What are halves and dollars used for today?

Discussion in 'Coin Roll Hunting' started by RomaniGypsy, Oct 15, 2021.

  1. RomaniGypsy

    RomaniGypsy Active Member

    Especially halves. Literally who spends them, and on what? It seems that without halves being spent, then all they're doing is being shuttled from coin roll hunter to coin roll hunter, and the most any of us can hope for is someone interrupting that cycle by doing a collection dump.

    Dollar coins - I've seen them used in precisely one place, the automatic car wash. Put in a $20 bill for a $10 car wash, get ten dollar coins in change. Dollar coins must have more uses than halves, because they actually minted dollars for general circulation more recently than halves, but then what about Eisenhower dollars? Who spends them? I go to my banks and the tellers always say that anytime they get Eisenhowers, people snap them up. Well, they ain't snappin' 'em up to spend 'em, that's for sure!

    I used to think, because someone said this, that Eisenhowers and halves were popular at casinos for slot machines. But then recently someone told me that slot machines have gone all digital. I don't gamble, but apparently it's a thing where you insert cash into a machine and it spits out a glorified debit card, loaded with that amount of money, and you use that card in the machines. When you're done playing, you take the card back to the machine and it spits back the cash that equals the number stored in the card's memory or whatever it is. So it's not like you're putting coins into a machine and when you hit a big prize, it sounds like you're being circled by Santa's sleigh as the coins come cascading out.

    I like dollars and halves - dollars especially tend to yield some cool stuff even if it isn't worth much (circulated proofs, SBA wide rims, NIFCs) - but I really do wonder about whether every roll of halves I get has been mostly picked through because nobody spends these things anymore. Even at the stores, if you get 75 cents in change, you get three quarters. You certainly don't get a half and a quarter. Coin-accepting vending devices have slots no bigger than a quarter. The half seems to have been forgotten, in spite of its long and rich history. Anyone have any light they can shed on this?
     
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  3. Treashunt

    Treashunt The Other Frank

    I spend half dollars, when ever I have them.
     
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  4. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    I hate to disappoint you, but dollar and half dollar coins are used every day in commerce................for tips!
     
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  5. RomaniGypsy

    RomaniGypsy Active Member

    Perhaps, but you being here means you are 99.99999% likely to spend only "rejects". That would still make every roll that consists of what you spent turn out to be equivalent to a "searched roll".

    Of course it's possible, and it doesn't disappoint me, but I've never seen this happen. I've literally never seen anyone else spend a dollar or a half, except my wife, the exact change queen, who is the occasional recipient of some of my rejects when her supply needs replenishing. I spent three halves the other day as part of a small cash purchase but again, they were common 1970's date rejects. Last box of halves I searched didn't have a single silver or NIFC.

    I guess I'm trying to get a bead on whether or not it's basically a waste of time to continue searching halves, and how I end up finding so many NIFCs in dollars when I hardly ever see them being spent. Do people literally order them from the Mint at a premium and then get to the point of, "meh, guess that was a waste, I'll spend 'em on my next case of beer"?
     
  6. Treashunt

    Treashunt The Other Frank

    yup, just the rejects.
     
  7. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Granted, we do read of the occasional find of 90% and 40% silver half dollars from the CRHers, but that well is surely drying up. I used to search two $500 boxes every week. I didn't look for varieties, just silver, but that was before silver went to almost $50/oz. After that, everyone was looking for silver. So, I took my profit at $45/oz and ran!

    But, that doesn't mean that I quit searching half dollars, but what I was looking for were high grades that were worth submitting to the TPG. Now, you RARELY find those grades in circulated coins, but the odds are good that you can find them in Mint bags and rolls. (I prefer bags, myself.) Not just half dollars but dollars and quarters as well.

    Many collectors have the mistaken belief that you can only find high grades from the Mint Sets. That isn't true! When I was actively submitting coins for grading, I received dozens that graded MS68. Maybe the average CRHer can't afford it because you are paying a premium for those bags and rolls. The highest premium one would pay is for the mint sets. The lowest premium one would pay is for bags. However, it is very possible to find specimens in MS68 if you take the time to learn about grading. All you need is 5-10 of those high-grade specimens in any one bag to make a nice profit over your total expense.
     
