1964
Kennedy Half Dollar
The Kennedy half dollar, which made its premiere in 1964,
has undergone a metallic metamorphosis in its short life
span.
The
first Kennedy half dollars were struck in "coin silver" - an
alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper - making the
metallic composition .900 fine.
The following year, the Coinage Act of 1965 was implemented
and its wide reaching implications began to be felt. Because
of rising precious metals prices, the Mint sought a metallic
alternative, opting for an alloy of copper-nickel (75 percent,
25 percent mix) bonded to a core of pure copper for the
Roosevelt dimes and Washington quarter dollars.
The Kennedy half dollar was not immediately subjected to
the copper-nickel clad composition. Half dollars struck
between the years 1965 and 1970 are 40 percent silver clad -
with layers of .800 fine silver and .200 copper bonded to an
inner core of .210 fine silver and .790 copper.
The copper-nickel clad composition was not imposed on the
half dollar until 1971.
The 40 percent silver composition of the 1965-70
half dollar was employed once again for collector versions of
the Bicentennial half dollars with dual dates 1776-1976. The
silver clad Bicentennial half dollars were struck at the San
Francisco Mint and carry the S Mint
mark. Bicentennial half
dollars were struck in copper-nickel clad as well, at the
Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco facilities.
The copper-nickel clad composition has been used on all
circulating and Uncirculated
Mint set strikes of the Kennedy
half dollar since 1977.
With the introduction of annual Silver Proof sets beginning
in 1993, the Kennedy half dollar is again struck in a non-circulating .900 fine silver version. Copper-nickel clad
versions are struck for the regular five-coin Proof sets and for circulation.
