Getting the Public to Use Half Dollars and Dollars

"DyzeeGF3" wrote in message . net...
"Malanutt 4 Life" wrote in message
...
How about we add at least a $500 bill to our current denominations if we
eliminated a few other denominations?

Tom


Most stores cannot make change of a $500 bill, and I believe it was
eliminated in the first place because it made cash transactions easier for
drug dealers.

I think they stopped making $500 bills back in the 1930s, well before
the drug trade got to be a big problem. Although it's probably a
factor in why they haven't been brought back.

If a coin is eliminated, why would it be minted for collectors only? I
thought coins were for payment, then for collecting. If it does not
circulate, (like the 50-cent) then why mint it for collectors? Many
collectibles are minted, painted, cast, etc., for collectors; that is fine,
but they are not coins nor payment media.

Tony

"Chris S" wrote in message
om...
"Bob Flaminio" :
Not a chance. The only way to get the public to use dollar coins is to
discontinue the rag buck. The actual design is irrelevant. The Sackie
has a good size, color, and edge; but without the elimination of rag
bucks, it will always be a "niche" coin.

The half dollar is a hopeless cause. Most vending machines don't even
have slots big enough to accept them. My idea for the half is to
discontinue JFK, and make the half a circulating commemorative, with the
design changing every year. For example, this year it would be the First
Flight coin -- rather than just releasing them in mint sets, release
them to circulation as well. (They are CuNi clad, after all.) Sure, they
won't *really* circulate, but then -- neither does the JFK.

I'm with you. I'd eliminate $1 bills, $2 bills, halves, nickels, and
cents. We could probably do without $50 bills also, but I'd keep dimes
for now. If the Mint and BEP found it profitable to sell the
eliminated denominations as collector-only issues, fine. But America
would be better off not circulating unnecessary denominations.

--Chris

"Dan Pon" wrote in message
om...
"DyzeeGF3" wrote in message
. net...
"Malanutt 4 Life" wrote in message
...
How about we add at least a $500 bill to our current denominations if
we
eliminated a few other denominations?

Tom


Most stores cannot make change of a $500 bill, and I believe it was
eliminated in the first place because it made cash transactions easier
for
drug dealers.

I think they stopped making $500 bills back in the 1930s, well before
the drug trade got to be a big problem. Although it's probably a
factor in why they haven't been brought back.

Well other than drugs, the mafia and corruption were huge problems back
then.

"James McCown" wrote in message
om...
"A.E. Gelat" wrote in message
...
"Steve Okonski" wrote in message
...
Ami . wrote:

What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar
and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

The designs don't matter, the utility does.

Or, make use of Gresham's Law and give the other denominations some
real value by adding silver and copper, and suddenly people will
gladly spend the halves and dollar coins.

Do you really think that putting 50 cents' worth of silver will make the
coin circulate? Paper money has no intrinsic value, and it is no longer
backed by gold or silver, so this is an old-fashioned idea that whose
time
has passed. It is the size that matters!

Tony

Have you thought about going back and relearning your first grade
reading comprehension? Steve Okonski said to put silver or copper in
the OTHER denominations (e.g. cents, nickels, dimes, quarters) so
Gresham's law would drive them out of circulation. He didn't say to
put it into the halves and dollars.

I still do not get the point. With the price of silver hovering around
$5.25 an ounce, how can the mint put silver in any small-denomination coin?
Please explain fully, and without any sarcasm.

Tony

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:12:40 -0500, Bruce Remick
wrote:

DyzeeGF3 wrote:
"Malanutt 4 Life" wrote in message
...

How about we add at least a $500 bill to our current denominations if we
eliminated a few other denominations?

Most stores cannot make change of a $500 bill, and I believe it was
eliminated in the first place because it made cash transactions easier for
drug dealers.

And why would anyone want to carry such a large denomination with them
on a shopping trip?

For reasons already stated elsewhere. Not everyone has a credit card;
not everyone wants to use one.

As it is now, most clerks give a customer the once
over if they offer to pay for something with a couple hundreds.

