Another dump method

[thurmownator]

Though some of you (I know) already employ this method, I thought I'd share it as (today in particular) it really hit home.

I normally carry $50 - $60 in halves in a pouch I keep in my car. Whenever I have purchases of $10 or less, I'll pay with halves. You'd be surprised (or perhaps not) of the number of folk who think ALL half dollars are rare/scarce/valuable/novel (pick your adjective). They will often buy them from their registers at closing that night, and take them home to some coffee can/jar/dresser drawer they have previously stored other "finds" like this.

Nothing against them for doing so, to each his own, but knowing that they've taken dumps of mine "off the street", means I don't have to worry about ever seeing those particular halves again.

Today, while buying some pre-Valentine chocolates for my favorite banks/tellers (hint, hint) the bill came to just over $30. When I opened the pouch and proceeded to stack rows of halves on the counter , the check out gal exclaimed "well, I guess I'll have to buy all those now". When I asked what she meant, she said she collects any half dollars she ever finds, but doesn't find them very often.

As they were very clearly not silver or otherwise important to me, as they lay stacked on her counter, I can only surmise she is among the percentage of the population who, by not seeing half dollars very often, believe them to be rare/scarce/valuable/novel (again, pick your adjective).

Therefore, it is a win/win. She gets something she wants and I get rid of something I don't.

And the beauty is I'll not likely ever run across those particular halves again (or any of the others from the many other similar merchant exchanges I've conducted) when I make my various future pickups from banks.

Food for thought. 8)

 

[trezurhunter]

Great idea. I'm going to start doing that too.

The Trezurhunter.

 

[DrDetector]

Been doing this with halves and $2s for years, and yes it definitely does get some taken out of circulation for very extended periods. I used to have a roommate who bought all the halves he got at a BP station...he showed them to me once and had about $30 in clad and a few silver. I told him that the clad are worth face and always will be but he said he didn't care and was keeping them to show his kids some day. To each his own, and like you said...it's win-win!

 

[Scalper]

Thanks for sharing Thurm, it is pretty funny/comical that people do think that they are rare . My mom likes a good silver fix so I stop over on Fridays with a few boxes for us to pick . She has been a half dollar hoarder for many years now plus $ 2.00 bills . Anyways she come home a few weeks ago and I was waiting for her and she pulls out 2 clad halves she says oh they are no good but I bought them at work and the other techs would have bought them if she didnt .


Hmmm, I said to her if you want some halves I have at least 4k of them during the week you are welcome to them and she said no thanks that is ok I just decided to buy these ones .



So I know that everyone in the pharmacy would buy them , the guy that owns the local grocery store collects them and a few others that know do and I would be surprised at how many other people stash them away . Interesting topic thanks for sharing , Ed

 

[bigtime400]

Ive been doing this almost since I got started..... when we go out to breakfast with co-workers, get some subs or McDonalds, Gas, I even leave them for the tip. The only time it gets hard is when you buy $200 in groceries. I doubt anyone would buy all those.

 

[cyberdan]

half dollars are rare/scarce/valuable/novel

Go back to that same cashier and tell her you will trade 2 of your halves for any 1964 and older.

 

[silvercop]

i am going to start looking for ways to get some of the clad out of my search area thanks for the idea

 

[capy325]

Funny you should mention this as I stumbled across the same thing a couple months ago. I stopped at the local Wendy's drive-thru on the way home from my pick up bank to grab lunch. The total came to $4.38 and I noticed I had a few extra halves in the cupholder (this is the reason the car makers put so many cupholders in vehicles by the way... someplace to put your change!). I hand the 19 year old drive thru attendant 9 halves and proceed to munch on some fries while I wait for my change. She stands there looking at the coins like a cow staring at a passing train for what seemed to be an eternity and finally asked " what are these?". My mind was screaming to tell her they are magic beans, but I thought better of it and I explained they where worth $0.50 each. After confirming this with her "manager" and a short discussion on how rare these were, she hands me my change. The manager asks if I had anymore stating he'd like to have a few more... I just said no hoping he didn't see the 4 boxes in the passenger seat. I'm pretty sure those coins will never see the light of day again!

 

[Diver_Down]

... She stands there looking at the coins like a cow staring at a passing train for what seemed to be an eternity and finally asked " what are these?". My mind was screaming to tell her they are magic beans, but I thought better of it and I explained they where worth $0.50 each. After confirming this with her "manager" and a short discussion on how rare these were, she hands me my change. The manager asks if I had anymore stating he'd like to have a few more... I just said no hoping he didn't see the 4 boxes in the passenger seat. I'm pretty sure those coins will never see the light of day again!

This is the one thing that irks me. I use halves and dollars (coin) all the time. If the cashier is not smart enough to read the coin's denomination, I feel no obligation in giving free civic lessons.

 

[Jack_MIghtyheart]

I used some of the newer presidential dollars at a Taco Bell once. The cashier said "Are you sure these are real money?" (I wanted to say "No, they're backed by the US Government :P ) After explaining that they were each one dollar, she just laughed and said she had never seen them before.

 

[Narthoniel]

I just like the reactions I get from people. On road trips to see family, I pay for gas in halves. One cashier told me she didn't want to see any more after I paid for gas and returned with a beverage later. Lots of good stories, but, hard to recall them all .

 

[Darth Walker]

We all CRHunters play the ignorant some times in from of others when we see halves. Many times I make it look that I just collect any halve
just because I do not want people to find out what I am looking for.

I think the cashier maybe knows about silver halves but acts like not.
DW

 

[bgretz1989]

Well i can say from experience that most Taco Bell workers are not to bright! I was a manager there for just over a year and the same thing came up. The girl on the register asked about the gold dollar coins being real along with other people not knowing 2 dollar bills existed at all. But the best one was when the girl working the register took in a 2 dollar canadian coin. Sad thing is she thaught it was worth 2 dollars and didnt bother asking about it. Kind of makes you wonder about what the country will become over the next few generations.

 

[thurmownator]

We all CRHunters play the --deleted-- some times in from of others when we see halves. Many times I make it look that I just collect any halve
just because I do not want people to find out what I am looking for.

I think the cashier maybe knows about silver halves but acts like not.
DW

Except, while laid out in stacks on her counter, they were very clearly not silver. If she was a fellow CRHer, she wouldn't /shouldn't have made that exclamation to me about needing to buy them all. No, I genuinely don't think she was "masking her true intentions"; rather just liked to collect ANY half dollars that came her way.