Getting the Public to Use Half Dollars and Dollars

"They are both awful. The SBA was worse, but they are both awful. They
are the same size as a quarter. I make mistakes with them all the time.
We don't give them out. We don't want any back. I always mistake them
for quarters."
((Bear in mind what these two ladies do for a living and read this!!))

Sometimes I wonder just how much training bank tellers receive...

If we are really moving toward a mostly
cashless society why make a big effort
in this area? It seems like a hopeless
fight. The average person is probably
comfortable with the current system and
sees no need to change.

"Ami ." wrote in message
...
I don't know if I'd keep Kennedy going on some other denomination. 50
years is long enough for him.

I think there would be a huge outcry if Kennedy is removed from U.S.
coinage. The American public has a fascination with the Kennedy family.
They are almost like America's version of a royal family.

I think most people now understand that JFK was not quite what we once
thought he was, and whatever fascination there once was has probably
dissipated.


Even the new governor of California, a Republican, was sworn into office
using a 192-year Kennedy family Bible.



Hardly surprising since he is a member of the Kennedy family (by marriage).

In the UK £1 coins are used by the majority of the population on a daily
basis, it will be no different in the USA if the $1 note gets the heave
ho, the $1 coin will take its place, with a bit of fuss of course as it
is the USA public who seem to very much against change in the
notes/coins if posts here are anything to go by.

I suspect that the views of the general public in the USA will be
different from the coin collectors posting here as a collector's view
will be different from the majority of non collectors. Billy


"A.E. Gelat" wrote:

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...
A.E. Gelat wrote:

"Dan Pon" wrote in message
om...

(Ami .) wrote in message

...

What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

I think the following would work:

1. End production of Kennedy halves in 2004. The last year should have
a
special date, 1964-2004. Starting in 2005, the half dollar would have a
portrait of Martin Luther King on the obverse. The words "United States
of America" would be in big letters above the portrait. The word
"Liberty" would be in smaller letters positioned on the obverse. On the
reverse, there would be the rendering of the Liberty Bell that was on
the reverse of the Franklin halves. Above the Liberty Bell would be the
words "Let Freedom Ring."

2. Starting in 2005, remove the portrait of Sacagawea from the dollar
coin. Replace it with a portrait of John F. Kennedy. The design of the
Kennedy dollar coin would have a new portrait. The reverse would remain
the same as the current Kennedy half.

We would then have MLK Halves and Kennedy Golden Dollars.

I don't know if anything would work, short of eliminating the paper
dollar. We're fighting against a situation where 99% of the population
thinks that dollar coins are not for spending, and most stores and
banks are not distributing them regularly. The latter has to change
for anything to happen, since that will put the coins into the
public's hands and get rid of the impression that there's something
unusual and taboo about spending such coins.


Most people arguing against a dollar coin keep mentioning the size.
I say that if the paper diollar is to dropped, it MUST be replaced by a
coin the size of a nickel, with a milled edge, and preferably golden in
color. That is the only way to make people use it.

Tony

Most of the people I see arguing against the dollar coin simply believe
we don't need one-- no matter the size. If the paper dollar WERE
dropped, any available dollar coin would be accepted, or not, based on
its practical utility, not because of its size, thickness, design, or
color. If you reach into your pocket and pull out a handful of change,
can you feel those with reeded edges? Those that are thicker than the
others? A SBA from a quarter? A contrasting appearance would seem to
be the most valuable feature for a new dollar coin, and the Sac dollar
meets that criteria. Yet people still don't care about it. They don't
receive them in change. They do receive dollar bills. They're so fond
of them that they even are willing to examine all the bills in their
wallet each time they make a cash purchase just to make sure they're
grabbing a $1 and not a $5 or $10. Hmmmmm. All our bills have the same
basic size, color, and design yet we still love them even though we
could be confused on occasion. We wouldn't put up with that on our
coins. Imagine the outcry if the Mint proposed that all our coins would
be of the same size, metal, and appearance with just a different
denomination stamped on them.

Bruce

Bruce, you see my point, but you do not grasp it. If there were no one
dollar bills, I would not carry the current dollar coins, because they are
too bulky. I would carry the twos and higher denominations, and hope
to get change in quarters. That is the point. I believe many people will
do the same.

Tony

In the UK £1 coins are used by the majority of the population on a daily
basis, it will be no different in the USA if the $1 note gets the heave
ho, the $1 coin will take its place, with a bit of fuss of course as it
is the USA public who seem to very much against change in the
notes/coins if posts here are anything to go by. BRBR

That's only in England and Wales. In Scotland and Northern Ireland they still
use £1 notes and it would be interesting how well the coins are accepted up
there.

eric l.

I think there would be lines of people at banks asking for Kennedy
Golden Dollars and MLK Halves, particularly in large urban cities. Banks
in those large urban cities would likely jump on board and support the
coins to keep their customers happy. BRBR

Just like they did in 1964. But nobody SPENT the JFK halves. When the
government started making clad coins in 1965, they made the half 40% silver,
making the coins more collectable. By the time a clad half was made in 1971,
nobody used them any more.

