Half Dollars In Fed Vaults?

I kept 4 halves out of the 6 rolls I bought today. Maybe I'll buy gas with the others just see the look I get.

My town doesn't have many half dollars in the bank, today on the way home from school I went to one bank it surprised me. They had 6 dollars of them I got them but no silver. There is hardly ever any of them around here. My grampa says they did used to be like normal change back in the 50s. I like them its to bad they dont circulate. I am lucky to find a 40% half dollar once a month and its in like 2 coins they have in the whole bank!

For probably well over 30 years now I've gone to banks and taken out from 2 to 10 rolls of halves. I used to do it for my collections. However, as time went by I never found anything worth saving anymore but it became fun ATTEMPTING to spend them. I still try for some at banks but that too is getting to be a pain. My EX favorite source of halves was the LaSalle National Bank, now changed to Bank of America. I never USED to have a problem getting as many as I wasnted there. Last time there I was instructed that now with the new ownership, they have been instructed to send all halves back to the main office. They were instructed not to order any for customers. They were instructed not to accept any halves or large dollar coins. I asked what if I brought in some halves and said add this to may account. They said there were instructed to tell customers to take them somewhere else.
Over the years I've had mixed reactions using halves. At one flea market a guy saw me spending one and asked if I had more. He offered me $0.75 each for all I had. I had 10 and gave them to him for $5.
I pay getting into flea markets with them and the people at the gates watch for me for them.
However, at a restaurant seveal waitresses have asked me to stop leaving those for tips. On commuter trains the conductors have told me to not give them halves or those baby sized dollars. At a fast food place, Wendy's, when trying to spend a half, they looked at me as if I was trying to rob the place but ended up taking them.
With the usage of coins today people are getting a little nutty I think.

Can they legally do that? They may not be as common as other coins, but not that uncommon, and they are legal tender. I can see an uninformed merchant sometimes getting picky about certain coins, but a bank...

That is just illogical beyond belief...

Legally, a bank cannot reject any legal tender currency brought in by a customer. Odd coins maybe be difficult to stock and get rid of, but all a bank needs to do is ship them out to their main office or FED when they get a certain number of them. I understand these odd items can be a hassle for banks, but it is part of their job to supply currency based upon demand. More often nowadays, I see many banks cutting back on "customer service" and focusing primarily on sales. In my opinion, if it is legal they should be ashamed to even suggest not accepting it.

They just think quarter is highest denomination of our coinage..anything else its fake! or something to em. does anyone really know how many halves are in the fed vaults? Billions? by law would they have to mint more if they ran low/out?

I'm one of those also that spends halfs, dollar coins, and $2 for things. I pick up anything the bank teller has to get it out of her drawer. In return they keep everything for me that comes in. I've even been called on my cell phone to be told someone dropped off $50 in halves in old wrappers before. The mexican place I eat lunch at is use to me paying in the odd coins or tips. The McDonalds on the other hand is always a riot. About 1/3 of the time the casher doesn't say a thing, another 1/3 of the time they take the $2 bills to the manager thinking they are fake, and the last 1/3 someone at the store ask do I have more (pres coins and $2 bills). The majority of the population just doesn't know about all the different demominations of coin and currency. I even know of one bank teller that pulled a yellow seal note from their money machine thinking it was a fake. Of course someone snapped that baby up before I found out about it.