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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kevin McGonigal, post: 8240893, member: 72790&quot;]Ah, the advantage of being a bit older than you. I had sources in the late 1950&#039;s and early 1960&#039;s that allowed me to see that at that time period they were actually a fairly common coin in circulation. Cash register drawers had a slot specifically for the 50 cent piece. I know this because I had a grocery store owner who knew I collected coins and let me go through the till (there were such people back then). That slot always had some, not that I had much interest in either the walking Liberty or Franklin haves. I wanted Barber coins, Buffalo and liberty head nickels and they could still be found in circulation then. I was not interested in any silver dollars which occasionally showed up as my sister worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philly and could get any number&nbsp; of them at face value. My father&#039;s job allowed him much change and I always had the run of his coin purse. In 1960 I found a 42 over 41 mercury dime and plenty of well worn 50 cent pieces. Being in college by the early sixties I still paid attention to the coinage in my change. The 50 cent piece was still not an unusual coin. What I did notice staring in 1964 that when the mint came out with the Kennedy half dollar everybody and his brother wanted not just one but as many as they could get. The mint could not fill the demand and people were already buying the coins at a premium in 1964. Sudently no one seemed to want to spend a half dollar, any half dollar, and when the US in 1965 stopped issuing 90% silver coinage and the price of silver went up all silver coins vanished from common circulation (even the 40% ones as silver increased more in value). By the time the mint started on the cupro-nickel half dollars in 1970 the public had gotten used to not using a coin of that denomination. Those 50 cent slots began to be used for Ike dollars and later the smaller dollar coins. But let me assure you that prior to the mid sixties the half dollar was still very much in circulation, at least in the Philly region. Allow me to thank you, Donna, as you have given me a good reason to be happy to be older than i usually like to admit.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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