Getting the Public to Use Half Dollars and Dollars

"Bob Peterson" wrote in message
...
how about we just eliminate the half altogether since it is almost totally
unused in commerce except by some casinos.



I'm in the middle of drafting a proposition to eliminate all coin
denominations less than a quarter at the movie theatre I work at. This
would entail altering the prices such that the final price with tax rounds
to a multiple of a quarter. Included in the draft would be a suggestion for
using a half dollar in all registers as a denomination of regular
transactions requiring exactly 50 cents in change.

I will post the draft once I have finished revising it, and ask for input
before I present it. I should have the draft posted within a week or two.

Eric

forget the 50 cent idea. stick to a single coin for change. much less
hassle to have just one coin for change.

"DyzeeGF3" wrote in message
et...

"Bob Peterson" wrote in message
...
how about we just eliminate the half altogether since it is almost
totally
unused in commerce except by some casinos.



I'm in the middle of drafting a proposition to eliminate all coin
denominations less than a quarter at the movie theatre I work at. This
would entail altering the prices such that the final price with tax rounds
to a multiple of a quarter. Included in the draft would be a suggestion
for
using a half dollar in all registers as a denomination of regular
transactions requiring exactly 50 cents in change.

I will post the draft once I have finished revising it, and ask for input
before I present it. I should have the draft posted within a week or two.

Eric

"Bob Peterson" wrote in message
...
forget the 50 cent idea. stick to a single coin for change. much less
hassle to have just one coin for change.



Can you explain why?

Changing the designs would only encourage hoarding by the public. It
will have no effect whatsoever on whether or not businesses order the
coins to use in regular transactions, which is an inherent cause of
these coins NOT circulating.

Yes, I agree there would be initial hoarding, but that would taper off
in a year or so.

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.

The designs don't matter, the utility does.

I think the design on a coin does matter. Take a look at the Susan B.
Anthony dollar. People complained that its an "ugly" coin as well as
rejected it because it was too easily mistaken for a quarter.

Also, people complain that the Sacagawea dollar design appears to have
been based on a Disney cartoon.

I think the dollar coin should copy the British One Pound coin. It's a
small, thick little fella, and cannot be mistaken for anything else.

That would mean every soda vending machine, candy and ice cream machine,
coin laundry, coin car wash, coin telephone, bubble gum machine etc. in
the U.S. would have to be modified.

moan! Just what we need, recycled coin designs!

Well, if Saint-Gaudens can be recycled, the Liberty Bell should get
another day in the sun, too!!

but then it would not fit into any current coin slot. really bad idea.

True, but we have to find some way to avoid making the same mistake three
times by making yet another quarter-sized coin of standard thickness. I am
also not feeling a lot of sympathy for vending machine makers anyway as they
are a major impediment to eliminating the dollar (or rather their lobbyists
are, as I understand it). They can retool.

--K

I do like the Kennedy dollar idea.

Well, I had a great time in London and I guess I am remembering it through
rose colored glasses...great town. : )

--K

"Christian Feldhaus" wrote in message
...
Keith Fletcher wrote:

I think the dollar coin should copy the British One Pound coin. It's a
small, thick little fella, and cannot be mistaken for anything else.
It's
about U.S. dime sized but perhaps five to eight times as thick, made of
a
golden colored metal, as I recall (haven't been in london for a decade
so
things may have changed).

Well, the differences are not quite as drastic ;-) The UK 1 pound coin
is 22.5 mm in diameter, ie. closer to the US quarter than to the dime.
And yes, it looks and feels thick but it is "only" about twice as thick
as the dime or the quarter (3.15 vs 1.35/1.75 mm) ...

Pretty handy indeed. But I find it hard to imagine that, after two
dollar coin "test runs" that more or less failed, yet another dollar
coin with different specifications could be introduced.

Christian

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.


Remind you of the dollar coin rush in 2000?