How and why did the half dollar piece become so unpopular with the public?

<<You miss my point young man. Half dollar coins were used all the time when I was a kid. They were as plentiful as nickels, dimes and quarters are today>>

I disagree. Check the minatage figures. Halves were an optical illusion. They appeared to be plentiful but weren't. In 1951, I started work at the A&P. We bought many, many rolls of quarters from the bank, but never a single half. We may have had a few halves in the registers that customers spent. But normally I gave out 3 quarters for 75 cents.

Women often refused halves because their change holders did not have a slot for them. It was easier to not even attempt to pass a half dollar on a woman.

Banks were loade with halves back then and used them pretty regularily themselves.

I found halves in Canada to be even scarcer than the USA. Often I would ask a bank there for a roll of halves and they would have none.

 

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Ok I misunderstood which coinage you were assigning the good/bad to. BUT even so I dont think the law applies here. Gresham's law's context is the survival of a coin, as in the competition of its commercial use and acceptance as tender. Hoarding, to me, is not the same thing. In the case of hoarding due to silver content is no different than a coin leaving circulation due to hoarding for no other reason than that the coin is pretty. Again this would be a circumstancial phenomena. Additionally, and though I am not 100% sure of this, I do believe that the half dollar lost popularity long before the Kennedy mint did it not? Coins were still 90% across the board during the Frankling half era. Some coins never make it for one reason or another. The silver dollar of the morgan, peace and even now in the clad era has never really made it to commerce.

 

removed

 

Banks didn't order them from the Fed and if they got them they sent them to the Fed. People and merchants didn't demand them and if they did the banks told them they didn't have any. Same with current Presidential dollars.

 

Gresham's Law. That's the reason.

 

Half dollars were prolific enough that I was able (sixties) to assemble a complete set of Franklins from pocket change.

 

<<Half dollars were prolific enough that I was able (sixties) to assemble a complete set of Franklins from pocket change.>>

True, I did the same myself. I also did a complete set of Walkers. The 1938 D was the last one and I got that from the milk store after halves had pretty well disappeared. It was lightly circulated with a bad edge ding.

I was just saying halves were actually much fewer than quarters, although banks back then apparently had plenty. I remember March 24, 1964 when the Kennedy's were released. It was one to a customer. Everybody paid with a dollar bill hoping for a second in change. They got a regular half instead. But it was a half they got in change. Soon halves were scarcer. Then, by necessity, banks fell out of the habit of using them and never resumed it.

 

Maybe I'm just dense, but I fail to see how you can apply Gresham's Law selectively, where the half dollar is concerned, without considering the same application for quarters and dimes.

Perhaps I am misinterpreting the intent of Gresham's Law, but I see it as the base metal coinage (clad) driving out the precious metal coinage (silver) irrespective of the denomination. I don't think it can be cited as an explanation for the demise of the half dollar.

Chris

 

<<Maybe I'm just dense, but I fail to see how you can apply Gresham's Law selectively, where the half dollar is concerned, without considering the same application for quarters and dimes.

Perhaps I am misinterpreting the intent of Gresham's Law, but I see it as the base metal coinage (clad) driving out the precious metal coinage (silver) irrespective of the denomination. I don't think it can be cited as an explanation for the demise of the half dollar.

Chris >>

OK, lets combine Gresham's law and my point that halves were less in number than dimes or halves.

1) the halves were the biggest piece of silver in commomn circulation. People preferred to hoard them.
2) The fact Kennedy was on the new halves was a very big draw.
3) Being comparativly few in number, they disappeared first.

Out of the habit of using them, banks now did a 180 and wanted no part of them anymore. I always found it somewhat difficult to get even clad halves after 1964.
It was easier than now, though.

 

Thanks for illustrating the point I tried to make with spandex bike shorts, clutch bags & low hung jeans. Fashion made larger heavy coins unpopular. They simply are too bulky and weighty for modern fashions. Truly, when sweats became popular, they were made without pockets and the fanny pack craze was born. You don't want to put $40 in halves in a fanny pack !
Our styles changed and the way we carried our coins did too. IMHO

 

Styles change and so does the way in which we conduct commerce. My kids are in the habit of using a debit card to "swipe" their purchase. I'm still old school when it comes to what I purchase. You should see the weird looks I get at the check-out when I reach into my pocket to give the clerk exact change for my purchase. :smile

 

Chris, my point is that halves were silver while everything else wasn't. I'm talking about the mid- to late- 60's. If they were losing popularity before 1964, then Gresham's law would not explain that.

 

This still does not support the contention that the application of Gresham's Law is the reason for the demise of the half dollar. Gresham's Law merely supports the premise that silver coinage (good money) was driven out by clad coinage (bad money).

Chris

 

I am old school also. Old school enough that when someone swiped something it meant they stole it, not that they used a plastic card to pay for it.

 

But in reality, from the point of view of commerce, bad money(clad) drove out good money(silver), which is the opposite of Gersham's law. Now if the act of hoarding is "the winning of good money", then I suppose the good money "won" but again, that doesnt really apply gersham's law either because we are talking specifically about the half dollar which went out of favor in both silver AND clad.

 

I think that is the key statement here. Clad halfs were produced in huge numbers yet still failed to circulate. From many of the responses here I guess it's safe to assume that folks just got out of the habit of using 'em...

 

....and Gresham's Law had nothing to do with it!

Chris

 

The greatest single thing that might have caused it was that they were too large for the small rubber coin purses. Those were the ones that squeezed to open. Everyone had one, as they were given out with advertisements like ball point pens. Kept your change in one place, but the halves and dollars were too big and hard to get out of them.

Truly, people just got tired of dealing with them. IMHO

 

I understand what P-fan is saying. The lag where silver halves were still circulating in 40% silver while everything else was clad gave that window of opportunity for hoarding JUST the halves. And I accept this as a possibly valid reason or answer to the original question. But this is like G's law in reverse, where commerce accepted the "bad money" while the "good" money vanished via hoarding. So I dont think calling it Gresham's law is accurate. Halves were hoarded for their bullion content, not its monetary acceptance as G's law intends to speak of. I could see this as an extension or variation of the law, but I think the effect is lost in that the main idea of G's law in my opinion is intended to be defined within the context of commerce.

 

Mumu, do you understand what Gresham's law actually says or means? I suggest you read the Wikipedia article about the subject, and then report back to us: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham's_law