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 Replies: 15 / Views: 3,307 |
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Pillar of the Community
708 Posts |
Well, yesterday I talked with the Meijer world headquarters about circulating halves and $2 bills for the full anniversary 50th year 2014 of the Kennedy half, and the guy was asking me, "Where are we going to get the charity money from?" and I said, "It comes out of my pocket. The only benefit your store will have, will be being partialliy in the spotlight for helping with my donating to chariry. I just want your store chain to help circulate $2 bills and halves for me" and then I said " Does this sound like kind of a weird idea? Do you understand it?" and he said "Well, yeah, it is kind of weird, and our cash drawers are usually not set up for the 50 cent piece or $2 bill" and I told him, most stores have a space for both $2 bills and halves, but they are usually filled woth spare coin rolls and other junk" and he said, "Well, another concern is a cashier handing out a half in place of a quarter" and I said, the half is two times the size of a quarter (well, in weight, anyway) but is that why tou guys didn't participate in the year 2000 Golden Dollar Coin program?" and he said "Yep" then he said "You could always try to get approved by our charity people to do this idea of yours, but you have to fill out paperwork and send in in to the store's main office where you will be doing this, and see if you get approved" and thats about where Meijer ended. As for Walmart, they seemed a little more supportive of the idea. I told them about the idea, and they told me to talk to my local Walmart's manager about the idea and I believe he also asked me where the charity money was coming from, and when I told him that, the money would be coming from me, I asked him "Do you think this sounds like a weird idea? Because, I just talked to the Meijer coperation about it, and the guy thought it was weird", and the Walmart guy said "No, I think its a very interesting idea, and we do welcome any type of charity donations" so I asked him, if I did do this, would the $2 bills and halves only be circulated at my local stores? Or is there the possiblity that you might do it nationwide?" and he said "It might be done nationwide" So, since I tried a few stores, and most of their websites did not work, I might just propose to give the Walmart corperation credit for all of the $1,000-$2,000 (whatever I decide to spend, but at least $1,000) and if this idea takes off nationwide, I may start donating $1,000-$2,000 every year for as long as I can, or as long as I can that it takes for the $2 bill and half to caych back on in general circulation, to Walmart's charity. Maybe if the Walmart idea takes off, people and other stores will start using $2 bills and halves, and vending companies will upgrade their machines to accept and dispense halves as change and accept $2 bills, and stores might also upgrade or even install new self checkout machines to accept and dispense $2 bills and halves as needed and maybe, in a few years, halves and $2 bills will catch on, and victory may be mine.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Fox; while I admire your goal for circulating some of our 'lost' currency, and your willingness to donate a great deal of money to do so, I still believe you are fighting a very difficult battle. The main obstacles in your way, I believe, are STUBBORNESS and STUPIDITY. Last Monday I was able to get $5.50 in halves from my bank; which in itself was a minor miracle, as they never have them. When I got to work (retail store) I paid for some food with $2 in halves, and instructed the cashier to hand them out during her shift as change for our customers. Six hours later when she was leaving I asked her if she had given the halves away and she said "No". I asked her "Why Not?" and she replied "I didn't want the customers to get mad at me for giving them (the coins) to them" As I rolled my eyes I tried to explain that most people would be delighted to get a Kennedy half as change, and might even view it as a 'gift' from us. She just stared at me with a blank look on her face. I'm going to try it again later today at work, but I will have to select a different (hopefully better) cashier to handle this 'chore' for me. I will also ask her to observe the reactions of the customers she gives the halves to, and see if they are surprised, delighted, or disgusted. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes down. |
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Rest in Peace
 United States
1380 Posts |
Again, I regularly give out halves and twos in change at my store and customers LOVE them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Fox,
Yes, your idea is weird.
And I LOVE it!
Instead of just complaining pro- and anti- $2 bills and 50 cent pieces
you are doing something very positive about it.
The charity tie-in sounds like a winner.
I can imagine one of those charity boxes by each cash register. I wonder how many people
would just throw the half in and how many would save it for themselves.
