I used to go to the local bank and buy rolls of dimes to pull Mercury's out. 2 years later the banks started doing the same and in 6 month's, finding silver in change was rare.
About 25% of coins had silver content and the ones that didn't went back to the bank in exchange for fresh rolls!
All silver coins circulated, along with dateless Buffalo nickels and dateless SLQs. However, never saw any silver dollars in circulation. One area code in whole state. Four channels on TV. No FM radio. Nickel and penny candy. Ten cent soda. 25 cent matinees for two movies on Saturday. 12 cent comics. Dad checked TV tubes at the drug store. 18 cent chocolate eclairs at the bakery. Two cent bottle deposit. 1 cent pretzel rods. 5 cent packs of baseball cards with bubble gum. Neighborhood kids played baseball all summer and football in the fall, etc, etc.
.... A reg. sized bottle of Coke cost either 5¢ or 10¢, depending on where you bought it. Baby Ruth candy bars were 5¢ and then, around the late 1950's they came out with a full 1/4 lb. Baby Ruth bar for 10¢ at our local dime store! Cigarettes were all 25¢ a pack in my parents restaurant, coffee was 5¢ a cup with bottomless refills (although the term "bottomless" refills hadn't been coined yet), and their daily plate lunches cost 75¢ - 95¢. Most of the pennies in circulation were Wheaties and clad coins had not even been thought of yet, plus there were still a few Merc. dimes, W.L. Halves and Standing Lib. quarters floating around along with an occasional Liberty Head nickel, and even more Buffalo nickels in circulation. Silver Franklin Halves, Washington quarters, Jeff nickels, and Roosevelt dimes were the most common coins used in daily transactions. Oh, and my Great Aunt Mary would always bring all of us kids a red seal $2.00 bill whenever she came to visit.
We were Cubs fans in our home and Ernie Banks and Hank Sauer were my favorite players. Ernie, along with 2nd baseman Gene Baker were one of the best double play duos ever.
I never thought that growing old would happen so fast. - Jim
...a few of us hopping on our bikes to ride a couple of miles to the next town where a storekeeper also sold some coins. I bought my Unc. ‘09-VDB that day for $3. It still sits in my Whitman album.
My grandfather couldn’t get the key out of his ignition because it had never been out. The same with my Dad’s. One night an escapee from an “insane asylum” stole Dad’s car. He got it back with six bullet holes in it. This was 1954 when the police shot at fleeing bad guys.
Late 50's, a neighbor took me along when he collected change from his juke boxes. Mostly in bars and restaurants. Think the split was 60 (for him)-40 for the bar. He let me count the change and keep any old coins I wanted.
@hammer1 said:
Late 50's, a neighbor took me along when he collected change from his juke boxes. Mostly in bars and restaurants. Think the split was 60 (for him)-40 for the bar. He let me count the change and keep any old coins I wanted.
Along my paper routes (Philadelphia Bulletin), a few merchants let met go through the registers and trade out coins from my collections change. Was a good way to fill the Lincoln and Indian Head cent Whitman albums and pick out the occasional Standing Liberty quarter, and of course hoard the Buffalo nickels. All long gone now, but the thrill of the hunt was the important thing anyway.
Pre 1958 my day would bring home $25 & $50 bags of pennies from the bank. My brother and I liked to put a magnet in the bag to see how many steel cents that we could pull out. Good ole days
@Swampboy said:
I remember the ad campaign "Lock it and Pocket the Key!"
I remember all the jingles.
Don't get me singing beer jingles haha.
I'm cursed with remembering them all. Even the original key.
I remember the first seat belt I ever saw was one my uncle installed himself. He bought it out of a Popular Mechanics ad.
A few years later this jingle on the radio....
Buckle up for safety. Buckle up.
Buckle up for safety always buckle up.
Whether near or far, when you're in you car
Buckle up for safety
Always buckle up!
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I do remember not having seat belts in cars, riding in the back of truck or on tailgate. Now adays the highway patrol will give you a ticket for NOT wearing a seat belt or riding in the back of a truck.
