silver was completely eliminated from kennedy half dollars in 1964.
silver was completely eliminated from kennedy half dollars in 1964.
when was silver completely eliminated from kennedy half dollars?
1964
by the time silver was eliminated from the half dollar, it had rarely been seen in circulation for so long that some banks had eliminated the slot for the denomination from machines. the mint had anticipated a dramatic comeback for the denomination, but in july 1971, mint director mary brooks disclosed that the treasury was holding 200 million of the new base metal half dollars, as commercial banks expressed little interest in ordering them. "i can't understand the population. they're not using them." according to brooks, most of the over one billion kennedy half dollars containing silver had been hoarded by the public. brooks theorized that because the silver kennedy half dollar never circulated much and few halves were struck in 1970 in anticipation of the authorization of the new clad coins, the public had become accustomed to not seeing the half dollar in trade. brooks suggested, "if the country knew there were plenty of them around, they'd probably start hoarding them, too."
kennedy half dollar
following the high mintage of the bicentennial piece, the number of pieces struck per year declined. however, in 1979, mint director stella b. hackel indicated that the mint would continue to strike them. "we really don't think many half dollars are being used in commerce. they do go somewhere, though, so someone must want them." by then, more than 2.5 billion kennedy half dollars had been struck, more than all previously struck half dollars combined. "the new york times" numismatic columnist ed reiter suggested that hoarding had continued even into the base-metal era, accounting for the shortage of pieces in commerce. the silver boom of 1979–80 saw an increase in the amount of sales and destruction of many hoarded 1964–69 silver kennedy half dollars. record high silver prices caused extensive melting of silver coins, especially half dollars and silver dollars for their metal content.
kennedy half dollar