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Poll--Revive the half dime?

constructconstruct Posts: 932
in U.S. Coin Forum
Well, have you got a better idea?
The strangest things seem suddenly routine.

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    bhartman35bhartman35 Posts: 1,398
    Isn't a half dime a nickel now? Why not just change the composition of the nickel? image
    If you haven't noticed, I'm single and miserable and I've got four albums of bitching about it that I would offer as proof.

    -- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows


    My Ebay Auctions
    image
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    constructconstruct Posts: 932


    << <i>Isn't a half dime a nickel now? Why not just change the composition of the nickel? image >>



    What would you propose changing it to that would solve the problem of metal cost. The current clad composition would be cheaper, but not much if the size remained the same.

    One problem I now see with my suggestion is that reducing the size would require changes in vending machines.
    The strangest things seem suddenly routine.
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    ms70ms70 Posts: 13,958 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A silver half dime would be about the size of this: O
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    Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,284 ✭✭✭
    Dump the cent and make the nickel out of aluminum.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
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    carlcarl Posts: 2,054 ✭
    Eventually there will be no coins or paper money so why bother making new types of coins. Credit and Debit cards will be the future.
    Carl
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    holadudeholadude Posts: 316 ✭
    Everyone should carry around a bag of gold dust and pour out a nickle's worth when you need it.
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    ERER Posts: 7,345 ✭
    no
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    cladkingcladking Posts: 30,337 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes. ...with reservations.

    I doubt the coin would be popular and would be a little problem with vending machines because of its small size. As appealing as this is I would prefer just switching to aluminum for its utility.
    tempus fugit extra philosophiam.
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    messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'd be interested to see them get all the required wording on a half dime such that it could be read without magnification.

    Even if all they do is change to a cheaper metal, there will still need to be vending machine changes.
    John
    Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
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    topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What a stupid post! Only an idiot would make such a suggestion.

    image

    A.... sensible.... post. Not a goofy one.
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    BobaFett72BobaFett72 Posts: 7,304
    i prefer the usage of shiny beads and hand woven blankets.... image
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    bhartman35bhartman35 Posts: 1,398
    I'm not a metal expert, so I don't know what would be cheapest to produce and still be strong enough to circulate. My guess would be an aluminum coin. The metal content of aluminum cans is certainly higher than the content of a nickel, and you only get 5c for those empties. image

    Now, I don't know if it could be made strong enough, but I suspect that if you put it under the kind of pressure exerted by dies, it would get very hard.
    If you haven't noticed, I'm single and miserable and I've got four albums of bitching about it that I would offer as proof.

    -- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows


    My Ebay Auctions
    image
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    topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm in favor of an aluminum can standard.
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    WhitbyWhitby Posts: 1,341
    Pardon the ignorance, but the half dime, dont we call that a nickel?
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    cladkingcladking Posts: 30,337 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Pardon the ignorance, but the half dime, dont we call that a nickel? >>



    There used to be a coin identical to the dime but half the size and denominated "half disme".
    tempus fugit extra philosophiam.
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    BurksBurks Posts: 1,103 ✭


    << <i>Eventually there will be no coins or paper money so why bother making new types of coins. Credit and Debit cards will be the future. >>



    Exactly!

    Anyways I've been saying for a while to start making coins out of aluminum. Once that becomes too expensive, well.......plastic maybe?
    WTB: Eric Plunk cards, jersey (signed or unsigned), and autographs. Basically anything related to him

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    CratonCraton Posts: 2,670
    Who cares! The mint makes money hand over fist on all of the other coinage and by ripping off collectors of their cheaply packaged junk. They can and will keep making the cent and the nickel and count them as a loss.
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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 35,977 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The half dime was too small, which was why a base metal coin, the nickel, replaced. Besides 5 cents buys so little these days, the coin is beginning to look as useless as the cent.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    constructconstruct Posts: 932


    << <i>What a stupid post! Only an idiot would make such a suggestion.

    image

    A.... sensible.... post. Not a goofy one. >>



    I had forgotten that delightful excursion of a thread, topstuff. image

    I suppose the next best suggestion here would be to discontinue the cent and five-cent coins altogether and round everything to the nearest dime multiple. Then we could consider replacing the quarter with a twenty cent coin and calling it a quinter or something. image
    The strangest things seem suddenly routine.
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    rec78rec78 Posts: 5,965 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I voted yes-but why bother? - Nickels and cents are almost useless-let alone worthless-why notjust eliminate them from production altogether? (Of course they will most likely be still produced for collector sets)image
    image
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    TorinoCobra71TorinoCobra71 Posts: 8,109 ✭✭✭
    NO!

    TC71

    image
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    mozinmozin Posts: 8,755 ✭✭✭
    Forget the half dime looking like the dime, only smaller.

    I would like to see dimes, fifty cent pieces sized smaller than the dollar, and dollar coins only. I think most of us routinely dump our pennies and nickels into containers when we get home night. I have given in to only carrying quarters for change.
    I collect Capped Bust series by variety in PCGS AU/MS grades.
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    MoeSzyslakMoeSzyslak Posts: 80
    Why not just do what Canada did?
    Bring back the steelies!
    My coins can beat up your coins.
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    FrankcoinsFrankcoins Posts: 4,575 ✭✭✭
    Since 1965, the nickel and dime have been made of approximately the same metal composition, thus violating the
    logic and economics of having same metal coins proportional in weight and value. A clad half dime would weigh 1.14
    grams, which is too light to work a mechanical vending machine mechanism.

    The cent and nickel both should go, but how do you make change for a quarter with dimes? We should have kept the
    20 cent piece 130 years ago. The quarter does not really belong in a metric system.
    Frank Provasek - PCGS Authorized Dealer, Life Member ANA, Member TNA. www.frankcoins.com

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