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#21
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Tony Clayton" wrote in message ... In a recent message "Bruce Remick" wrote: Must be a regional thing. Around here they appear to be pretty much available at banks if you ask for them. I've never found one that couldn't come up with any, not based on asking but by seeing them in change trays at teller windows. On the other hand, I would guess that they're extremely rare in circulation almost everywhere, except in a few areas where collectors like to play games with store clerks. When I lived in Canada in 1962 half dollars circulated a lot; mainly Canadian ones but a good number of US ones also. On visits to the US half dollars were not uncommon. Why did they drop out of use? I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. I will be visiting LA and San Francisco in August, and I look forward to seeing some of thes coins around ;-) If memory serves, half dollars fell out of general use after the 1965 elimination of silver from US coins. Back in the 1950s, half dollars were in common use. In recent decades I have never rec'd a half in change (unless I spot one in the till and ask for it.) |
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#22
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
Tony Clayton wrote:
In a recent message "Bruce Remick" wrote: Why did they drop out of use? I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. They were unusual in circulation well before the introduction of the loonie. I used to get them from the bank and spend them, but I'm the sort of person who does that sort of thing. Most people in the 1980s would remark that they hadn't seen one in years and were not aware they were still being made. One factor was that the mint stopped making 50 cent pieces in the summer of 1967 (except for sets) because the price of silver went above face value. The production did not start again until the new nickel 50 cent coins came out in mid 1968. So for around one year, 50 cent pieces were unobtainable at face value. The new smaller nickel 50 cent pieces did circulate a bit in the late 1960s, but they were never as popular again. Another factor was the demise of the pay envelope. People used to very often get their pay in cash, and the people putting the envelopes together generally used 50 cent pieces were appropriate. Stores were less likely to order 50 cent pieces for change even when they were common. Peter. -- |
#23
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
On Mar 30, 12:17*pm, Tony Clayton wrote:
Why did they drop out of use? *I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. Tony, the use of the half dollar pretty much ended shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963, the last year that Franklin half dollars were issued. The Kennedy halfs were issued in 1964, and due to his popularity, they were hoarded extensively. It was also announced that we would see clad coinage in 1965, eliminating silver from all coins...except the still popular Kennedy half, but reducing it from 90% silver to 40%. The 40% Kennedys were issued from 1965 until 1969 (1970 in mint and proof sets only). Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Jud -Love your website Tony!- |
#24
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Tony Clayton" wrote in message ... In a recent message "Bruce Remick" wrote: Must be a regional thing. Around here they appear to be pretty much available at banks if you ask for them. I've never found one that couldn't come up with any, not based on asking but by seeing them in change trays at teller windows. On the other hand, I would guess that they're extremely rare in circulation almost everywhere, except in a few areas where collectors like to play games with store clerks. When I lived in Canada in 1962 half dollars circulated a lot; mainly Canadian ones but a good number of US ones also. On visits to the US half dollars were not uncommon. Why did they drop out of use? I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. I will be visiting LA and San Francisco in August, and I look forward to seeing some of thes coins around ;-) Lots of interesting opinions on this. Having lived through the phenomenon, I think it just sort of happened without our realizing it. I don't believe it was the lack of silver content that doomed the half, since the silver content was removed from our other denominations as well. I do believe it may have begun with merchants who gradually stopped including half dollars in customers' change-- the means by which most of us accumulate coins from circulation. If this is the case, I don't know what changed the merchants' attitude. Conspiracy? Collusion? I doubt you'll see any half dollars circulating during your visit, but a stop at a couple of banks should get you a couple rolls if you're interested in them. |
#25
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
On Mar 30, 1:27*pm, Jud wrote:
On Mar 30, 12:17*pm, Tony Clayton wrote: Why did they drop out of use? *I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. Tony, the use of the half dollar pretty much ended shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963, the last year that Franklin half dollars were issued. The Kennedy halfs were issued in 1964, and due to his popularity, they were hoarded extensively. It was also announced that we would see clad coinage in 1965, eliminating silver from all coins...except the still popular Kennedy half, but reducing it from 90% silver to 40%. The 40% Kennedys were issued from 1965 until 1969 (1970 in mint and proof sets only). Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Jud -Love your website Tony!- This doesn't seem quite right to me. Appreciable numbers of half dollar coins were issued at least through 2001 with the 2001D coins amounting to about 19 million. The most plentiful recent year was 1995 with about 26 million 1995P and 26 million 1995D coins. By contrast, in that year there were over a billion P and over a billion D quarters issued. As far as the halves disappearing in the mid-60s, it was increasingly clear to me, at least, that if the US was no longer issuing silver coins, hoarding the silver ones was an idea with some merit. Being a student with limited means, I kept few. My current impression is that clerks are not what they used to be. Fewer can actually make change without the help of their cash register. Having fewer choices of coins makes sense to merchants considering the capabilities of their staff and fewer purchases are less than a dollar, so the emphasis is on getting the dollars right. Oddly, I suppose that the current style is often to let the pennies take care of themselves. |
