# What happened to 50-cent pieces? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 21, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256 "2008-03-21T19:57:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/21 "2008-03-22T23:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Well, that’s what they use it for now, but they also can use the fifth bill slot for that (and often do). Or they can do what they often did in the past, and put the rolled coins under the drawer, where they put checks and big bills. [/quote] I wouldn’t be able to put my rolled coins under the drawer–there’s no room. But I can and do put them in the fifth bill slot. I use the fifth change slot for dollar coins–I do see them every couple of days–and pennies, which I only get when someone’s scraping out their change jar for the price of a snack that day. It’s a school cafeteria, we only sell a limited number of items, and every total ends in either zero or five, so I just don’t have a real use for pennies, and no one wants them in change. The first change spot I use for paperclips. > [@](#): > > Trust me: the lack of slots isn’t the reason merchants don’t use dollar coins. The reason they don’t use them is that patrons don’t want them back in change. This matches my experience. I’ve tried to give them in change, only to be told that the customer wants “a real dollar.” The customers who have them likely got them from the metro station. It’s a shame–I like dollar coins, myself. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/22 "2008-03-23T00:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=Wheeljack] If I ever let a five dollar coin roll away from me I’d be pissed about it for days. [/QUOTE] All I can say is that, unless you were a little kid, it was no big deal 50 years ago to lose a quarter, which was worth about five of today’s dollars. And the British seem to be doing OK with their £2 coin, which is worth nearly $4, as do most other Europeans with the €2, which is worth more than $3. The plain fact is that we’ve had a (roughly) 2000% inflation since the days when the present US coinage system was nailed down (essentially, in 1857), and it’s ridiculous to pretend we haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/23 "2008-03-23T08:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] What part of “equivalent _ **number** _” did you miss? 😛 [/QUOTE] The equivalent number of quarters would be 700, which I strongly suspect would be heavier than 175 dollar coins. We’re still talking about $175, right? The equivalences work out like this : Paper money (175) – rather light. Dollar coins (175) – heavier. Quarters (700) – heavier still. Granted, I haven’t weighed 4 quarters vs. 1 dollar coin. They may be lighter. I doubt it, but maybe. Hence my question. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/24 "2008-03-23T12:29:34Z")
At least one of the Casinos in Las Vegas uses 50c pieces; as the Blackjack odds are 3:2 and the minimum bet was $5, if you got a Blackjack you’d win $7.50 (being a $5 chip, 2x$1 chips, and a 50c piece). They all seemed to be from the early-mid 70s and have Kennedy on the back, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/25 "2008-03-23T15:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] The equivalent number of quarters would be 700, which I strongly suspect would be heavier than 175 dollar coins. We’re still talking about $175, right? The equivalences work out like this : Paper money (175) – rather light. Dollar coins (175) – heavier. Quarters (700) – heavier still. Granted, I haven’t weighed 4 quarters vs. 1 dollar coin. They may be lighter. I doubt it, but maybe. Hence my question. [/QUOTE] I explained myself poorly. I _meant_ 175 quarters - an amount I have indeed handled from time to time, so I have a feel for how heavy they’d be. My assumption was that 175 dollar-coins would be similar, a bit heavier, but I’ve never had that many dollar coins on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/26 "2008-03-23T15:16:07Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] On preview, I see that **Mama Zappa** told of putting $175 together from cookie money, and she didn’t mention any dollar coins at all. She also talked of the nuisance of handling piles of coins. Woops! Where’d that Sackie go? [/QUOTE] Right - in three years of being the “Cookie Mom” - and handling several thousand dollars in cash every year - I’ve _never_ seen a dollar coin in the cookie money. Aside from the nuisance value (rolling away, weight), they’d be nice - dollar bills get wrinkled, torn, and just plain dirty. The ultimate reason to not do dollar coins however, is that they don’t have unique serial numbers and therefor could not be used [here!](http://www.wheresgeorge.com)😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/27 "2008-03-23T23:42:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Right - in three years of being the “Cookie Mom” - and handling several thousand dollars in cash every year - I’ve _never_ seen a dollar coin in the cookie money. Aside from the nuisance value (rolling away, weight), they’d be nice - dollar bills get wrinkled, torn, and just plain dirty. [/QUOTE] The great advantage in this situation is that counting them is so easy - stack up one set of five or ten, and all you need to do is make more towers to match. Try that with bills. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/28 "2008-03-24T03:46:15Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Well, as someone who’s currently handling a largeish quantity of cash (cookie manager for 2 troops of Girl Scouts), I can say that the dollar bills are much easier to handle than an equivalent quantity of dollar coins would be. I deposited about 175 dollars today and they fit nicely in a large paper envelope. The equivalent number of quarters (closest good comparison I have) would have been quite heavy to carry and the dollar coins, being slightly larger, would be even heavier. . [/QUOTE] Ah, but the idea is that you’d have say 5$ worth of dollar coins, and the rest in Fives, thus it’d be even lighter. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/29 "2008-03-24T07:44:48Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] The Susies and Sackies edges were milled, like a quarter is. [/quote] Sackies are smooth-edged, not reeded. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/30 "2008-03-25T00:04:14Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] The equivalent number of quarters would be 700, which I strongly suspect would be heavier than 175 dollar coins. We’re still talking about $175, right? The equivalences work out like this : Paper money (175) – rather light. Dollar coins (175) – heavier. Quarters (700) – heavier still. Granted, I haven’t weighed 4 quarters vs. 1 dollar coin. They may be lighter. I doubt it, but maybe. Hence my question. [/QUOTE] NUMBER. Equivalent NUMBER. As in, 175. On preview, what the poster already said. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/31 "2008-03-25T00:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] On preview, what the poster already said. [/QUOTE] Nevertheless, thirty two hours after the matter is settled, you have to stick your nose in. Give it a rest. The world will continue to spin whether or not you decide to pontificate. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/32 "2008-03-25T02:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Nevertheless, thirty two hours after the matter is settled, you have to stick your nose in. Give it a rest. The world will continue to spin whether or not you decide to pontificate. [/QUOTE] Oh, please. It’s not pontification, and if you can’t handle being wrong gracefully, you might want to try not posting. I’m sorry if my “piling on” upsets you. ---
**Author:** ![Outpits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4bbf92/32.png) [@Outpits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outpits)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/33 "2008-03-25T16:20:06Z")
It seems to me that if you have a dollar coin, you almost must have a two dollar coin (like both Canada and euro). Some people (read: me) do not like carrrying a lot of change. With a $1 and $2 coins, any change would be at most two dollar coins, plus the “silver”. As for the change drawers, it would seem easy to me to bifurcate the no longer needed one dollar bill drawer and use it to hold both the one dollar and two dollar coins. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/34 "2008-03-25T17:27:20Z")
The U.S. has never “demonetarized” (declared a lawfully-issued piece of currency to be no good anymore) anything, IIRC, and probably never will. But if the Treasury just stopped printing paper dollars, or routinely issued both to banks as **angry hangry** suggests, dollar coins could be struck to meet demand. They wear out much more slowly than paper bills and would be very cost-effective. Over time, they’d drive out paper dollar bills from circulation. The adjustment wouldn’t be that big a deal for people, but as long as paper dollar bills are in widespread use, inertia will prevail. When I was in London in late 1985, I used one-pound coins all the time, and it was very convenient. The Kennedy half-dollar is, IMHO, the best-looking U.S. coin now in circulation, and I’d love to see them get more use. ---
**Author:** ![Outpits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4bbf92/32.png) [@Outpits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outpits)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/35 "2008-03-25T17:57:51Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] The U.S. has never “demonetarized” (declared a lawfully-issued piece of currency to be no good anymore) anything, IIRC, and probably never will. But if the Treasury just stopped printing paper dollars, or routinely issued both to banks as **angry hangry** suggests, dollar coins could be struck to meet demand. They wear out much more slowly than paper bills and would be very cost-effective. Over time, they’d drive out paper dollar bills from circulation. The adjustment wouldn’t be that big a deal for people, but as long as paper dollar bills are in widespread use, inertia will prevail. When I was in London in late 1985, I used one-pound coins all the time, and it was very convenient. The Kennedy half-dollar is, IMHO, the best-looking U.S. coin now in circulation, and I’d love to see them get more use. [/QUOTE] I don’t see any compelling reason for demonetarization. Any currency should continue to be good. However, it can be very effective if --as of a date certain --any bank in the federal reserve system would supply only dollar coins, that would speed the transition process. The transition process would be even more rapid if businesses were required to accept either dollar coins or notes, but could only make change with the coins, retiring the notes. (the latter would need exceptions for small businesses, most likely) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/36 "2008-03-25T18:46:03Z")
As long as dollar bills are put into circulation, dollar coins will be ignored (or hoarded as collector items) by the users: the people of the United States. Canada’s result with the dollar coin shows us the best evidence that to make dollar coins something people will use, we have to remove paper dollars. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/37 "2008-03-25T19:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] All I can say is that, unless you were a little kid, it was no big deal 50 years ago to lose a quarter, which was worth about five of today’s dollars. And the British seem to be doing OK with their £2 coin, which is worth nearly $4, as do most other Europeans with the €2, which is worth more than $3. The plain fact is that we’ve had a (roughly) 2000% inflation since the days when the present US coinage system was nailed down (essentially, in 1857), and it’s ridiculous to pretend we haven’t. [/QUOTE] I think you have misplaced a decimal point somewhere. Both [this site](http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/data/us/calc/) and [this site](http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/) indicate that a 1958 dollar was worth about $7 in 2008 dollars. You have to go back to about 1910 to have 25 cents be worth $5. JRB ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/38 "2008-03-25T19:50:02Z")
Not for nothin’ but the Mint still makes half dollars, they’re just not as popular, and the only time I ever see them is when I buy them from the Mint. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/39 "2008-03-25T22:19:38Z")
[QUOTE=JR Brown] I think you have misplaced a decimal point somewhere. Both [this site](http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/data/us/calc/) and [this site](http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/) indicate that a 1958 dollar was worth about $7 in 2008 dollars. You have to go back to about 1910 to have 25 cents be worth $5. [/QUOTE] There are a lot of different scales, depending on what you compare. Both the price of gold and the price of a new comic book agree that a 1958 dollar was worth nearly $30 in today’s money, half again what I estimated. And, as I say, when considering US coinage reform, you really have to go all the way back to 1857. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256/40 "2008-03-26T19:31:36Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] How big would a $10,000 coin be? I’d want it to be really big so I wouldn’t be able to lose it in the couch cushions. [/QUOTE] Probably not as big as [this](http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/05/03/goldcoin.html). 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-50-cent-pieces/442256.md?page=3)