The purpose of circulating coins is to circulate. People USE quarters, that's
why the bicentennial/state ones circulated. People used Franklins and SLs, but
not nearly as much as quarters and dimes.

Had the 1965 half been "pure clad" it might have been different, but the
government pretty much weaned the public off halves in the late 'sixties.

Either you do something radical, like stop printing ones and twos, or you give
up on GDs and halves.

eric l.

eric l.

I wonder of the Honorables from Virginia had something to do with
retaining Washington on the state quarters. He was a Virginian as
well.

Padraic BRBR

They didn't. Jackie Kennedy vetoed a JFK quarter out of deference to GW's place
as the father of the country. Nixon did the same thing when an Ike quarter was
mentioned in the press.

eric l.

AMEN. That is one of the points I have tried to make. You said it very
well.

I descirbed an encounter in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago.
They ran out of ones and fives and were excited when another customer
sold them 70 GDs. I heard the managers discussing this and I asked
them if they needed any more. They said "how many do you have?". I
proceeded to sell the $150 in GDs and $150 in Twos. They thanked me
over and over. Both they and the majority of the customers thought
they were 'cool'.

-Fred Shecter

Speaking of cool, I just listed the coolest brick I've seen yet:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2204481390

Contains at least one bundle of CU sequential 1995 star notes on top.
The rest are either the expected 2003 CU sequential Twos or they could
be 2003 stars. You won't know how valuable this is until you open the
plastic wrapper.



haw (Jerry Dennis) wrote in message ...
Getting to the original subject, I suggested this a while ago and did it myself
this past Veteran's Day. While shopping for electrical supplies, my supplier
had a note on the counter, "We need $1s and $5s." Promptly, I went to my truck
and took a roll of Sacs inside. With no FBI-RDs to disburse, they were kind of
"forced" to use the Sacs. I came to learn that most of their other customers
didn't bat an eye when they received them as change.

I, again, offer that all of us should keep a roll or two of Sacs in our cars
for situations as I've just described. When banks are closed we could be their
only salvation,

From my own experience, the novelty for the Sac has worn off, and people would
use and accept them if they received them in their daily transactions.

Jerry

"Ami" asks:

What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

remainder of post snipped

You are, of course, correct. I can, however, appreciate that since we
no longer have actual 'valuable metal' in our coins that the sizes
should make some sense. Making a dollar coin the size of a classic
Silver Dollar is not wise as it's too big and heavy. The current dime
vs. nickel only makes sense if you can remember silver dimes. These
days it is silly to have a teeny-weenie dime and a big-ass nickel,
except that that's what we've always had and all the vending machines
recognize them. The only machines that I've run across that accept
halves are slot machines and toll booths. Everywhere else they don't
work in the machines. They are still neat looking. I like them, but I
don't expect them to circulate widely because they are not useable in
machines.

Small dollar coins (SBA/GD) are recognized by machines. They are used
more often. I am amazed at how many I see in the cash registers as I
shop from store to store. They did not come from me since I hadn't
paid yet, so someone else is spending them. I've asked cashiers and
they say that they are seeing more and more of them all the time. It
looks like they are slowly but surely becoming accepted. It would be
faster if banks would astually give them to customers instead of
telling them "we don't have any" or "we can't get those anymore". The
answer to those non-helpful bankers is to call their customer service
folks and complain. Then find a branch that will order them and flood
the area with them. If the original branch continues to refuse to
order them, get them elsewhere and then deposit them at the offending
branch. THEN they will have them. BUWAHAHA.....

-Fred Shecter

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2204481390

Contains at least one bundle of CU sequential 1995 star notes on top.
The rest are either the expected 2003 CU sequential Twos or they could
be 2003 stars. You won't know how valuable this is until you open the
plastic wrapper.







Bruce Remick wrote in message ...
Malanutt 4 Life wrote:

Yeah Fred, I sometimes get people saying "Oh, are these dollars?" when I spend
halves, and I have to say "No. No. Those are half dollars" I too, think it
might be confusing to some people if we started to circulate halves. At least
for a while. The size does make it seem like they are dollars.


Any clerk so dumb to be confused over current coins they could encounter
doesn't deserve to have a job like that. And any customer that dense
doesn't deserve to be let out of the house with money. Both would
probably blame the government for confusing them.

Bruce

ELurio wrote:

I wonder of the Honorables from Virginia had something to do with
retaining Washington on the state quarters. He was a Virginian as
well.

Padraic BRBR

They didn't. Jackie Kennedy vetoed a JFK quarter out of deference to GW's place
as the father of the country. Nixon did the same thing when an Ike quarter was
mentioned in the press.

The rule about "no living person depicted on coinage" should be
extended to "no person living within the past X years may be depicted
on coinage", where X equals something like 25. After X years, if a
person is still considered worthy of such an honor, maybe we really do
have a good candidate to be on a coin.