#26
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
On Mar 30, 7:05*pm, Peter wrote:
On Mar 30, 1:27*pm, Jud wrote: On Mar 30, 12:17*pm, Tony Clayton wrote: Why did they drop out of use? *I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. Tony, the use of the half dollar pretty much ended shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963, the last year that Franklin half dollars were issued. The Kennedy halfs were issued in 1964, and due to his popularity, they were hoarded extensively. It was also announced that we would see clad coinage in 1965, eliminating silver from all coins...except the still popular Kennedy half, but reducing it from 90% silver to 40%. The 40% Kennedys were issued from 1965 until 1969 (1970 in mint and proof sets only). Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Jud -Love your website Tony!- This doesn't seem quite right to me. Appreciable numbers of half dollar coins were issued at least through 2001 with the 2001D coins amounting to about 19 million. *The most plentiful recent year was 1995 with about 26 million 1995P and 26 million 1995D coins. *By contrast, in that year there were over a billion P and over a billion D quarters issued. As far as the halves disappearing in the mid-60s, it was increasingly clear to me, at least, that if the US was no longer issuing silver coins, hoarding the silver ones was an idea with some merit. *Being a student with limited means, I kept few. My current impression is that clerks are not what they used to be. Fewer can actually make change without the help of their cash register. *Having fewer choices of coins makes sense to merchants considering the capabilities of their staff and fewer purchases are less than a dollar, so the emphasis is on getting the dollars right. Oddly, I suppose that the current style is often to let the pennies take care of themselves. I guess the point I was trying to make is that from 1964-1971 there were virtually -zero- half dollars in circulation. After that amount of time people more or less stopped using them. Yes, there were millions upon millions minted 1971+, but did people use them with the exception of the 50¢ slot machines? Buy a roll of halves from the bank, you may find a stray 40% coin, most of the others will either be in either nice condition, or abused from slot machines. At least, that has been my experience. |
#27
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Jud" wrote:
Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Hoarding certainly occurred, both of halves and silver coins, but there were several other things going on at the same time. Even before the Kennedy assassination, the U.S. was facing a coin shortage. Why the shortage occurred is less clear. Congress and the Treasury blamed coin collectors, and discouraged collectoring by removing mint marks and suspending sales of proof sets from 1965 to 1967. Breen and others blamed the vending industry. Other suspects included melters and speculators and the consumer photographic industry driving up the price of silver. Personally, I think that the search for "root" cause is futile. The shortage happened, and it caused a a surge in half dollar circulation out of necessity. As the shortage abated, not only did hoarding of halves occur, but vending became more and more important. It didn't matter if you were talking about old-fashioned pay phones, soda machines, cigarette machines, or even belt mounted coin changers -- at least in the U.S. they didn't take halves. Since a half weighed as much as two quarters, eventually the nuisance of not being able to use the coin in machines outweighed the advantage of using fewer coins when making change. As a result even when the motive for hoarding faded away, the "half habit" had been broken, and there's been no serious effort to revive use. While $0.50 slot machines were never all that popular, the dominance of coinless slots has taken away that application as well. OTOH, a little over a week ago I played in a low-stakes HORSE game at the Mohegan Sun casino. The ante for the stud games was $0.50 and the casino supplied halves for that purpose. -- Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required) Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain |
#28
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Jud" wrote in message ... On Mar 30, 7:05 pm, Peter wrote: On Mar 30, 1:27 pm, Jud wrote: On Mar 30, 12:17 pm, Tony Clayton wrote: Why did they drop out of use? I can understand the reason in Canada when the dollar coin was introduced. Tony, the use of the half dollar pretty much ended shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963, the last year that Franklin half dollars were issued. The Kennedy halfs were issued in 1964, and due to his popularity, they were hoarded extensively. It was also announced that we would see clad coinage in 1965, eliminating silver from all coins...except the still popular Kennedy half, but reducing it from 90% silver to 40%. The 40% Kennedys were issued from 1965 until 1969 (1970 in mint and proof sets only). Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Jud -Love your website Tony!