I have made progress on my dime collection and it is up to date. Now I am working backwards and started collecting Barber dimes. I was just curious if anyone knows, what would happen if I went into Wal-Mart and paid with a Barber dime (or quarter or half dollar)? Does the coin still have its face value for all debts public and private? I am not going to do this but was just wondering. I have used really old stamps to mail letter (maybe not 100 years old--but at least 30 years old and they still worked).
They can take it if they want or they can refuse it just like they can refuse you trying to play with a wheel barrel full of change
As for US stamps, almost everything after 1940 is ONLY good for postage. You try to sell them and you'll be lucky to get 80% of face value. Use them on a letter or package.
Sure. A dime is a dime is a dime. A CoinStar won't take silver nickels, dimes, quarters, or halves, because they aren't the kind of metal it's expecting. Self-checkout stations probably won't, either, although I've received silver from them. (In fact, the last war nickel I found was in the reject slot of a self-checkout station.) Most self-checkouts won't take half dollars at all, but the ones in Wal-Mart will. The ones in Food Lion appear similar, but I haven't tried them. I don't think any of the machines take Ikes, but I'm not sure about that either. (I just bought seven Ikes from the bookkeeper at my local Kroger, who was tired of them sitting in the cash box in her office; they came from a customer who tried to run them through the CoinStar.)
All U.S.currency is legal when authorized by congress, so any merchant is obligated to accept that coin, but many people would be suspect of that coin simply because they probably never saw one.
They're not obligated to accept it, they can still dictate which currency they will take but they can accept it if they wish. It's no different than stores that don't take bills over $20
Thanks for the feedback. I will be keeping my barbers in my collection. Just wondering what would happen. I did go into a CVS pharmacy and some old lady paid with a Silver certificate. The cashier was a young girl and looked very perplexed. I asked what was the matter. She was afraid that she would get into trouble with her manager because she accepted "fake" money. I kindly offered her face value, so she could relax. Was that wrong?
Nah, not at all. I was buying a paper in New York City when I noticed the cashier looking at a coin strangely. It was a V-nickel and he was wondering if it was real. I told him it was and he started to just put it in the till, so I exchanged it for him.
No U.S. stamps have ever been demonetized, meaning any and all, from their inception in the 1800's, can still be used to pay postage. Though using those before 1940 would not be a good idea.As was said above, after 1940 you might as well use them for postage although high value stamps such as the $5.00 value have collector value, especially if in block of four, plate blocks and full sheets. These I would sell to a reputable dealer, for quite a bit more than face value. This also goes for Priority and Express mail stamps. The USPS also has a special form for collectors to fill out that allows you to use other valued stamps, such as pre-sort stamps. There is no fee for this permit. But you can only use special stamps on first class mail and no other, the envelope/package they are mailed in must have the permit number on it and this mail must be presented at the origin of the P.O. that issued the permit. Come to think about it, I do believe only one U.S. coin cannot be used to pay debt, the Trade Dollar. But please correct me if I'm wrong.
OK The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) is the bible on the subject. Sections 604.1.2 and 604.1.3 are the sections relevant to this subject. Although not implicitly stated, the implication is that stamps issued before 1860 are no longer valid to use for postage. The reason for this is that at the outbreak of the Civil War, the stamps then in use, printed from 1851-1857, were demonetized to prevent the southern post offices from selling them to raise cash for the Confederate States. The original two stamps issued in 1847, a five cent and a ten cent, weren't covered by the ban but very few were printed and probably all had been used by 1860. You are correct about the lack of worth of newer stamps, although I would put the cutoff date at 1938 with the presidential series.
Using old or odd forms of payment? Well, yes and no. The controlling factor is when the payment is due. If you receive a service or a product and are obligated to pay after receiving said service or product, then you have incurred a debt and all coins or currency are legal tender and must be accepted by the provider On the other hand, if you must pay before receiving a service or product then the provider can dictate what form of payment is acceptable or not acceptable. The key words are DEBT and CREDITOR. You have no debt before receiving a product or service; you only incur a debt after receiving a product or service. A creditor is one who provided a product or service and thereafter requires payment for said product or service. This is what the US Treasury has to say about it; The pertinent portion of law that applies is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. Almost all retail transactions, i.e., grocery stores, gas stations, etc, require payment before the product is in your hands and they can dictate how they want to be paid. Other transactions, i.e., restaurants, fines, transportation, etc, are paid after you have received the service and can be paid for in any legal tender (regardless of whether they don't want to take certain forms such as $50 bills or buckets of pennies.) Either of the above two examples can be modified by State Law.
The reason the coin star doesn't accept those coins is not because it's a different metal. The weight is different, so it assumes it is a foreign coin or slug. It also rejects coins that are not the correct size. I was unaware it had a metal analyzer, if it did, it would accept the silver coins at face value.
@davidh I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. Of course specialty stamps like postage due, special delivery and the others are not useable as is the U.N. stamps, etc. I was more referring to the general issues from 1847 on. And, for the life of me I cannot find the special collectors permit to use pre-cancelled stamps on first class mail. But I had two of them for two different post offices but let them expire. This permit is issued just so collectors who buy pre-cancelled stamps by the rolls, directly from the USPS so they can use up what they do not need after taking out the line pairs/threes/fours and the numbered pairs/threes/fours, etc. It is PS Form 3620. Here is mine. No need to worry about my address showing. I do not live there anymore. Thanks for the info on those that were demonetized, I did not know about those. Always something new to learn.
War nickels weigh 5.0 grams, just like conventional cupronickel ones, but machines usually reject them. As far as I know, most machines reject if a coin is the wrong size OR weight, OR if it has the wrong magnetic properties -- being attracted to a magnet gets it rejected for sure, but being slowed by a magnet (because eddy currents circulate more readily in silver) also gets it kicked out.
