Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Neal, post: 26758334, member: 43872&quot;]Of course the end of circulation for halves came over a period of years, but I think the time differed by region.&nbsp; My dad was a small town banker in central Alabama, and I worked in the bank as a kid wrapping coins.&nbsp; Silver dollars and halves circulated more out west, I was told, but we still used both, in limited quantities, until the end of silver coins.&nbsp; By the time I was working summers as a teller in the late 1960s and early 70s, I don&#039;t remember anyone using halves much anymore, although once in a great while someone would deposit some.&nbsp; Once a person brought in a hoard of halves from a deceased grandparent--Barbers and Walking Liberties mostly, maybe a couple of thousand dollars face.&nbsp; The grandparent had lost money in the depression and never trusted banks or paper money after that, so for decades he had put all his savings in a box under his bed.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason for the demise of the half from circulation is more complicated than just the loss of silver.&nbsp; Clad dimes and quarters still circulate.&nbsp; I believe it has more to do with the general inflation of the 1970s.&nbsp; Before then, a half dollar represented considerable buying power, and one or two in your pocket was good.&nbsp; But with inflation the value/weight ratio just didn&#039;t justify a pocket full of them, so people turned more to paper.&nbsp; That&#039;s the main reason, in my opinion, dollar coins didn&#039;t take off.&nbsp; As for the dimes and quarters, they are still useful for making change (for those of us who sometimes still use cash), but nobody carries around significant amounts of them.&nbsp; I generally dump them in a basket on my dresser the way people once did cents, and one day I&#039;ll roll them and take them to my bank.&nbsp; None of it circulates like it used to.&nbsp; When was the last time you found an undamaged dime or quarter in VG or less?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in