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

The porn industry chose the quarter. That's always the right answer, the porn industry.

 

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thats pretty bad that a person who is suppose to be certified by the state to even smog a car cant even tell the difference between a tail pipe and a tow hitch, i would advise never to go back to these people not even to air your tires. and maybe its just me but i would have pointed out the mistake after getting back the paper work then leaving. let em dwell on it.

 

I am old school. I don't let people touch my home, cars, tools etc if there is any possibler way to prevent it. Sometimes, things like R22 are not available and I can't purchase it, so I have to call a tech. And I cannot smog test my onw car. But if they would let me, I would learn how. LOL

No, things I rely on are all maintained by myself. It just takes longer doing everything with one hand. I spent 14 hours changing a faucet in a bathroom once.

 

as a manager for a large concessions company I would order halves from brinks $2,000-$5,000 at a time and use them after I went though them for silver, collected over $2,000 in 40% silver in the 5 years I did it, but we did circlulate alot them during hockey games and concerts, employees hated them but we forced them to use them and customers began to get use to seeing them and even asked to buy rolls of them. its just as simple as getting business to use them and they will circulate!!

 

yeah only repair facilities can still purchase R22 but i think you can also get it in mexico.

 

Then you gotta smuggle it back. Have the gauges, nitrogen bottle and vacuum pump. Nah, I call an A/C tech, watch his every move and tell him what I want done. LOL Seriously, you just cannot trust anyone to put their hands on anything you need. I had warranty work done on a gasoline engine air compressor done one time. The pump head was put on backward, so the valves didn't work. When I took it back, the mechanic acted all bent out of shape and informed me that he never wanted to see that machine back in his shop..? So, he didn't. Most parts are available on line, and my tool chest is extensive. LOL

 

And this represents the future of our Nation?

I hate to tell you this, but it's not just the most recent generation. I was watching the game show (rerun?), 1 vs. 100, last night, and the contestant was a woman (no gender bias intended) who appeared to be in her late 30's. It was bad enough that she was (over)acting like a giddy, teenaged schoolgirl, but her comment to one of the questions was one of the dumbest things I had ever heard.

Game Question
"99 bottles of beer on the wall"............"How many 6-packs of beer would you have? Would it be more than 15? Would it be exactly 15? Or, would it be less than 15?

Her remark?
"Gee, that's a tough one. I'm going to need some help on this because I don't drink beer."

Chris

 

Chris, by younger generation, I mean under 45. LOL Seriously, we are not teaching people to think on their feet. When I graduated in 1964 from High school, we were required to be able to make change at a cash register, mark a ballot, count to 10 without using your fingers, know who the President was and how many stripes are on the flag. Basic knowledge is waning along with the thinking process. A calculator might be a necessity today, but how many can do square root in longhand like we were taught ?

I know, we do not need to do the math longhand, but by not practicing it, the logical thought process gets lost.We were taught how to identify a problem, then solve it. If you don't use the brain, you lose the brain. As you pointed out, the woman was an instructor for cryin' out loud ! These guys are gonna be in charge ?

 

Age doesnt matter, theres always been idiots lol.

 

Just one more......Jessica Simpson, while at a restaurant, was asked if she wanted Buffalo wings. She replied that she didn't eat Buffalo.

 

<<A calculator might be a necessity today, but how many can do square root in longhand like we were taught ?>>

I have forgotton how. But there are many ways around it.
1) use a calculator.
2) if the calculator does not have square root, divide the number by 1 and average your divisor and the result. repeat with the new numbers until divisor and result match.
3) use logarithms
4) use a slide rule

On a test in my adult life I was asked to calculate the square root of 144 in radix 12 arithmatic. I proved the square root of 144 was 12 in any system.
144 = radix squared + 4 radix + 4 = (radix + 2) (radix + 2) = 144.
I only got partial credit.

 

Now that is cool. I didn't know that.

 

that is wrong though? Isn't it? The factors aren't correct?

 

no - your factors are right but your leap of logic here is broken

 

Green18, you basically have it right.

Ironically, the very popularity of the Kennedy half started the demise of the half dollar as a circulating coin.

As you said, first, the Kennedy half was hoarded as basically everyone in the western world wanted one as a memento.

Then, silver was taken out of coinage for 1965 but the Kennedy half still had 40% silver, and that led to further hoarding of the coins because of silver speculation.

By the time silver was removed from the half in 1971, the public had already gotten used to not using it in circulation. From my personal experience, I do remember halves in change in the 1970's, but they were getting pretty scarce. At least they were still relatively smaller in size than the Ike dollar, which didn't circulate very well either.

When the smaller sized dollars came out, the half become sort of an oddity. And now, we're just used to using quarters and not halves. Even the small "golden" dollars have a hard time finding wide circulation.

Another irony is that the Kennedy half is still very popular with collectors. Over the past 20 years, the Mint has even introduced new collector versions, like silver proofs, special matte finishes, and collector sets. It's still a cash cow for them, and as long as they can make money on it, they're still strike them.

 

mrbrklyn,

You caugfht me fair and square. It must have been another senior moment


<<(radix + 2) (radix + 2) = 12.>>

Replace with
(radix + 2) (radix + 2) = (12) (12) = 144 in any system of radix > 4


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