Junk Silver: Kennedy Halves | Kennedy Half Dollar Coins

Kennedy half dollar coins, Kennedy halves, are a common circulation coin which contain silver in a few certain years. Be on the lookout for these Kennedy junk silver coins for the silver content!

The Kennedy halve was introduced in the 1964, the year after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

What is the silver content of the Kennedy half dollar?

The 1964 version, like the quarter and dime of the same year, is 90% silver. These have .3617 troy ounce of real silver. At today's silver prices, that equates to $5.46 for a single fifty cent piece. Nice return. However, 1964 Kennedy halves are hard to find naturally.

Good news though. Kennedy halves minted from 1965 to 1970 are still 40% silver. That means the still have a value at today's rate of $2.23; not too shabby. And halves from this time period are actually quite common.

There are some simple ways to get Kennedy silver halves. You can buy them online or from a coin store. Or do what many junk silver hounds do. Purchase a few rolls or even a flat ($500.00) of silver halves from the bank. Sort through them and there's a good chance of finding at least a few 1968-1970 halves in there.

Either way, hang on to those Kennedy half dollars. Silver prices have soared the past two years and look to only go higher in the future.

Junk Silver: Which U.S. coins contain silver?

Quick rundown for those new to collecting silver. Many are starting to look into their pocket change, change jars, piggy banks and purses for U.S. coins which contain real silver. Or maybe they have heard the term "junk silver" and want to know what it is all about.

Junk silver is used to describe older U.S. minted coins (and some Canadian) which contain a majority or percentage of their composition in silver. Many may not realize it, but today's coins are minted of copper, zinc and nickel. None minted today contain any precious metals like gold or silver.

What may be more surprising to many in the U.S. is that none of the money in circulation is backed by precious metals at all. Some still believe that United States currency is backed by gold in Fort Knox and other banks and while that may have been true many years ago, it is not the case today.

The United States stopped minting majority silver coins (90% in silver weight) after 1964. Often you will hear junk silver referred to as "pre-1964" which means it was minted that year and earlier. These coins have real silver value.

The United States minted coins in several denominations since its origins as a country. While many coins were minted for a short period of time, were odd denominations or had staggered intervals of acceptance, the U.S. minted several well known coins for many years.

If some older silver coins are in your possession, it might do you well to know what to look for.

Silver dollars; dollar coin - the U.S. had silver dollars only until 1921. After that, there were a few odd silver dollar coins until the Eisenhower coin was minted in the late sixties. The Eisenhower did have a brief run with 40% silver content.

Half dollars; fifty cent pieces, halves - the most popular junk silver coin in recent times. Found in the Franklin and Kennedy version, the half dollar has 90% real silver content. Only the 1964 Kennedy has 90% silver. 1965 to 1968 contain 40% silver content. Franklins used to be very common but are now rarely if ever seen in day to day transactions.

Quarter; quarter dollars; twenty five cent pieces; two bits - The Washington quarter has been minted in its current state since the 1920's. They are every bit as common as any other coin. All pre-1964 Washington quarters are 90% silver. Post-1964 quarters have only a trace amount of silver.

Dime; dimes; ten cent pieces - The dime, both the Roosevelt and earlier Mercury dime, contain 90% silver in pre-1964 years. The dimes are often found in change as they are nearly identical to the current dime minted post-1964. Junk silver dimes are a great find.

Other coins, nickels and pennies contain no silver with the exception of the "War Nickel". Minted during World War Two, these nickels contain 40% silver and can be found from time to time.

Anyone may have a hoard of junk silver coins waiting in their coin jar or ash tray at home. With silver constantly trading in the $10 to 12.00 range, it is worth your time to find some junk silver today.

Junk Silver Coins

When investing in precious metals, we are often led to believe we are required to invest in gold bars or ingots.

However, there is a better and more affordable way to invest in silver - junk silver coins.

First, junk silver does not mean "worthless" in the sense of having no monetary value. Rather, junk silver coins have little numismatic value to coin collectors. However, junk silver coins are dimes, quarters, halves and dollars minted before 1965 which have 90% pure silver content.

Often you will see them listed as pre-1965, pre-1964, or common date silver U.S. coins.

Junk silver coins include the following:

Dimes - Roosevelt and Mercury head dimes minted before 1965






Quarters - Washington quarters minted in the same time frame, pre-1965..



Halves - While the 1964 Kennedy half contains 90% silver, the Franklin half, minted from 1948 t0 1963 is often more available because of the quantity minted during those years.



Dollars - There were only a limited number of Peace dollars minted in 1964 and those were not authorized into circulation. Eisenhower dollars were not released until 1971 and only a few contain 40% silver and the rest are clad. The only junk silver dollar coins are Peace and Morgan silver dollars.