I should say not having to wear the seat belts in cars.
my grandmother ran a tourist home and kept the taxes she collected in a little bowl. She let me go through the bowl and keep what I wanted. Lot’s of Indian cents, some Seated Liberty dimes and my big score, a 1909-S Lincoln in VG.
I would ride my bike a few miles to the local coin shop to lust after the gold coins in the display case. I saved all my lawn mowing, Christmas and Birthday cash for almost a year to purchase my dream coin - a Gold Sovereign which the dealer kindly kept on lay away for months. On Saturday I’d ride to town and pay the few bucks I’d earned. Then the dealer would get it out for me to admire. 48 years later I still have that coin. I don’t remember how much I paid but the dealer sure saved a nice one for me. I was somewhat shocked when it graded ms66 a few years ago when I sent it to Anacs.
My Grandfather would take me and my 2 sisters to a coin auction in the "Big City" He would always buy us kids something like Indian Head Pennies, Buffalo Nickels or War Time Steel Cents.
On the way home we always stopped and he bought us White Castle Hamburgers.
If I needed some serious cash, I would stand in line at the bank with my passbook, BEFORE 3 PM closing time, and wait my turn. The teller would mark my book after she gave me my $5 withdrawal.
Comments
I used to go to the local bank and buy rolls of dimes to pull Mercury's out. 2 years later the banks started doing the same and in 6 month's, finding silver in change was rare.
About 25% of coins had silver content and the ones that didn't went back to the bank in exchange for fresh rolls!
All silver coins circulated, along with dateless Buffalo nickels and dateless SLQs. However, never saw any silver dollars in circulation. One area code in whole state. Four channels on TV. No FM radio. Nickel and penny candy. Ten cent soda. 25 cent matinees for two movies on Saturday. 12 cent comics. Dad checked TV tubes at the drug store. 18 cent chocolate eclairs at the bakery. Two cent bottle deposit. 1 cent pretzel rods. 5 cent packs of baseball cards with bubble gum. Neighborhood kids played baseball all summer and football in the fall, etc, etc.
.... A reg. sized bottle of Coke cost either 5¢ or 10¢, depending on where you bought it. Baby Ruth candy bars were 5¢ and then, around the late 1950's they came out with a full 1/4 lb. Baby Ruth bar for 10¢ at our local dime store! Cigarettes were all 25¢ a pack in my parents restaurant, coffee was 5¢ a cup with bottomless refills (although the term "bottomless" refills hadn't been coined yet), and their daily plate lunches cost 75¢ - 95¢. Most of the pennies in circulation were Wheaties and clad coins had not even been thought of yet, plus there were still a few Merc. dimes, W.L. Halves and Standing Lib. quarters floating around along with an occasional Liberty Head nickel, and even more Buffalo nickels in circulation. Silver Franklin Halves, Washington quarters, Jeff nickels, and Roosevelt dimes were the most common coins used in daily transactions. Oh, and my Great Aunt Mary would always bring all of us kids a red seal $2.00 bill whenever she came to visit.
We were Cubs fans in our home and Ernie Banks and Hank Sauer were my favorite players. Ernie, along with 2nd baseman Gene Baker were one of the best double play duos ever.
- Jim
They sounded the air raid siren at the Iron Company when citywide curfew started where I was. It was a Pennsylvania thing.
I wished I had $48,000 to purchase a 1913 Liberty nickel with!
When you would get new shoes and you had to look into the x-ray machine to see how they fit. And "yes" I did wear Buster Brown's - lol
...I'd ask my Grandma if I could buy ice cream from the truck and she'd say " Let me see if I have any silver."
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
...a few of us hopping on our bikes to ride a couple of miles to the next town where a storekeeper also sold some coins. I bought my Unc. ‘09-VDB that day for $3. It still sits in my Whitman album.
You didn't have locks on doors and you sure didn't lock the car!
I remember the ad campaign "Lock it and Pocket the Key!"
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Don't remember that?
