When was the last time...

[Immy]

anyone here got a half dollar in change? We seek halves by the boxful but when was the last time you got one back when making a purchase?

 

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[MalteseFalcon]

Well, in my case it would be back in the 70s.

 

[whitesid]

mine was 5 days ago at a flea market

 

[coolcash2004]

At a coin show i recieved an IKE and a kennedy half in change. Both in BU.
(couple months ago i think)

-CC

 

[Postalrevnant]

Ummm... Never.

Rev

 

[hollowpointred]

i have gotten a half back from the bank before a couple times, but never just in my change.

 

[sparkymaster]

The only half I ever received in change from anyone was a dealer in Vegas.

 

[HobBob]

Goodness knows I have given out enough of them in payment, but to answer your question: I can't really think of a time that I have been given a half, at least in the last 10 years or so.
Hmmmm...
HH,
Bob

 

[thurmownator]

While I've spent enough of them the last six weeks, I did receive one this Fall; working a middle school football concession stand.

 

[Dick from IA]

Has to have been 10 years or more since I've gotten a half in change.

In our semi-retirement we sold sports products at fairs and festivals, and would receive halves for purchases. As soon as we could, the next customer would get it back in change; messed up the cash register drawer-no place to put the halves

Dick

 

[bobr]

Last month. The barber here in town gives halves in change.

 

[fiatboy]

Maybe once or twice, but it's been a long time. I don't remember where or when. It still mystifies me that people don't use any denominations higher than the quarter.

When I was a kid, my parents used to give me half dollars occasionally, as payment for chores/allowance. But that was back in the 80's, and I didn't even know silver was in coins back then. I wonder how many 64's I spent on candy or saving for Nintendo games. haha. In college, I worked as a cashier at a movie theatre for awhile, and I'd receive maybe one or two a month, and I'd give them back as change. Most people reacted then the way they react now when I spend half dollars, either "Wow! Cool, a fifty cent coin. Come 'ere and look at this." --or-- I get silence followed by a look that screams "What the #%@& am I supposed to do with this?" Whatever. At least I'm not giving them Susan B's. Then I really get the stare of death. Seriously, I'm surprised that the halves I search through are as worn as they are. Did they used to circulate more?

It was when I had the movie theatre job that I found a 1908 quarter in circulation. Still have it. It's about a G-4, very worn, but I was floating that whole night. It was in a clear-wrapper, sandwiched between a bunch of state quarters. A 1908 quarter! That's what got me into numismatics, which recently, got me into coin roll hunting.

And now is as good a time as any to confess something. I sometimes spend Buffalo nickels and Indian Head pennies, just to get them into circulation, and sometimes I throw in a few when I cash in rolls at the bank. Wheat pennies, too. Some in uncirculated condition, some not. I just like to wonder what happens to them. I'm already into coins, but maybe finding an old buffalo or a shiny Indian head is just what someone else needs to get hooked. The coins probably just get hoarded anyway. Oh well. I'm mainly into bullion and the thrill of the hunt.

 

[el_gral]

Last sunday at a local coin show

 

[fiatboy]

good point, mountainman. Vending machines, parking meters, buses, etc. And like what DFIU said, some cash registers don't have room for halves or dollars. And if banks actually handed them out, instead of just being a vacuum for them and saving them for people like us, others might be more inclined to use them. It seems that halves circulate primarily among coin hunters. haha. It's like a secret handshake. You paid with halves, you must be a coin roll hunter. I see it as a catch-22. Banks and stores don't give them back as change because they don't circulate. They don't circulate because no one ever gets them back in change. Ever see the vending machines that take the dollar coins? There was a lot of hype over them back when the Sacagawea dollars were issued. Whatever happened to them? Poor Sacagaweas, not even the coin roll hunters want them---unless of course, you just can't get enough manganese. haha. (sorry if you're a Sacagawea hunter. I mean no offense.) Frankly, I care very little if halves circulate. I'll still use 'em.