Perhaps if the total bill is a couple grand or more. Heads aren't
turned for such small transactions as $200 or $500.

Padraic.

la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu
ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.

"Dan Pon" wrote in message
om...
(Ami .) wrote in message
...
What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

I think the following would work:

1. End production of Kennedy halves in 2004. The last year should have a
special date, 1964-2004. Starting in 2005, the half dollar would have a
portrait of Martin Luther King on the obverse. The words "United States
of America" would be in big letters above the portrait. The word
"Liberty" would be in smaller letters positioned on the obverse. On the
reverse, there would be the rendering of the Liberty Bell that was on
the reverse of the Franklin halves. Above the Liberty Bell would be the
words "Let Freedom Ring."

2. Starting in 2005, remove the portrait of Sacagawea from the dollar
coin. Replace it with a portrait of John F. Kennedy. The design of the
Kennedy dollar coin would have a new portrait. The reverse would remain
the same as the current Kennedy half.

We would then have MLK Halves and Kennedy Golden Dollars.

I don't know if anything would work, short of eliminating the paper
dollar. We're fighting against a situation where 99% of the population
thinks that dollar coins are not for spending, and most stores and
banks are not distributing them regularly. The latter has to change
for anything to happen, since that will put the coins into the
public's hands and get rid of the impression that there's something
unusual and taboo about spending such coins.

Most people arguing against a dollar coin keep mentioning the size.
I say that if the paper diollar is to dropped, it MUST be replaced by a
coin the size of a nickel, with a milled edge, and preferably golden in
color. That is the only way to make people use it.

Tony



Anyway, it would be fun to change the designs regardlesss. I would let
the Kennedy half go on to 2013, for the 50th anniversary of his death.
In the same year, we could start making MLK halves to commemorate the
50th anniversary of his "I have a dream" speech. The reverse could
have a view of the Mall from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

I don't know if I'd keep Kennedy going on some other denomination. 50
years is long enough for him. I would like to see Teddy Roosevelt make
an appearance. I think he's probably the greatest President not to
have been on a circulating coin. 2008 would be the sesquicentennial of
his birth.

"A.E. Gelat" wrote in message
...

"Dan Pon" wrote in message
om...
(Ami .) wrote in message
...
What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar
and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

I think the following would work:

1. End production of Kennedy halves in 2004. The last year should have
a
special date, 1964-2004. Starting in 2005, the half dollar would have
a
portrait of Martin Luther King on the obverse. The words "United
States
of America" would be in big letters above the portrait. The word
"Liberty" would be in smaller letters positioned on the obverse. On
the
reverse, there would be the rendering of the Liberty Bell that was on
the reverse of the Franklin halves. Above the Liberty Bell would be
the
words "Let Freedom Ring."

2. Starting in 2005, remove the portrait of Sacagawea from the dollar
coin. Replace it with a portrait of John F. Kennedy. The design of the
Kennedy dollar coin would have a new portrait. The reverse would
remain
the same as the current Kennedy half.

We would then have MLK Halves and Kennedy Golden Dollars.

I don't know if anything would work, short of eliminating the paper
dollar. We're fighting against a situation where 99% of the population
thinks that dollar coins are not for spending, and most stores and
banks are not distributing them regularly. The latter has to change
for anything to happen, since that will put the coins into the
public's hands and get rid of the impression that there's something
unusual and taboo about spending such coins.

Most people arguing against a dollar coin keep mentioning the size.
I say that if the paper diollar is to dropped, it MUST be replaced by a
coin the size of a nickel, with a milled edge, and preferably golden in
color. That is the only way to make people use it.



I disagree. I still don't understand why our money does not follow size
order according to denomination. Shouldn't the penny be the smallest coin,
and the dime larger than the nickel?

"DyzeeGF3" wrote in message
et...

"A.E. Gelat" wrote in message
...