My grandfather couldn’t get the key out of his ignition because it had never been out. The same with my Dad’s. One night an escapee from an “insane asylum” stole Dad’s car. He got it back with six bullet holes in it. This was 1954 when the police shot at fleeing bad guys.
We still shot at fleeing felons in the '80's! Not any more! The convicted felons use to cry when you got to pen with them, not anymore.
Out-haul your tush into principals office now!
but seriously here - going to Gimbels coin dept in NYC in '60-early 70's.
To my young eyes pure nonstop eye candy.
I would get silver quarters, silver dimes, & $1 silver certificates as part of my change in the 1980s.
The nearest neighbor was 6 miles away.
You also had different keys for the doors and the ignition. Only carried the latter.
Round-headed key for the locks and trunk and sharp-cornered key for the ignition.
Late 50's, a neighbor took me along when he collected change from his juke boxes. Mostly in bars and restaurants. Think the split was 60 (for him)-40 for the bar. He let me count the change and keep any old coins I wanted.
Along my paper routes (Philadelphia Bulletin), a few merchants let met go through the registers and trade out coins from my collections change. Was a good way to fill the Lincoln and Indian Head cent Whitman albums and pick out the occasional Standing Liberty quarter, and of course hoard the Buffalo nickels. All long gone now, but the thrill of the hunt was the important thing anyway.
Pre 1958 my day would bring home $25 & $50 bags of pennies from the bank. My brother and I liked to put a magnet in the bag to see how many steel cents that we could pull out. Good ole days
Lafayette Grading Set
I remember all the jingles.
Don't get me singing beer jingles haha.
I'm cursed with remembering them all. Even the original key.
I remember the first seat belt I ever saw was one my uncle installed himself. He bought it out of a Popular Mechanics ad.
A few years later this jingle on the radio....
Buckle up for safety. Buckle up.
Buckle up for safety always buckle up.
Whether near or far, when you're in you car
Buckle up for safety
Always buckle up!
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I do remember not having seat belts in cars, riding in the back of truck or on tailgate. Now adays the highway patrol will give you a ticket for NOT wearing a seat belt or riding in the back of a truck.
I should say not having to wear the seat belts in cars.
Peace dollars stacked on the Tellers counter at the local bank. $1.20 cigarette cartons at my base exchange.
I did not like the description of “Gemmy” then - and still do not like it today!
WS
my grandmother ran a tourist home and kept the taxes she collected in a little bowl. She let me go through the bowl and keep what I wanted. Lot’s of Indian cents, some Seated Liberty dimes and my big score, a 1909-S Lincoln in VG.
Playing Army with BB guns and no one got an eye shot out.
I was only 2, but used to buy tons a chit offa eBay. Made my dad so dang mad. No allowance for 10 years.
My first thought about coin collecting was, "how can a penny be worth more than a penny?"
The next thing I did was to start looking for those types of pennies before everyone else found them all.
I knew it would happen.
I would ride my bike a few miles to the local coin shop to lust after the gold coins in the display case. I saved all my lawn mowing, Christmas and Birthday cash for almost a year to purchase my dream coin - a Gold Sovereign which the dealer kindly kept on lay away for months. On Saturday I’d ride to town and pay the few bucks I’d earned. Then the dealer would get it out for me to admire. 48 years later I still have that coin. I don’t remember how much I paid but the dealer sure saved a nice one for me. I was somewhat shocked when it graded ms66 a few years ago when I sent it to Anacs.
My elementary school coin club was disbanded by the old maid principal, who considered it a waste of time.
In truth, the waste was her honorable civil-service-protected self.
My Grandfather would take me and my 2 sisters to a coin auction in the "Big City" He would always buy us kids something like Indian Head Pennies, Buffalo Nickels or War Time Steel Cents.
On the way home we always stopped and he bought us White Castle Hamburgers.
Grandpa made me a coin collector,,,,,,,,,
If I needed some serious cash, I would stand in line at the bank with my passbook, BEFORE 3 PM closing time, and wait my turn. The teller would mark my book after she gave me my $5 withdrawal.
Commems and Early Type