Spending "Rare" Coins And Currency.

I always spend $2 bills that I get from the bank. Most of the time people do a double take and then point out that it's a two dollar bill. I guess they just want to make sure I know I'm spending it. Other than that I do spend the Presidential dollars but they don't illicit much in the way of attention.

On another note, last week someone gave a 1918-D Mercury dime in XF condition as payment.

I spend half dollar and dollar coins (SBA, SAC, Presidential) all the time and always get unusual responses. Most people have never seen a half dollar so they start counting it as a dollar and I have to point it out to them. With the Susan B's most people don't know what they are and have to inspect them. For SACs, it is usually "I haven't seen them in awhile." In some cases, I count the coins in front of them and they take my word for it because they don't want to look like they don't know what they are. I have also gotten managers to come over to ok that they can be used for payment. I one memorable case, I used 5 SAC to pay for $5 parking and the attendant refused them and I argued with her that they are legal tender and she promptly showed me the exit unless I could pay her in "real" money. So I guess she thought they were counterfeit or fake coins!

I get lots of rolls of JFK halves and never take them back to the bank. I do my part to get them back into circulation. Some folks ask if there are any bicentennials, thinking that they are rare. And sometimes they ask me if there is any silver- at that I say "I don't know" just so they can maintain there excitement in looking. Of course, I've already removed the silver :)

You really spend Barber coins, Mercury dimes, large cents, 2 cent pieces, and 3 cent pieces? sounds hard to beleive to me unless they are in terrible condition. But it must be fun to see people's reactions when they don't know what they are.

I get two dollar bills, saccies, pres dollars and leave them for tips. Usually I try to hang back a bit and see what the reactions are and a couple of people have looked at what I left like they don't know if they should call the cops or dump it in the trash or what but most times they seem pretty happy about getting something unusual. One girl even called my attention to the "rare" coin that I used, a saccie. I laughed and told her to keep it, you'd have thought I paid her with a 16d Merc or something from her reaction. heheheh

Ardon,

May I have change for a Twenty ($20.00) and make it all quarters or less PLEASE!

Better yet make a Fifty ($50.00)

--- The reaction of clerks is always intetesting when they receive the "seldom seen" coins as a payment. ---

Indeed. The person right in front of me gave the clerk two half dollars, which surprised me, because I see (other) people spend half dollars only rarely. The clerk mistook them for two silver dollars, because he was used to me paying with silver dollars. The lady told him that they were only halves. Then I was very surprised when he mistook the two quarters that I gave him (one a Standing Liberty and the other a Barber quarter) for two half dollars. They're the same size as regular quarters. Then he finally realized that they were quarters, and examined them for what seemed like a long time, before putting them in the cash register and giving me my change. He'll sure be sad if I ever give up spending old coins, which I might do eventually, since I spend a great deal of money buying them. That was my first time spending a Standing Liberty quarter. I like to spend coins that look like a much higher grade because the details are very crisp, but have some damage, like a hole in them (e.g. someone turns it into a necklace or something.) to make them less expensive to buy.