Gary's 20th Century Type Set
50c KENNEDY SILVER-CLAD (1965-70)

Owner Comments:

As a circulating coin, the half-dollar is seldom used in commerce, and today is struck primarily as a non–circulating collector coin. The decline in circulation of the half-dollar began with the release of the Kennedy Half Dollar in 1964. Mourning the death of their recently assassinated president, John F. Kennedy, the American public hoarded Kennedy Half Dollars as a memento to their fallen leader. The net effect saw few 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars entering circulation as the US Mint struggled to keep up with worldwide demand. The following year in 1965, The US Mint removed silver from nearly all our circulating coins in favor of a copper-nickel composition, causing the public to hoard any currently circulating silver coins for their silver content. Half-dollars, however, previously struck in 90% silver, retained a 40% silver clad composition causing them to continue to be hoarded. This MS-65, 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar is the last regular issue half-dollar with a silver clad composition. Hoping to renew public interest in the half-dollar as a circulating coin and discourage hoarding, the mint changed the composition of the half-dollar to a copper-nickel composition in 1971. However, the half-dollar as a regularly circulating coin never caught on because by then the public was used to not seeing them in circulation. The 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar also represents the first “mint set” only Kennedy Half Dollar release by the US Mint with a mintage of only 2,150,000 coins.