I had an idea. I wanted to use a new coin to scratch off my lottery tickets. I play a little every day. Maybe 2-3 $5 tickets daily, hopefully to win the $500,000 top prize. It also brightens my day, giving me hope, to win free money. I have been using a 25-cent piece, a quarter, and was getting bored using it.
The next day I asked the store where I usually buy my tickets if they had a shiny 50-cent piece, or a dollar coin. The store is part of a large phamacy chain. They said "No, we give those to the bank."
A few days later, I also asked my local supermarket (part of a major supermarket chain) if they had any. They said, "No, we give those to the bank."
Days later, I went to my bank. It's a branch of a major giant bank. I told them I wanted a shiny half-dollar, or a dollar coin, to scratch off my lottery tickets. They said, No, we don't have any of those coins." "What", I responded. "How could you not have any of those coins. They are in circulation, aren't they? You're a major bank, how could you not have any?"
The teller shrugged and said she was sorry.
I was stunned. This was not a big deal but I was stunned that these U.S. minted coins were apparently not available anywhere. Stupid pennies were plentiful but a galf-dollar and dollar coin were gone, not available, ghosts?
I went back to using a quarter coin to scratch off my tickets. All other coins were too small.
