# Where are all the Kennedy half dollars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394 "2014-10-24T20:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/61 "2014-10-27T19:55:21Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > One thing that really hurts the half dollar is a lot of vending machines will not take them. Which brings up the obvious questions: were the coins always this big, and why didn’t the Mint redesign the half dollar coin so it would be more readily accepted? Yes - they were always that big. They were originally silver and contained $0.50 worth of silver. So a dime weighs 1/10 of an Eisenhower dollar, a quarter 1/4 of a dollar, a half dollar 1/2 of a dollar. It was one of the first weighing/graphing exercises I remember doing in school (probably 6th or 7th grade) - weigh a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, dollar coin and graph them. It was interesting to see the graph drop from the nickel to the dime and then be a straight line (for those of us who could work the balance scale properly). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/62 "2014-10-27T19:55:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Plus I don’t have to play that stupid game of will with vending machines constantly having to insert and reinsert my dollar, fold it, straighten it, try another dollar, etc., until one works. > > Both the penny and the dollar bill really need to go the way of the dodo (and should have about twenty or so years ago), but now that so many transactions are electronic, I don’t much care. I agree here. The Dollar bills and penny need to go. I dont like using my CC, etc for small transactions, especially vending maachines due to security issues. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/63 "2014-10-27T20:30:26Z")
> [@Mr.Milton](#): > > Whereas some of the Canadian loonies --the ones without the loon— are the epitome of insipidness. 😕I’ve **never** seen a loonie without a loon on it. Didn’t think (and still don’t) that was possible. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/64 "2014-10-27T20:35:12Z")
> [@Mr.Milton](#): > > I guess I’m going against the tide here, but I vastly prefer bills to coins. Heh, same here. I once started a thread about a guy borrowing $50 from me and repaying [in dollar coins.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=555202) IIRC, I was pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/65 "2014-10-27T22:30:31Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > When the US money was originally set up every 10x increase was a new unit name. We had mills (almost never used except in taxes), There’s never been any mill-denominated coins, though. Every once in a while people propose them, although I’ll be damned if I know why. The penny is already too small in value as it is, and they want to issue a coin that’s a tenth that value. > [@](#): > > cents, dismes (original spelling), dollars, and eagles. And potentially unions (equal to $100). There’s never been any union-denominated coins either, but I think a half-union coin was once proposed. It’s curious how our banknotes are never denominated in eagles (or unions), but always just in dollars. > [@](#): > > Coins were labeled as such: the double eagle ($20), the quarter dollar (25 cents), the half disme (5 cents). etc. To this day, the dime is still only labeled “one dime.” I think the first exception was the two cent piece in 1864. It said “2 cents.” The three cent piece was issued a bit earlier and had the Roman numeral III on it. Nickels in the mid-19th century also had a V (Roman numeral 5), as did the $5 gold piece. Dollar coins now have “$1” on their reverse, although they haven’t always. The first Sackies didn’t, but the Presidential series and the redesigned Sackie do. > [@](#): > > That doesn’t mean all this was a good idea of course. It’s just history. Somewhat like how British stamps don’t have the name of the country on them. Just one of those things that are done for historical reasons or tradition or whatever you want to call it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394.md?page=3)