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 Replies: 17 / Views: 14,353 |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
992 Posts |
Where the lower denomination is 20 Cents a 50 Cents piece "makes sense", where the lower denomination is 25 Cents not so much, especially when the 50 Cent piece is rather large...
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New Member
Canada
11 Posts |
I don't know how old you are lholloway but I'm 54 years old and as far as I know the 50c has never been in use as a circulating coin, when I was a kid my father used to get paid cash every week and once in a while he would have a silver dollar or two in the enveloppe but no 50c piece.
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Valued Member
Canada
386 Posts |
They must have been in circulation in large quantities prior to World War II, since all my 1870 to 1940 50 cents coins are well worn. Most of my post-1945 50 cents coins are uncirculated.
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New Member
Canada
44 Posts |
Bring back the 50 cent piece!  Awesome idea!  |
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Moderator
 Canada
10463 Posts |
I spend them (post-1967) every chance I get... Most places take them...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9866 Posts |
Whadda ya mean no longer in circulation? I spend them and receive in change at coin dealers.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
Well, seems to me that the mint ( Royal Canadian Mint and the U.S. Mint) are minting a great amount of pennies every year. For example, this year: 175000 for Canadian 50 cents and 1750000 for US 50 cents. Most of them are not released into the public for circulation. I asked this question to myself 3 months ago when I was at the Philadelphia Mint: why would they mint 175000 , or even 1750000 halves when they're not in circulation? I thought about it for a second and figured this reason: maybe the countries are keeping them in case one day the country is under great depression, the collectors who bought the coins may use them after purchasing them in a way higher price than the face value. The leftover coins can be released into the public from the mint. Simple. Note that what I said was only my guess. Don't take it as a real theory |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2168 Posts |
Something I never know until recently some foreign countries use US currency for basically their own currency
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Valued Member
Canada
475 Posts |
When I was a young lad, I delivered the Vancouver Sun Newspaper and the collection rate was $2.50 per month. I received many 50 cent coins (silver as they all were then, in 1965-66). With a little work I was able to put together an entire run from 1900 to 1966 with no difficulty whatsoever. This said many were very low grade and there was NO 1921 or curved right Maple Leaf 1947. The best ever was a nice VF 1934 I received from a Bank teller! In BC fifty cent pieces were always in circulation as well as 2 dollar banknotes. The reason I believe that they stopped circulating; and it was quite sudden (summer of 1968) was the change in size and composition of the one dollar and fifty cent coins . In Washington state the Kennedy halves circulated well into the mid 1970's. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
650 Posts |
In the 60s my family was in the resort business, we got tons of change but seldom saw 50 cent or silver dollars, I started collecting in the late 60s but do not remember using 50 cent pieces even then. I think it's kind of like the $2.00 bill, not to popular.
My idea, its just as easy to carry an use 2 quarters than 1 50 cent piece.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
617 Posts |
I remember occasionally seeing them in circulation in the late 60's and throughout the 70's.
One issue is that cash registers only have so many compartments. With the introduction of the $1 and $2 coins, it reduced the number of compartments available by two. The willingness of retailers to use 50 cent pieces was reduced even further when the $1 coin was introduced in 1987.
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Moderator
Australia
16864 Posts |
Quote:
Where the lower denomination is 20 Cents a 50 Cents piece "makes sense", where the lower denomination is 25 Cents not so much, especially when the 50 Cent piece is rather large.
My idea, its just as easy to carry an use 2 quarters than 1 50 cent piece.And here is the basic reason why 50 cent coins have never been as popular in the US and Canada as they have been in, say, Australia, Britain, or the Eurozone. 25 cents is an odd denomination for a "truly decimal" currency to have, but it does make the 50 cent coin kind of redundant. If your coinage system were "truly decimal" - 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 etc - then the next-most-convenient means of dispensing 50 cents is with three coins of unequal denominations (two 20s and a 10) or five coins of equal denominations (five 10s) - and it's far quicker and easier to grab just one 50 cent coin than to do either of those. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
Canada
451 Posts |
Why not introduce the $20 silver coin while we are at it.
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Valued Member
 Canada
55 Posts |
Guess it is time to clarify some of my previous statements. When I said they were no longer in circulation I meant one cannot get a roll of these from a banking institution. I found this out when in retirement I decided to complete my 50 cent collection and proceded to the bank and asked to purchase a roll of these coins. Well you can all imagine the look I got, what planet are you from. I remember as a kid one could go to the bank and get such a roll. I also know the mint still makes 50 cent pieces but only for collectors and not for circulation.
I agree with the comments that the reason it was never a very popular coin for circulation was likely due to the fact that the quarter won out.
Thanks again for the interesting discussion. I'm sure we will not see these come into circulation in any near future but it was one of those scenarios that I did not understand.
Great group of people on this site. Always enjoy the discussions and the feedback.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
650 Posts |
Lots in the RCM stuff, don't give them more ideas. |
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Posted 11/25/2011 03:24 am
