for the poor and middle class, that he might get on
this issue, seeing as a switch to a $1 coin would save billions in tax
dollars? When might a $1 bill phase-out begin? Have you heard anything
from the government about this issue? And is there any chance that the
penny will be eliminated, as well? I support penny elimination, as
well as replacing the $1 and $2 bills with coins in the near future.

Upgrading vending machines to take all U.S. coins and currency,
including the rarely used denominations, would increase vending sales,
while also saving the government money, on having to mint and print
less of the common denominations, should the three odd denominations
(half dollar coin, $1 coin and $2 bill) widely circulate. Most people
will not go out of their way to go to the bank and buy halves, $1
coins or $2 bills, but if vending machines accept and dispense all
three denominations, people will receive and use these three odd
denominations, and they would eventually become a normal thing, and
people will use them. My brother actually had a guy ask him for two
quarters to use at a rest stop, since a he had was a half, and traded
with my brother. That could have been a potential lost sale, since the
vending machines did not accept halves, so I do believe it would be
very worth it for vendors to retool their machines to take halves.

Please support my half dollar and $2 bill redesign legislation, and
help me get a Congressman to introduce these bills.

Thank You for your time.

Tom


P.S. I am enclosing copies of three different bills I want to suggest
to Congress. 1. The redesign of the half. 2. The redesign of the $2
bill. 3. The redesign and reissue of the $500, and $1,000 bills, and
issuance of a $200 bill. I'm not sure if the vending industry would
have much use for or benefit from $200, $500, and $1,000 bills,
unless, maybe for large orders at self-checkouts, but please, if you
can, try to support the issuance of these three new large
denominations, as well. I can't do this on my own. Thank You again.

And here's my reply:

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your recent letter concerning the elimination of the $1
and $2 bills in favor of coins along with a more widely circulating
half dollar coin.

As a general rule our association has supported the increased use of
coins because they are more efficient than bills for making small
denomination purchases. Coins also stay in circulation longer than
bills and save the government money.

There are limits however as to how many coins can be accepted by a
vending machine. Each coin has its own tube in a machine for
collection purposes. Four tube configurations are common today so
machines can accept the nickel,dome,quarter and $1 coin. Adding tubes
for a half dollar and $2 coin would add millions of dollars in costs
for the industry to retrofit existing equipment and purchase new
equipment.

For many years NAMA has supported the idea of a widely circulating $1
coin and the withdrawal of the $1 bill. But despite recent attempts,
$1 coins are not often used in circulation. In our view there are
several reasons for this including the continued production of the $1
bill, the lack of retailers distributing the coin as change, and to
the public's apparent perception that dollar coins are too heavy for
everyday use.

The current half dollar coin, as you know, is about 15% larger and 40%
heavier than the $1 coin. So unless a half dollar was significantly
redesigned there seems to be little doubt that it would also be
rejected by the public. And with the current lack of demand for a $2
bill (only about 1% of all notes currently produced are $2 bills)
there would seem to be little chance for a $2 coin to be minted in the
foreseeable future.

We would encourage you to share your ideas with your U.S.
Representative and the U.S. Senators from your state. If Congress gets
the message that citizens want effective and usable coins for small
transactions then a half dollar and $2 coin may become a reality.

Sincerely,

Brian B. Allen
Senior Director & Counsel,
Government Affairs/Central Area



Now, I don't know much about letters, but this one did NOT seem like a
form letter to me. Seems they explained how adding coin tubes for half
and $2 coins an be quite costly, and I can see that.

Did it seem like, when the guy was talking about the half needing a
"significantly redesigned" version, that what he was saying was, a
change in size, as well? It seems that one of their main concerns, are
the ones with halfs and $1 coins being too heavy, so I was thinking
that they were hinting toward a smaller, lighter half. So, mayne I
should suggest both hal dollar bills I had for Congress. The one where
the coin just gets a design change, and the dramatic redesign, where
the color, size and thickness of the coin is changed. And maybe I
could even suggest an octogon shaped coin for distinguishing a half
with a $1 coin, or any other coin that the new half would be similar
in size to. And also, a bit more extreme of an octogon shape, than
Canada's $1 coin, so that consumers can REALLY tell the difference in
the new half and $1 coins.

Also, with the cost of adding a $2 coin tube, maybe they would support
a redesigned $2 bill instead of a $2 coin. However, if the U.S. ever
mints a $2 coin, and vendors retool for it, I'm going to immediately
write a letter to them, urging them to put in a half dollar tube,
while they are adding $2 coin tubes to their machines. And also,
unless they plan on ever eliminating the cent, I'd like to suggest a
penny tube as well. Hey, while their machines are torn apart, why not
try to get them updated to take ALL curculating denominations?

Any comments? (Bad or good. Doesn't make any difference to me)

Tom

Tom