I went to the local bodega for some donuts, and asked the clerk if he had any half dollars in his drawer, a habit I've gotten into. He said "no, but how about this" and pulls out a 1978-D Eisenhower dollar coin. Asking the clerks if they have halves in their drawers has finally paid off. The Ike isn't worth more than a buck, but it's in good shape and is rarely found in circulation. Plus I love the Ikes. Score!
I have fewer than ten Eisenhower dollars. I even have a couple of bicey Ikes. I was building a 1976 set in a Whitman plastic case (which I cannot recommend highly enough) and I found all the other coins from that year in good shape (I've even found several bicentennial halves) and I didn't think I'd ever find a '76 Ike in circulation, so I bought one off of ebay. Later on, I found one at work. I replaced the one I bought with the one I found, which means that I pulled every coin of that collection out of the drawer or a roll at work. My favorite Eisenhower dollaris a 40% silver 1973-S, from the year I was born (I built a 1973 set consisting of the silver Ike, proof quarter, dime and nickel, and a 1973-S BU penny (I may replace the penny with a proof)). I obviously didn't pull the '73 out of circulation. The coin that could be argued that I have "too many" of is the JFK half. My mom found a '64 under the built-in shelves of the house I grew up in (apparently it was a custom back in those days to hide a half dollar somewhere in the house minted the same year the house was built in). I've found several '65-'69 40%ers at work (including one with a hole drilled in it, which I now wear as a necklace) and bought a 1970 40% from the local coin shop ('70s were minted only for collectors and are fairly rare and almost never seen in circulation.) I've found many post-1970 halves, enough to fill 2 1/2 medicine bottles.
I just went back to the store and asked the clerk if he had any coins for me, and he said "the little one?" (he's not a native English speaker) and pulled out a 1972-D half dollar. I'm going to ask him what he has every time I go in there.
Bodegas, 7-11s, and like stores are great gold mines, especially in a down economy. I've been using them for years.
Today, I was on a jury and asked the lady in the cafeteria at the courthouse if she had any halves. She looked in another drawer and pulled out 4 halves: 2 1971-Ds, a bicentennal-D, and a 1994-D.
