half dollar = 25 cents?

steveben · July 15, 2012 7:03AM

friday, i received a clad kennedy in change at a local hardware store.

yesterday, i went through a local drive thru for some food and the total was $7.76. i gave the girl at the first window a $10 bill, the kennedy, a quarter, and 1 cent. the window closed and she set the change on the counter and looked it for a moment. then, she picked the kennedy half. she looked at the front, then flipped it over and looked at the back. then she set it down and looked a little bit puzzled. i could then see her talking on the microphone. then, she walked away for a bit and then came back to the window. she looked at the change again...talked on the microphone again...then she pulled three dollars out of the register. i was thinking...nice, she figured it out. but then, she paused again...put 1 of the $1 bills back and took out three quarters. the window opened and she handed me $2.75.

i said, "i'm supposed to get $3 back."

she said, "you gave me $10.51."

"no, i gave you $10.76," i replied.

then i gave her back the quarters and she gave me a dollar back...problem solved.

but, i was thinking...no only did she not know how to give back change, she had never seen a half dollar. on top of that, she must not have known how much "half dollar" is...because I assume she read the back.

crypto79 · July 15, 2012 7:12AM

I don't feel bad for you as much as I do for the B&M dealer who is going to be asked to make her an offer on her rarity.

DaveG · July 15, 2012 7:14AM

Actually, she may not have realized that there are words on the reverse of a US coin.

I've handed half dollars to teenage cashiers and a few times they've been really puzzled. I had one cashier try to hand it back saying "We don't take Canadian coins." She was rather stumped when I told her to turn the coin over to see where it said "United States of America' and "Half Dollar."

She acted like she'd never read the back of a coin before.

DBSTrader2 · July 15, 2012 7:17AM

There's a BACK side on coins?!

tightbudget · July 15, 2012 7:19AM

I had that happen once. Took a while to make that guy understand that half dollar=50 cents (he said he knew they were half dollars, but counted them as 25 cents each).

lcoopie · July 15, 2012 7:59AM

I also don't expect to see a dollar coin

19Lyds · July 15, 2012 8:08AM

<< friday, i received a clad kennedy in change at a local hardware store.

yesterday, i went through a local drive thru for some food and the total was $7.76. i gave the girl at the first window a $10 bill, the kennedy, a quarter, and 1 cent. the window closed and she set the change on the counter and looked it for a moment. then, she picked the kennedy half. she looked at the front, then flipped it over and looked at the back. then she set it down and looked a little bit puzzled. i could then see her talking on the microphone. then, she walked away for a bit and then came back to the window. she looked at the change again...talked on the microphone again...then she pulled three dollars out of the register. i was thinking...nice, she figured it out. but then, she paused again...put 1 of the $1 bills back and took out three quarters. the window opened and she handed me $2.75.

i said, "i'm supposed to get $3 back."

she said, "you gave me $10.51."

"no, i gave you $10.76," i replied.

then i gave her back the quarters and she gave me a dollar back...problem solved.

but, i was thinking...no only did she not know how to give back change, she had never seen a half dollar. on top of that, she must not have known how much "half dollar" is...because I assume she read the back. >>

Our population has been "dumbed down" to the point where even the simplest of functions proves difficult is it's out of the "ordinary".

These people must really feel stupid when they travel abroad were 1 pence (cent), 2 pence (cents), 5 pence (cents), 10 pence (cents), 20 pence (cents), fifty pence (cents), one pound, and two pound coins or Euro's are common place. Our education system kinda sucks when young folks today have no clue on how to determine a coins value. It requires "r-e-a-d-i-n-g"!

TURBO · July 15, 2012 9:06AM

Next time you go back hand her a Ike.

LanceNewmanOCC · July 15, 2012 9:13AM

.
sounds like a good opportunity to nab another collector while the interest and intrique is waxing

i enjoy handing someone an older lincoln, jefferson etc and saying, you should probably keep this in a safe place and keep any more that you find at face value

not my fault if they think it is worth a million dollars, but an opportunity albeit brief to get them to go to a coin shop/show

it would have been fun to watch the person attempting to figure out that half dollar though

.

ambro51 · July 15, 2012 10:56AM

She sounds like a Voter

Rampage · July 15, 2012 11:44AM

This sort of event happens all the time. Rather than getting upset with the cashier, I usually do a minute or so worth of education and the cashier usually returns a friendly thank you and we move along. It is not often that one bumps into a young cashier at a quickie mart or some other store where they are uneducated in the realm of uncommon US coinage (e.g. half dollars and dollars).

