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Message:: [QUOTE="kevin McGonigal, post: 2708339, member: 72790"]My father used to tell me that he would go with his father who worked at a steel mill during WW I  (Midvale in Philly) every Friday after work to have his paycheck cashed. His father insisted on its being cashed, not for paper, but for specie in the form of gold and silver coins. The cashing of the check was provided not by some local bank but from the local bar which provided a check cashing service for customers who were unlikely to do much business at a bank. My father loved this weekly Friday afternoon activity. His father would buy a beer for five cents and my father would chow down on the free pretzels and cheese while my grandfather did his 'banking'. Now, if today's banks operated like those saloons the banks would be doing a much brisker business. By the way, my father learned early about keeping cash around the house in specie and passed that onto his kids. Back in the early 1960's my sister worked at the Federal Reserve Bank and every week she would bring home several silver dollars which she was able to get from the bank as part of her pay, including some nice BU Morgans. Perhaps one of the reasons for my interest in numismatics came ultimately from my grandfather's liking for specie payment as well as good lager and pilsner.[/QUOTE]