Machtzis Hashekel and Half-Dollars

QUESTION: Regarding the custom of Zecher L'Machtzis Hashekel, I have a difficult time finding fifty cent coins. Can I give two quarters, or is there a different way to perform this mitzvah?

ANSWER: The Rama (OC 694:1) writes that before Purim one should give to charity a coin that is half the value of the standard currency of the time, as a remembrance of the half shekel that was collected every year for the communal sacrifices. It is proper to give three such coins, since in Parshas Shekalim the word teruma (donation) is repeated three times. This alludes to three separate collections that were made (see Rashi, Ki Sisa 30:15).

The Maharsham (Daas Torah 694:1) writes that if one cannot find such coins, i.e. half dollars, then one should find a friend to pair up with and together to give three one dollar coins (based on the Mishna, Shekalim 1:6). However, Rabbi Yosef Greenwald, zt”l (Va’yaan Yosef OC 407) writes that strictly speaking, one can give 3 nickels for Zecher L'Machtzis Hashekel, since a nickel is half of a dime. He maintains that a better solution is to give two quarters instead, since a dollar is a more primary currency than a dime. Although, altogether, one is giving six coins and not three, he writes that this too is acceptable, since it is merely a zecher (commemoration) of the original mitzvah.

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