Why would vending machines not accept halves/dollar coins?

Barry · January 24, 2004 10:07PM

Was at a nearby ski slope recently and noticed that all the Coke machines had a little sign posted above the coin slot saying 50 cent and $1 coins not accepted. These are newer looking machines and they also accept bills. Why would they not accept all coins?

JrGMan2004 · January 24, 2004 10:25PM

The only machines I've seen that have accepted $s and Halfs were vending machines at Rest Stops on Interstate, and at the Post Office, the ones for stamps...

itsnotjustme · January 24, 2004 11:19PM

And of course the 50 cent slot machine....

I think bottom line is it is not worth the added cost to accept a coin that is not widely circulating. You'll see for more that take dollars than halves.

ClausUrch · January 24, 2004 11:22PM

Because the vending machine industry imposes upon the consumer what it wants the consumer to use in it's machines. If the government stopped making 1$ bills and only made 1$ coins, the vending machine industry would have no choice but to accept them.

Bobk · January 24, 2004 11:26PM

Exactly what Claus said. Bob

MFH · January 24, 2004 11:35PM

The Crane Paper Company in Massachusetts produces the paper for the BEP. 95% of the paper it produces goes into the One Dollar Note.

They employ hundreds of workers, and the company has alot of pull in Washington, DC.

I too would like to see the elimination of the Dollar bill, so that the public would be forced to accept the new Dollar coin.

When the design on the Half Dollar changed in 1964, to honor JFK, everyone hoarded them. Noone spent one, as everyone believed them to be somewhat rare. The half dollar use to be the work horse coin in our society; now, its the Quarter Dollar.

FC57Coins · January 24, 2004 11:50PM

It has to do with programming the module that goes into the machine to accept the coins. Apparently in order to accept dollar and half dollar coins the machines also have to undergo some modification so they don't bother with it if the machine can also take dollar bills.

jdimmick · January 25, 2004 12:22AM

I havent seen any vending machines that accept Halves, but many of the new vending machines seen in the Manufacturing plants all accept SBA and Sac $. In fact, the 5 dollar bill changer gives you 4 sacs or(sba's) and 4 quarters for change.

BAJJERFAN · January 25, 2004 12:36AM

Its amazing that they even mentioned the half on their note. As a means for doing commerce it is DEAD; has been for years.

khayse · January 25, 2004 12:40AM

I've never seen a machine (barring slot) that accepted the half.

-KHayse

Barry · January 25, 2004 12:43AM

They probably mention halves because someone tried one and it got stuck or didn't register, and someone had to open the machine to clear it and issue a refund. I heard that it's just a matter of flipping a switch in the newer machines to accept dollars and/or halves. No software or hardware changes required.

It's funny how our commonly-used largest units of money have gotten smaller (i.e., quarters, $100 bills), though they buy less and less.

fcloud · January 25, 2004 12:54AM

It is completely up to the vendor. I talked they guy were I work to allow halves and dollars. He also set the bill acceptors to take $1, $2, and $5 bills. It works well for him and he has now set all his machines to accept these. So, every time I use a $5, I get SBA or Sacs in change.

cladking · January 25, 2004 12:58AM

In 1964 there were very few items from machines which cost more than a dime so there
was no need to accept larger coins which would necessitate having more money in them
and present a greater prize to thieves. By the time a half was needed they were no longer
in circulation. In 1979 many machines were converted to accept the new dollar coin but it
was not paid out by banks so consumers didn't have these to spend either.

When the sac was issued most vending companies took a wait and see posture.

Many of the machines still in use require more extensive modification to accept a half dollar
because the slot and change mechanism won't handle a coin of this size. I'd guess the
machine you saw was a newer one which has a larger slot into which a half dollar would fit.

bigtonydallas · January 25, 2004 2:01AM

I think the next step is for the vending machine companies to add a credit card reader and sell larger items. There would need to be some type of password or pin involved incase of stolen credit cards. Or the mint could produce $5, $10 & $20 coins. I know they wont because of the possible counterfeiters out there.

nwcs · January 25, 2004 2:02AM

Yep, that's how I understand the story. By the time it was needed, people were used to not using them. And the government has not helped any. And there is no motivation on the part of vendors to change. Since going off the silver standard, our currency has devalued as you'd expect with respect to inflation. I think they should drop the cent and the dollar bill. Or re-value them. Or do something like Canada and drop the dollar and 2 dollar bill and replace them with circulating coinage.

Why would vending machines not accept halves/dollar coins?

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