Junk silver coins represent an easy way to invest in precious metals because they can be purchased one coin at a time, in rolls or in bags.

The cost of these coins is determined by the current rate silver is trading at plus a small premium for the dealer.

Buy Junk Silver

The other day I posted about where to buy junk silver, today I wanted to mention why buy silver.

Buying junk silver is a wise investment for your portfolio, as a hedge against inflation and because of the uncertainty of our economy.

The dollar is rapidly diminishing in value and putting your money into tangibles has never been more popular.

Tangibles includes precious metals like junk silver.

Before you forget, junk silver is used to describe pre-1965 U.S. silver coins with little numismatic value, but which have 90% silver content. These coins include dimes, quarters, halves and silver dollars from this time period.

So again, why buy junk silver?

As the dollar erodes in value, what you purchased yesterday may cost a little bit more tomorrow. Silver is bargain priced right around $10.00 an ounce. Which makes buying junk silver inexpensive and a bargain.

Buy junk silver from your local coin or jewelry shop, pawn shop, online at Ebay or at reputable online coin and metal dealers.

Take the plunge an buy a roll of pre-1965 dimes, quarters or halves today and protect your hard earned money.

Junk Silver in your pocket

Alert!

The recent economic downturn in the U.S. is indirectly effecting junk silver.

How?

With people struggling to pay bills and make ends meet, more and more are hitting the change jar, ashtray and piggy bank for cash.

Usually, this means grabbing a handful of quarters and either trading them in for dollar bills or using them for small purchases.

Regardless, those coin jars and piggy banks all to often contain junk silver - pre-1965 U.S. silver coins such as dimes, quarters and halves.

Shoppers are returning these long lost coins to circulation and making them available to you and me in our change!

How can you get some of these common date silver coins?

Shop with cash - when you shop with cash, you will naturally receive change back. Do not spend any of these coins until you have carefully screened them for junk silver coins.

Keep an eye out for coins in your family. Kids and the spouse may have a few coins and not ever know it!

Consider reviving the old practice of purchasing rolled quarters and dimes from the bank and checking for pre-1965 dates. Time consuming but well worth it.

A convenience store clerk in Michigan reported receiving two rolls of silver dimes from a cash strapped customer for gasoline. All of the dimes were pre-1965 Roosevelt and worth more than the $20.00 face value of the rolls! Wow!

A young waitress in Rhode Island reported receiving a handful of coins for a tip from a customer. Discouraged at first, she noticed a quarter in the tip looked "funny" in her words. After taking it to a local coin shop, she received a total of $27.00 for all the coins in the tip. There was that much silver in those coins!

Keep an eye out in your pocket change as you may stumble across a quarter or dime worth far more than its face value.

Junk silver? Where can I get some?

Junk silver.

With a name like that, why bother having any, right?

Wrong.

Junk silver, also called common date silver, refers to U.S. coins minted before 1965 and includes dimes, quarters, halves and silver dollars.



History of junk silver

When silver was removed from U.S. coins after 1964, most of the coins with 90% silver content were allowed to stay in circulation. But in the years afterwards, the government made a concerted effort to collect and melt U.S. silver coins.

With the banking system's cooperation, huge amounts of 90% silver quarters, dimes and halves were pulled from circulation, sent to government mints and melted to silver ingots and bars. These were stored or used for other purposes by the government.

However, because of the vast numbers of 90% silver coins already in circulation, naturally millions of silver dimes, quarters and halves remained in cash registers, piggy banks and coin trays across the country.

Collectors began searching for junk silver coins in the early 1970's. Although these common coins had little numismatic value, they had tremendous potential value as the silver was a hedge against inflation and the devaluation of U.S. dollar at the time.



The common method then and which continued to this day was to purchase rolls of quarters and dimes from the bank, search each coin, save the pre-1965 coins and return the rest to the bank. Then the process would start all over again.

Until the 1980's, this generally proved a worthwhile pastime. However, as collectors and the government pulled more coins out of circulation, this method of searching for junk silver became tiresome and fruitless.

Today's collector of junk silver is more likely to do the following to obtain a supply of common date dimes or quarters.

Coin shops
Many coins shops have junk silver in bags, boxes or shrink wrap available for market price plus premium.

Gold and silver exchanges
A popular type retail store specializing in the buying and selling of gold, silver and precious stones.

Pawn shops
Although the stock may sometimes be available, the pricing may not be accurate. Shop carefully.

Ebay
The popular online auction site hosts several sales of junk silver coins, sometimes in lots and others in small amounts like rolls or a few coins.

Online coin dealers
One of the best and most reputable ways to buy junk silver for current prices and in guaranteed amounts and quantities.




With silver at record price right now and with the economic uncertainty in the U.S., buying some junk silver may not only be an interesting purchase, but a smart investment as well.