- This doesn't seem quite right to me. Appreciable numbers of half dollar coins were issued at least through 2001 with the 2001D coins amounting to about 19 million. The most plentiful recent year was 1995 with about 26 million 1995P and 26 million 1995D coins. By contrast, in that year there were over a billion P and over a billion D quarters issued. As far as the halves disappearing in the mid-60s, it was increasingly clear to me, at least, that if the US was no longer issuing silver coins, hoarding the silver ones was an idea with some merit. Being a student with limited means, I kept few. My current impression is that clerks are not what they used to be. Fewer can actually make change without the help of their cash register. Having fewer choices of coins makes sense to merchants considering the capabilities of their staff and fewer purchases are less than a dollar, so the emphasis is on getting the dollars right. Oddly, I suppose that the current style is often to let the pennies take care of themselves. I guess the point I was trying to make is that from 1964-1971 there were virtually -zero- half dollars in circulation. After that amount of time people more or less stopped using them. Yes, there were millions upon millions minted 1971+, but did people use them with the exception of the 50¢ slot machines? ======== That seems to prompt the question as to whether there was any one particular thing that caused the demise of the half dollar in daily usage. I remember using half dollars in the 1950's and 60's without even thinking, because they usually would be included among the change I received. The removal of silver from the half was notable, but silver also was removed from the quarter and dime, neither of which seemed to be affected. At some point, it had to be the merchants who gradually stopped including halves in change. Customers then simply reused whatever coins they received, without immediately noticing that they weren't getting half dollars much any more. But what caused merchants to do that almost en masse? The half dollar had become no less useful than it was in the 1950's. They weighed the same in a pocket as they did in the 1950's. A curious phenomenon probably with lots of different ideas. |
#29
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Michael Benveniste" wrote in message ... "Jud" wrote: Between those who hoarded silver coins and those who hoarded the new Kennedy half dollars, it sounded the death knell for the use of half dollars in every day commerce. As a kid I regularly saw both Franklin and Walking Liberty halfs circulating freely, but after 1963 - early 1964 they effectively disappeared from every day use. Hoarding certainly occurred, both of halves and silver coins, but there were several other things going on at the same time. Even before the Kennedy assassination, the U.S. was facing a coin shortage. Why the shortage occurred is less clear. Congress and the Treasury blamed coin collectors, and discouraged collectoring by removing mint marks and suspending sales of proof sets from 1965 to 1967. Breen and others blamed the vending industry. Other suspects included melters and speculators and the consumer photographic industry driving up the price of silver. Personally, I think that the search for "root" cause is futile. The shortage happened, and it caused a a surge in half dollar circulation out of necessity. As the shortage abated, not only did hoarding of halves occur, but vending became more and more important. It didn't matter if you were talking about old-fashioned pay phones, soda machines, cigarette machines, or even belt mounted coin changers -- at least in the U.S. they didn't take halves. Since a half weighed as much as two quarters, eventually the nuisance of not being able to use the coin in machines outweighed the advantage of using fewer coins when making change. I don't recall any hoarding of clad half dollars, if that's the period you're referring to. There were few common items sold in vending machines in the early 1970's that cost more than a quarter, so the utility of halves shouldn't have changed from the 1950's. With vending machines, progress seemed to jump over the use half dollars in favor of the dollar bill changer which dispensed smaller denominations for use in machines. Otherwise, the half dollar should have been just as useful at the cash register. But it apparently wasn't. As a result even when the motive for hoarding faded away, the "half habit" had been broken, and there's been no serious effort to revive use. While $0.50 slot machines were never all that popular, the dominance of coinless slots has taken away that application as well. I'd be surprised if we could ever become universally comfortable again using the half dollar. It will be hard enough to encourage the public to accept the dollar coin as pocket change, as people become more and more accustomed to using plastic for routine purchases. Even a decision to eliminate the dollar bill in the next few years may be too late to interest people in coins they had ignored for 30 years. |
#30
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Halves still (randomly) getting confused as dollar coins
"Bruce Remick" wrote:
I don't recall any hoarding of clad half dollars, if that's the period you're referring to. There was hoarding of 40% silver halves, but I don't think there was hoarding of the CuNi clad halves or of the Ike Dollars issued the same year. Not even of the Bicentennial issues, although I imagine quite a few of those got "put away for the kids" much like state quarters. The other thing that happened c. 1971 was the commercial success of dollar bill changer and validators. There were few common items sold in vending machines in the early 1970's that cost more than a quarter, so the utility of halves shouldn't have changed from the 1950's. What changed is was that vending itself became much more common in the early 1960's. Around 1960 there was even a dot-com style stock market boom in vending machine companies, followed by the inevitable consolidation. Here is a contemporaneous Time magazine article on the industry: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...938286,00.html If you had two quarters in your pocket, you could buy a cup of (awful) coffee from a vending machine. If you had a half dollar, you couldn't. -- Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required) Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain |
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