Silver Memories

Silver cartwheels were great.

I wish that those big, old clunky silver dollars were still in circulation in Montana. The “cartwheels” provided a certain amount of psychological security. When you heard ‘em jingling in your pocket, you felt you weren’t broke – yet.

They tended to anchor one to earth when those strong gusty winds blew – especially in areas east of the mountains. They worked good here in the valley on blustery days, too.

Men’s store owners liked them because there was always a demand for belts and suspenders among guys who liked to impress people with pockets loaded with silver dollars.

And dry cleaner and laundry operators found they had to replace pockets that were worn out by the weighty coins. 

Tourists loved ‘em because they were valuable novelties and souvenirs.

But even tradition can be ended by federal decree. Many folks were saddened by the departure of the cartwheels when they were replaced by often wrinkled, dirty and germ-carrying, silent pieces of paper in the form of unglamorous dollar bills.

The remaining silver dollars then became collectors’ items. I never had enough to start collecting, but I did carry one around for years during lean economic times to use in case of emergency. And sure enough, I came up 75 cents short after buying the kids ice cream cones and had to use it.  

A couple official attempts were made to mint smaller size dollar coins but they never caught on with the public. They simply lacked the weight, feel, sound and character of the cartwheels.

Closest replacement occurred when the late Maynard Nixon taped two half-dollar coins together and used them in his purchases and to make change for customers. That was his personal peaceful protest against the feds’ decision to withdraw the silver dollars. His practice lasted only a few days before he was officially warned that might be considered “defacing currency!”

Incidentally, whatever became of the 50-cent pieces? I haven’t seen half-dollar coins for a long time.