  8. Snowman

    Snowman Senior Member

    In the spring - I ordered 2 boxes of dollar coins. About more than half way thru spending them at stores. A good portion of them go to my local grocery store - I use to be know as the half dollar guy. With never finding anything good in halves over the years i switched to dollar coins as it saves space in my pockets. Now most of the cashiers at the store know what's in my pockets. I think they are so use to them- its no big deal anymore.

    with your question on halves(dollars) - it's a catch 22 -- people don't spend them because they don't really get them and stores don't order them because its easy to use the 2 quarters instead of 1 half. plus whatever are used go back to the banks/armour car company. Just do your part and spend,spend,spend them.
     
  9. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    Stop printing 1 dollar notes and demonetize them within a year. This will automatically make people use the dollar coins. Similarly with $2 bills, stop printing them and introduce a new $2 coin, perhaps bi-metallic?
     
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  10. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member

    I spend halves and dollar coins regularly. Also, the business I work in gives them both out in change. My WalMart has a self serve check out option and the machine also accepts both coins.
     
  11. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I think that well was drained long ago. Now it's just being "replenished by groundwater flow" from coins that are stolen or inherited or found, then spent or deposited. That will continue as long as change circulates.
     
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  12. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    Their used as money, don't you know. Someone has to put a smile on your face!
     
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  13. anniequilts

    anniequilts Member

    I get dollar coins regularly at the bank. It is fun when you hand one to a cashier who has no idea what it is and you try to convince them that it is real money. I have had cashiers call the manager over to look at them.
     
  14. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    They are used, just look at the wear on them. They’re just not used like our other coins.
     
  15. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Shopping at a 99 Cent Only store, I was approached by a panhandler who asked for a dollar to buy a soda...I gave her two half-dollars...she said thanks, walked away and then turned and asked me "are these $1 coins"
     
  16. Phil's Coins

    Phil's Coins Well-Known Member

    When I run across Ikes or SBA's in collections I am buying, I pay face value for them and then use them as tips. If you give the younger generation Ikes, I have had some hilarious reactions. One young lady ask me "Is this real money or from another country?" Of course I like to really mess with them, I wil sometime mix an SBA with an Ike and that really gets some looks.
    Where the hell is our children going to school????
    Semper Fi
     
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  17. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Your response illustrates this very well.
     
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  18. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Half dollars are very popular in casinos - easier to use a half dollars and quarters for small change rather than producing specific chips.

    I spend half dollars wherever I can. I use dollar coins as well, often in vending machines, but often for fast food or small change purchases.
     
  19. potty dollar 1878

    potty dollar 1878 Well-Known Member

    Gave the cashier a two dollar bill and he was like is this counterfeit or a joke:wacky::wacky:I'm like neither.The boss had to come and confirm it was real.They really need to educate people More about the uncommon and unusual before getting the job.
     
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  20. RomaniGypsy

    RomaniGypsy Active Member

    I'm not sure that I'm on the bus with demonetizing them, but if you stop printing them, they will vanish relatively quickly for two reasons: 1) their average useful life is only 17 months; 2) collectors will hoard them.

    And I'd be in favor of a $2 coin. Canada does it and they seem to like it.

    I find it funny when I spend dollar coins and the people receiving them look twice to see what the heck they just got.

    True, but I figure that the wear on an average 1971 half was mostly put on in the earlier years of its life. They stopped minting halves for circulation in 2001, meaning that there must have been a strong demand for them way back when, especially in the early '70s. (I've found whole rolls of 1971, 1974, bicentennial, etc. Of course, no 1978 or 1979-D, or even better, 1970.)

    I should start looking into buying collections. Only thing is, I'm not sure I'd have the money to do it. I couldn't just drop ten G's on a collection even if I thought I could resell it, within seven years, for thirty. Somehow, I'm just terrible at locating stuff of value. I'll think I've found something valuable and then I go to sell it at what appears to be "a bargain" and there's zero interest. Not even people making offers. I truly despise selling things, for that reason. Such a waste of time.

    Or maybe I'm just not doing it right. I only sold collectibles privately one time, and I had an easy time and got a decent price for them.
     
  21. 1865King

    1865King Well-Known Member

    Half dollars were used heavily in commerce until the Kennedy half dollars were struck. And then silver was pulled. In my opinion if the Kennedy half was never struck for circulation and the Franklin half was continued even in clad we would still be using the half dollar as it was before 1964. However, because Kennedy's murder was such a shock and for some odd reason people were in love with Kennedy so when the Kennedy was issued it was the end of the half dollar. Kennedy was a good president but, because he was murdered he took on a mythically image. Because of that almost every 1964 half was horded as were those struck up to 1969. By that point it was game over for the half dollar.
     
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