I will often spend half dollars and dollars (all, including Eisenhower, Anthony, Sacagawea and Presidential), two-dollar bills, and even dateless buffalo nickels. I love the expression on the faces of these young folks.

DrPete · July 15, 2012 12:13PM

It won't be long before most of the commerce in this country may be done with plastic and cell phone aps. "Electronic" money already accounts for a large percentage of commerce. Think it's going to become less?

LanceNewmanOCC · July 15, 2012 1:06PM

<< Think it's going to become less? >>

black-hat hackers are counting on more electronic currency, probably most governments as well
.

jimbux61 · July 15, 2012 1:23PM

Torture her and give her Susan B's next time!

Thenewguy · July 15, 2012 2:26PM

One of the funniest experiences like that I had was when I paid with an Ike and a Susan B. The poor kid not only wasn't sure what they were but after I told him he couldn't quite understand why the little coin was worth the same amount as the big one.

jimbux61 · July 15, 2012 2:31PM

<< One of the funniest experiences like that I had was when I paid with an Ike and a Susan B. The poor kid not only wasn't sure what they were but after I told him he couldn't quite understand why the little coin was worth the same amount as the big one. >>

Perhaps some racketeer nickels would be fun!

BAJJERFAN · July 15, 2012 2:50PM

<< Torture her and give her Susan B's next time! >>

Or $2 bills!

richbeat · July 15, 2012 2:54PM

<< 

<< Think it's going to become less? >>

black-hat hackers are counting on more electronic currency, probably most governments as well
. >>

To the first comment: no, but I don't expect it to be 100% in the near future, either.

To the second comment: that's why I continue to use cash whenever possible.

ebaybuyer · July 15, 2012 4:58PM

probably one of the most challenging aspect of a cashiers job is the lack of proper training. a company will entrust a person to handle money but wont take the time to educate that person above how to use one of the fake note detector pens.

LanceNewmanOCC · July 15, 2012 5:28PM

<< 

<< 

<< Think it's going to become less? >>

black-hat hackers are counting on more electronic currency, probably most governments as well
. >>

To the first comment: no, but I don't expect it to be 100% in the near future, either.

To the second comment: that's why I continue to use cash whenever possible.

>>

i admit after looking through my database of counterfeits, all the TED talks i've watched about 21st century criminals and all of the other various documentaries, i get a bit paranoid from time to time

it is much more enjoyable for me to carry cash, especially at shows
.

Broadstruck · July 15, 2012 9:45PM

gonzer · July 15, 2012 10:26PM

Oh give me back the days when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan!

DBSTrader2 · July 15, 2012 10:37PM

It all started when the education systems allowed calculators into classes and SAT/ACT exams (so people could focus on the THEORY vs the mundane task of doing the actual calculations) and employers such as McDonalds began using registers with pictures for every item that also calculated the amount of change to return.

It wasn't TOO bad when cashiers had to count your change back to you from the sales price up to what you gave them (or from zero up to the amount of change due), but nowadays, I rarely see even that. More common is the register tells them how much to give back, they "figure it out" on their own from that point, and they dump a combination of bills/coins uncounted into your waiting palm....... Heck, I even have some bank tellers count change/bills back on their own & just hand it to me without counting it back to me! Luckily, I watch & count fast silently in my mind with them to confirm it's right.......

But it is also true that the Mint makes so many different varieties these days that it's sometimes tough for cashiers to follow what's on the obverse/reverse of the cent, nickel, quarter, and dollars these days......not to mention the repeated redesigns of paper money in the past 10+ years. Just think of the varieties released in just the last 10+ years that cashiers are faced with .......

Lincoln = memorial, 4 "formative", 1 shield reverse
Jefferson = 4(?) different obverses and another 5 reverses
Quarters = "original" + 50 "state" + 6 "territory" + dozen+ "ATB" + bicentennial
Dollars = Ike, SBA, Sac (with & without date), multiple Prez's, NA Sac's w/different annual reverses........

No wonder it's getting easier for foreign coins to be accepted by cashiers, or for them to question some of the stuff being handed to them (especially in the case where the coin design (like the Ike) is older than THEY are!

My wife's school sells candy, and you should see what some of the teachers handling the money/sales take in sometimes! (Better for me, of course!)

- - Dave