Thanks for sharing this project with us.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Matthew; There will be no 'charity boxes' at the registers. Mr 'Fox' specified his plans in another thread ( https://goccf.com/t/164687 ) He is just going to write a check at the end of a period of time to the charity IF the stores comply with issuing the mentioned coinage. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4901 Posts |
A couple of thoughts on this continuing saga... 1) there is no need to start a new thread about the same subject every few days...pick one and continue to comment there https://goccf.com/t/1644612) Walmart has over 4000 stores in the USA...getting a local one to use some halves and $2 bills will not change the fact that they are not being used in the rest of the USA 3) just donate the money to charity. That is a good thing...the strings that are attached will accomplish zip in the real world |
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Pillar of the Community
 708 Posts |
Actually I forgot to mention that, Walmart told me if I do this, they might "match" my donation, so the donation could be anywhere from $2,000-$4,000. FoxwoodsMan: The Walmart company did say that, if I do this idea for donating to charity, they might do the program of circulating $2 bills and halves "nationwide" Also, I only posted another thread on the topic because it was an update. Atticguy: Don't forget, this idea is not just for "coinage" Its for the $2 bill as well.  Edited by Fox
12/12/2013 12:25 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Well today I gave another cashier at work four Kennedy halves to give out as change and asked her to let me know the responses from the customers getting them. The first shopper started walking out and then stopped; puzzled at what was in her hand. She looked at it for awhile then apparently was satisfied it was real money so she left. The next two subjects had no response. The cashier doesn't think they even looked at the change she gave them. The final Kennedy went to an older woman, who exclaimed that she was just talking earlier that day to someone about half dollars. She seemed to be happy to get one. If I can find more halves I will try this experiment again. |
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Pillar of the Community
708 Posts |
atticguy: Well, thanks for the results on the experiment. I always felt that halves and $2 bills were more widely accepted than dollar coins, due to the fact that we still have a $1 bill. Anyway, why don't you also have a cashier try some $2 bills? You could try this for both halves and $2 bills: http://www.frbservices.org/operatio...ositing.htmlThis seems to be the place in the Federal Reserve where they deposit and issue coins and currency from. I may need to send the link to the Walmart company, so that they can talk to their banks about ordering these two denominations. Edited by Fox
12/12/2013 03:40 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Fox; I would try with the $2 bills...............if you can tell me how to get some. I haven't seen a $2 bill in maybe 20 years or so. Also, as I said before, I was kind of shocked when I got those halves from the bank last week. It was the first time they've had some in the six months I've been asking. Normally I just get SBA, Sac's, and Prez dollars from the bank; they never have Kennedys or Ikes. |
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Valued Member
United States
143 Posts |
I think halves and to a lesser extent $2's confuse people more than anything (i.e. dollar coin), well I take that back SBA's confuse the heck out of some people too. When I spend the golden dollar coins cashiers take them without even questioning what they are. Any time I've spent the other mentioned denominations I get funny looks. I guess my point is that if we're going to get any fringe denomination circulating, it's going to be the golden dollar coin. I applaud your efforts, though. |
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Valued Member
United States
143 Posts |
@ atticguy
Have you tried other banks in your area? I can get boat loads of $2's and halves at the banks I go to. Ike's are a different story.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
Same for me to. Fox, I really like your idea!
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Pillar of the Community
708 Posts |
Quote:
Fox; I would try with the $2 bills...............if you can tell me how to get some. I posted a link in my post above, to the Federal Reserve where I believe you can order $2 bills by the $2,000 brick, and halves by the $1,000 bag. Try that. Quote:
I think halves and to a lesser extent $2's confuse people more than anything Halves should not confuse many people now that are our largest circulating coin since the dollar coin got reduced in size, and $2 bills should not confuse many people either, especially when they get their redesign in the 2020s, with the Meaningful Access redesign, as I can sort of see right now that they might be confused with $1 bills, due to lack of redesign, and thus looking the same as $1 bills in the front. This is why, if not the $1 bill, at least the $2 bill should have been redesigned with every currency redesign we've had. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4901 Posts |
Fox, from your link...The Federal reserve serves only financial institutions "Bank for banks" Quote:
The Federal Reserve Banks provide financial services to depository institutions including banks, credit unions, and savings and loans, much like those that banks provide for their customers. These services include collecting checks, electronically transferring funds, and distributing and receiving cash and coin. |
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Valued Member
United States
143 Posts |
Quote:
Halves should not confuse many people now that are our largest circulating coin since the dollar coin got reduced in size, and $2 bills should not confuse many people either, especially when they get their redesign in the 2020s, with the Meaningful Access redesign, as I can sort of see right now that they might be confused with $1 bills, due to lack of redesign, and thus looking the same as $1 bills in the front. This is why, if not the $1 bill, at least the $2 bill should have been redesigned with every currency redesign we've had. I don't think the confusing thing is that they're mixing them up with some other denominations, but rather if the $2 or half dollar is accepted as payment everywhere. |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 3,307 |
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Posted 12/11/2013 10:51 am