"Dan Pon" wrote in message
om...
(Ami .) wrote in message
...
What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar
and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

I think the following would work:

1. End production of Kennedy halves in 2004. The last year should
have
a
special date, 1964-2004. Starting in 2005, the half dollar would
have
a
portrait of Martin Luther King on the obverse. The words "United
States
of America" would be in big letters above the portrait. The word
"Liberty" would be in smaller letters positioned on the obverse. On
the
reverse, there would be the rendering of the Liberty Bell that was
on
the reverse of the Franklin halves. Above the Liberty Bell would be
the
words "Let Freedom Ring."

2. Starting in 2005, remove the portrait of Sacagawea from the
dollar
coin. Replace it with a portrait of John F. Kennedy. The design of
the
Kennedy dollar coin would have a new portrait. The reverse would
remain
the same as the current Kennedy half.

We would then have MLK Halves and Kennedy Golden Dollars.

I don't know if anything would work, short of eliminating the paper
dollar. We're fighting against a situation where 99% of the population
thinks that dollar coins are not for spending, and most stores and
banks are not distributing them regularly. The latter has to change
for anything to happen, since that will put the coins into the
public's hands and get rid of the impression that there's something
unusual and taboo about spending such coins.

Most people arguing against a dollar coin keep mentioning the size.
I say that if the paper diollar is to dropped, it MUST be replaced by a
coin the size of a nickel, with a milled edge, and preferably golden in
color. That is the only way to make people use it.



I disagree. I still don't understand why our money does not follow size
order according to denomination. Shouldn't the penny be the smallest
coin,
and the dime larger than the nickel?


The dime had to be smaller than the nickel, since it was silver. The
quarter weighs 2.5 times as much, the half twice the quarter, and the old
dollar twice the half.. All that was true when they contained silver. The
US mint is the most conservative and under the strictest political control
of all the mints in the world, and that is why the dime continues to be so
small.

Tony

No.

The GD works in vending machines and the half does not. Any change to
the size or material
of the dollar will cause problems and lead to all of the people who
have finally learned
to use dollar coins in machines abandoning them.

Halves are a pain. They do indeed only weigh exactly what two quarters
would weigh, but
they do not work in machines. They will also take up the slot in the
cash register that
the dollar coin should occupy.

If you want people to use dollar coins, there are two ways to get it
to happen:

1) Get the government to stop printing rag-dollars.

2) If you can't wait for #1, then make all of your purchases with
dollar coins. ALL. buy
them by the box and spend them singly or in rolls. Hell, ask stores if
they need "ones"
and buy a $100 bill from under the cash register drawer. I have a few
cashiers who ask me
for them since they know I have change and they always need change
(and they have overcome
'fear' of dollar coins).

-Fred Shecter


(Ami .) wrote in message ...
What are your ideas on getting the public to widely use half dollar and
dollar coins in everyday transactions?

I think the following would work:

1. End production of Kennedy halves in 2004. The last year should have a
special date, 1964-2004. Starting in 2005, the half dollar would have a
portrait of Martin Luther King on the obverse. The words "United States
of America" would be in big letters above the portrait. The word
"Liberty" would be in smaller letters positioned on the obverse. On the
reverse, there would be the rendering of the Liberty Bell that was on
the reverse of the Franklin halves. Above the Liberty Bell would be the
words "Let Freedom Ring."

2. Starting in 2005, remove the portrait of Sacagawea from the dollar
coin. Replace it with a portrait of John F. Kennedy. The design of the
Kennedy dollar coin would have a new portrait. The reverse would remain
the same as the current Kennedy half.

We would then have MLK Halves and Kennedy Golden Dollars.

The dollar coin is not "quarter sized"

It is larger in diameter and thicker. It is 43% bigger. Like a 143
pound bag of feathers
vs. a 100 pound bag of feathers.

-Fred Shecter.


"Keith Fletcher" wrote in message . ..
but then it would not fit into any current coin slot. really bad idea.

True, but we have to find some way to avoid making the same mistake three
times by making yet another quarter-sized coin of standard thickness. I am
also not feeling a lot of sympathy for vending machine makers anyway as they
are a major impediment to eliminating the dollar (or rather their lobbyists
are, as I understand it). They can retool.

--K

I do like the Kennedy dollar idea.