Quarters and halves
Kennedy half dollar value: how much silver is in mine?
Type the year and pick the mint mark: the tool gives the metal of the coin, the number struck at that mint and what its silver is worth now.
Kennedy half: silver content by year
Metal value of one 1967 coin
$8.08
| Struck at this mint | 295,046,978 |
| Mintage band | Very high mintage (over 200 million) |
| Metal | 40% silver-clad half dollar |
| Mint mark on the coin | none (no marks 1965 to 1967) |
Coins dated 1965 to 1967 carry no mint mark, whatever the mint. At silver $53.94 per troy oz (last price read).
The value of a Kennedy half dollar starts with its date, because the coin was made in three different metals. A 1964 half is 90% silver, weighs 12.50 grams and holds 0.3617 troy ounce of silver, about $19.53 at the price read on October 27, 2026. Halves dated 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver-clad, 11.50 grams with 0.1479 ounce of silver, about $8.08. From 1971 the coin is copper-nickel clad, worth about $0.17 in metal. The Bureau of the Mint tables show 277,254,766 halves dated 1964 from Philadelphia, struck in the year after President Kennedy’s death, against only 2,150,000 at Denver in 1970, the smallest regular issue of the series. The tool above gives the metal and the figure for any year and mint.
Junk silver: face value to silver ounces
Melt value
$390.20
| Pure silver | 7.234 troy oz |
| Silver per $1 face value | 0.7234 troy oz |
| Metal value against face value | 39.0 times |
Dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier. At silver $53.94 per troy oz (last price read).
Mintages, metals and prices read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
One portrait, three metals
The Kennedy half dollar replaced the Franklin half in 1964, as the Mint’s history of circulating coins records. Its metal changed twice in its first seven years, according to the Bureau of the Mint tables and the Mint’s coin specifications.
| Date on the coin | Metal | Weight | Silver | Metal value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 90% silver | 12.50 g | 0.3617 oz | $19.53 |
| 1965 to 1970 | 40% silver-clad | 11.50 g | 0.1479 oz | $8.08 |
| 1971 and later | copper-nickel clad | 11.34 g | none | $0.17 |
The 40% coins are the only regular circulating coin of that alloy, which is why they need their own line in any silver count. A dollar of face value in 40% halves, two coins, holds 0.2958 troy ounce of silver, against 0.7234 in 90% coins.
Number struck in the silver years
The figures below come from the dated tables of the Bureau of the Mint for 1964 to 1966 and from its calendar tables after that. Coins dated 1965 to 1967 carry no mint mark at all, whatever the mint, so the Denver and San Francisco columns cannot be told apart on the coins themselves for those years. San Francisco figures from 1965 include proofs made for collector sets.
| Year | Philadelphia | Denver | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 277,254,766 | 156,205,446 | – |
| 1965 | – | 63,049,366 | 2,830,000 |
| 1966 | – | 106,439,312 | 2,545,620 |
| 1967 | – | 295,046,978 | 1,863,344 |
| 1968 | – | 246,951,930 | 3,041,506 |
| 1969 | – | 129,881,800 | 2,934,631 |
| 1970 | – | 2,150,000 | 2,632,810 |
The 1970-D stands alone: a figure of a couple of million where every other year counts in the tens of millions or more. After 1970, with the coin made of clad metal, mintages returned to the hundreds of millions before falling in the late 1970s, as the tool at the top of the page shows year by year.
Counting a roll of Kennedy halves
A mixed roll or box of halves usually holds all three metals. Sort them into 1964, 1965 to 1970 and later dates, then count each group. The tool below takes the face value of 90% silver coins and of 40% halves and turns them into ounces and dollars at the live price, from gold-api.com.
Junk silver: face value to silver ounces
Melt value
$390.20
| Pure silver | 7.234 troy oz |
| Silver per $1 face value | 0.7234 troy oz |
| Metal value against face value | 39.0 times |
Dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier. At silver $53.94 per troy oz (last price read).
Clad halves from 1971 on can be spent or kept, but their metal is worth less than their face value. The silver coin years page lists every silver issue of every denomination, and the melt value calculator handles any other mix.
Beyond the metal
Apart from the 1970-D, Kennedy halves were struck in large numbers, and their value is their metal or their face. Collector interest goes to coins in exceptional condition and to proofs, which this site does not price: no official or freely licensed source publishes such prices. The 1776-1976 Bicentennial half, with Independence Hall on the back, follows the same rule as the quarter of that design; see the Bicentennial quarter page. Older silver halves, from the Walking Liberty to the Franklin, are on the Walking Liberty half dollar page.
If you inherited a box of Kennedy halves, start by reading every date and putting the 1964 coins in one pile, the 1965 to 1970 coins in another and the rest in a third. The first two piles hold all the silver. The third can usually go to the bank at face value, and the second deserves one more look for any 1970 coin with a D.