I might be trying to start a small business and was wondering about vending machines

Neither do I. I once asked Jim Benfield of the Coin Coalition about bribing the current Secretary of the Treasury to bring back $500 bills back then, and he asked me "How much money do you have? Because you would be paying these type of people thousands. He is a very wealthy man" Then I found out that bribery was illegal, and of course, backed out of the deal.

I wonder if any of them would even risk their jobs taking a few thousand dollars bribe, but like I said, since its illegal, I won't be trying it.

 

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Drago, who would be your targeted customer in this ice cream shoppe / restaurant?

 

It would probably be like a family restaurant. And speaking of $2 bills and halves, there would be a $2 bill day where everyone in the family gets a $2 meal, and half dollar day, where if you use a half as part of your payment, you get half off on your meal.

I will also have two $500 bills and two $1,000 bills displayed under a glass case to show off both the front and back of the bills to people and educate them and tell and encourage them to write their Congressmen to reissue $500 and $1,000 bills and issue $200 bills as well. There would be like a little note explaining how they haulted production of $500 bills and up in 1945 and began pulling them from circulation on July 14, 1969, and tell how we could use them in today's day and age, and explain large denomination currency's benefits to credit/debit/checks, and how people could have their freedom to use cash. And also, explain how a $100 bill back in 1969 is a $1,000 bill or so today. So there would be some educational material there as well.

 

And a cone is only .50c if you use a half dollar.

Sounds interesting to say the least.... I wish you luck.

 

Yeah, good idea. Thanks!

My brother-in-law's sister already has a similar business going, and if I hit it big, and if people at my place like the $2 bills and halves, I am going to suggest to her to use the same system.

 

You should also encourage your Congressman to bring back the $5000, $10,000 , and the epic $100,000. Or just buy one each and frames those as well.

 

First off, the $100,000 bill was a Gold Certificate, not a Federal Reserve note, AND it is illegal to own any "orangebacks". Second, I could never afford to buy a $5,000 or $10,000 bill. And finally, I would be all for a $2,000 bill, and bringing back the $5,000 and $10,000 bills, but I seriously doubt that the Treasury would even consider it, seeing as one million dollars could be as compact as one strap of 100 $10,000 bills and so much easier for drug dealers and other crime rings. I would/will probably have a hard time trying to talk them into getting interested in issuing even $1,000 bills again.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not a currency guy), but I always thought that the $100 bill was the largest note permitted in general circulation. I know larger notes exist, but thought they were only permitted for Bank-to-Bank transfers. Since our money has lost over 90% of it value since 1964, It would be nice to get a $1,000 bill at the bank from time to time.

 

You were able to use ANY denomination bill as long as it did NOT have an ORANGE back I believe. People COULD use $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills if they had green backs and were Federal Reserve notes and certain Gold Certificates (or I think just redeemible in gold) but the problem probably was, with money being worth so much back then, few people probably had the money to touch, let alone use a $500 or up. I told my mom and dad in the mid 1980s when $1,000 bills may have still been around "Get a $1,000 bill! Get a $1,000 bill" when I was a kid, and they got their income tax, because, I wasn't sure if $1,000 bills even existed, and did not even think to ask about a $500 bill (or a $5,000 or $10,000, which my parents could not afford anyway ) and my neighbor who worked at a bank said "They want you to turn those in" I'm guessing for destruction. I just wanted to see a $1,000 bill if they existed. But yeah, if you had the money before July 14 of 1969, you could have walked around with a single piece of paper worth $10,000!

 

Interesting...so there was some legislation that went into effect on July 14, 1969 that outlawed the ownership of currency above $100?

 

As a betting man.. I would NOT bet on your business. I am glad that you are passionate about our country’s money but I think you are missing some very obvious and logical errors with your “Business plan”.

 

No, it is not outlawed. You can own as many as you can find.

 

I know larger notes can be owned; I have currency collector friends that have all sorts of large denomination collector notes.

Somehow I got it into my head that the largest note (I don't know if "legal tender" is the right term) that can be used in day-to-day transactions by the general public is the $100 note. In other words, if I walk into a 7-11 and try to pay for my Slurpie with a $500 note, are they even allowed to take it...(assuming they can make change)?

 

The ownership of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills was NOT outlawed, but the government stopped issuing them on that date and started withdrawing and destroying them as they made it back to banks. $500 and $1,000 bills are fairly cheap enough to buy depending on grades, but $5,000 and $10,000 bills usually go for around $100,000 each or higher or a little lower, and are not something the common man can afford to own unless he has money. You buy them at coin and currency dealers. Or if you're lucky, you could find one at a bank, but its 99.9% unlikely.

There were three rumors as to why the $500 and up were discontinued:

1: Richard Nixon haulted their production to combat organized crime rings.

2: They ran low on a supply of $500 bills and were going to print more, but did public opinion polls and people said they would just use $100 bills in their "large" transactions (You know? Back when $100 actually MEANT something) so the government figured they did not need $500 bills and also figured that, if they were going to discontinue the $500 bill, they would have to discontinue the $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills as well. (I don't see a logic behind any of that, as it would have been easy to print more $500 bills but they said that they would have also had to redesign the $500 and up to include "In God We Trust" and for 32 subject sheets, which they thought was not worth it, so that was the end of them)

And 3: They just state that, with new electronic forms of payments and checks, there is no demand for $500 bills and up anymore. (And I tell you, nothing is further from the truth in my opinion. I would love AT LEAST a $500 bill, if not a $200 and $1,000 bill as well)

 

Yes, you can spend a $500 bill. You can walk into a car dealership and buy a car with a $10,000 bill if you find a $10,000 car but its not worth it, because, as I stated, those large bills have premiums on them and a $10,000 bill can be worth up to $150,000 so its not worth spending it as money. However, if you want to sell one to me for $10,000 I would gladly take it off your hands.

 

Here's an interesting link that pretty much says the same thing you just said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency

 

While fascinating is the information, I must tell you that I would never use a five hundred dollar bill..in fact I normally zip to the bank to break 100 dollar bills, and mostly never ever pull one out in public..that is, except at the has station. I don't like to be that way, but geezo peezo! Read the paper..tough times for people.Small bills. For carrying around. Big bills..stashed for hard times. Deuces for fun. Halves for fun. Back to the business plan at hand..drago, you could be swimming upstream..

 

No, that doesn't sound NUTS...whatever gave you that idea?

 

Okay, I phrased that really badly lol. It was my English fail moment of the day.

 

If you are opening a restraunt and want to promote the use of half dollar coins and two dollar bills, wouldn't running promotionals be more effective than vending machines? You could have a $2 for $5 promo where a $2 bill is credited for $5 on purchase of $20 or more (15% discount). Couple this with your ads and it could get people talking. Most people are unaware that $2 bills are still being printed. You may also want to work out a deal with you bank to stock them and hand out a coupons for your restraunt with each $2 bill. The half dollar could be used as a $.50 off token crediting a dollar for each purchase.