Interesting theory in the link that they died off in the 70s because coins were no longer worth enough to buy a decent amount of food and bills couldn't be accepted by machine yet.
That is interesting, but IMO what's interesting is that USD coinage doesn't go as high in value as anywhere else I'm aware of.
(Continental) Europe has €2 coins, worth just slightly more than two dollar 'bills', here in the UK we have £2 coins (worth slightly more again) (and commemorative £5s), Canada has 'twonies' too.
The 50¢ top-out seems surprisingly low now that I think about it. Is there any particular reason it's developed that way?
A decade ago I remember being surprised that they were becoming a "thing" -- getting them as change, might have been from vending machines too -- but now I realize I haven't seen one in years.
the ticket machines for the patco train in NJ to philadelphia still give them as change i believe, although i havent used them in years.
Before they added a refillable card, i hated getting a heavy pocket full of golden "pirate money" (sacajawea's or presidential dollar coins) buying a $3 ticket with a $20 bill, if i forgot to bring smaller bills.
Interesting theory in the link that they died off in the 70s because coins were no longer worth enough to buy a decent amount of food and bills couldn't be accepted by machine yet.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat